Unless you're getting married in a national park, chances are you'll need to spruce up your reception location with flowers, candles, and other adornments. Creative wedding reception decorating ideas are a great way to weave your own personal style into your special day.

Create Your Palette

Great wedding reception decorating ideas can come from a variety of sources. Consider heading down to your local bookstore to troll the magazine section. Instead of reaching for the latest bridal magazines, check out interior design journals and travel magazines for colors and styles that speak to you. At home, dig up old family photos and videos to help trigger memories of places and events that hold special significance to you or your fiancé. Once you've assembled a dozen or more wedding reception decorating ideas, tack them all up on a bulletin board to create a style palette.

Look for Patterns

Analyze your style palette, keeping an eye out for particular patterns and trends. For example, if one or two hues stand out, consider making them your wedding colors. Look for hints that indicate your personal style. Do you like elegant or edgier fonts? Do you prefer bold colors or subdued tones? Are you a fan of traditional patterns (polka dots, stripes)? If someone were to use a word to describe your style palette, would it be modern, classic, playful, or elegant?

Determine Your Decoration Style

Once you've chosen the word that best describes your style palette, use some of these wedding reception decorating ideas to spark a brainstorming session.

Modern: Modern wedding reception decorations tend to be trendy, sharp, and sleek. You'll be happiest with decorations that offer simple, clean designs with little to no embellishments. Try digital photo frames in the cocktail lounge and floating candles in shallow bowls as centerpieces.

Classic: Classic wedding reception decorations are timeless and rarely reflect current trends in the wedding industry. If you like classic wedding décor, you'll be most at home with the type of items that you'd find in an Audrey Hepburn movie. Consider using silver frames for each of your place cards and simple centerpieces using vases of seasonal flowers in one hue.

Playful: Playful wedding reception decorations are often the most memorable. Go wild with bright colors and interesting textures. Instead of using real flowers, consider candy bouquets as centerpieces. Toss the typical white linens in favor of a different color for each table.

Elegant: Elegant wedding reception decorations suggest upscale living and refinement. The more ornate you go, the better. Silver candlesticks and elaborate chandeliers make for exquisite adornments. Red roses always make a splash at elegant affairs, especially when the remainder of the d?cor is either silver or white.

Create a Wish List

Once you establish your style, create a wish list of wedding reception decorating ideas. Imagine what you would use for centerpieces, lighting, linens, and accent pieces if money were no object. Brainstorm with friends and family members to create an exhaustive list of possibilities. When the list is complete, go back through and group everything by category (lighting, table décor, favors, linens, wall hangings, and so on). Within each category, pick your top choices. Sync your wedding decoration ideas with your budget and choose the ones that are most closely aligned with your cash flow. Remember, chandeliers and candles are hot, but owing thirty thousand dollars after your wedding is not.