Ceremony & reception details

Hi,

I’m getting married at the Chinese Gardens in Sydney and want to make sure there is a clearly defined aisle, despite it being an outdoor ceremony. The obvious answer is a red carpet aisle runner, but with delivery and set up fees, the quotes I’ve gotten so far are quite expensive.

Can anyone suggest an alternative way to create an aisle? Petals aren’t allowed in the venue, and there will only be 30 chairs in the venue (70 more standing), so I can’t really use them to help create an aisle.

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

You could definately DIY with a material from spotlight etc and then maybe used four-six hurricane candle holders or something similar to hold it down?

Could you get the celebrant to set it up? of can you/groom go early to set it up? or if anyone offers to help you could ask them to set it up?

Here are some premade ones and I sure a google search would produce many more options:

http://wedding-supplies.efavormart.com/search?asug=aisle+runn&w=aisle+runner

other idea could be leaves sprinkled as an aisle but you would have to pray for no wind!

Also an idea from another forum because a lot I quickly read said the tripping/bunching/wet soil can be a problem:

“We’re getting plywood from the lumber yard the exact width of the aisle, and then we’re going to cover each section with fabric (staple to the backside so it’s tight/doesn’t slip) and we’re using little ties with stakes hidden underneath the chair closest to the aisle to anchor each aisle panel flat against the grass. I can’t walk in the grass because my heels will sink in and this was a good solution that surprisingly won’t cost us much (about 25 dollars in fact). " 

I think garden stakes (the small kind) would be great to peg it down as well if you didn’t want to go witht he plywood!

I am also getting married at the Chinese Gardens in Sydney – in the Hall of Longevity (which sounds like where you will be getting married to with the number of guests you have).
I have been thinking of different alternatives as I really loved the idea of rose petals to outline the ‘aisle’ and wondered if silk artificial petals would be accepted. I know they don’t allow fresh ones, or confetti or rice but I have not enquire yet. Another option I have though of was candles, though they do not allow open flames so I am considering the baterry operated flickering tea light candles.
1 final option I thought of was the personalised aisle runners which you can order on Ebay and Etsy etc. I am not sure how much they compare to red carpet runners. I haven’t priced them yet as the Hall of Longevity has 2 archway entries, neither of which run straight down the centre.

Hi there, 
You can purchase aisle runners from the knot shop online, and you can get some personalised ones too which look great. Alternatively you can find them on pinkfrosting.com.au, I am looking at the lovebird themed one for my garden wedding. 
Goodluck, bree X

Hi,
You could check out beautiful beach weddings site for some inspiration. This is the decorating company we are using and they have heaps of outdoor runner ideas. http://beautifulbeachweddings.com.au/pages/Gallery.html
I am using their rose petal balls, on shepherd hooks, plus a white carpet covered in petals.
They also have a small online shop if you wanted to purchase the items.
Hope this helps!

Why not get branches and use them to define the isle, it would fit into the garden theme.
Would look amazing in the photos.

Love MazDucks idea
My friend got married on the beach and used black smooth pebbles (about 3 – 5cm long each). She was worried she wouldn’t have enough and they wouldn’t stand out, but they looked great. Maybe use white ones?