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When my mom was in town, we went to the Bungalow Club to do some crafty recon regarding the menu and some decor specifics. We had a few mojitos, ate a delicious meal, and did some measuring, counting and charting. Progress has been made, people!
The outdoor patio (where we’ll be having dinner) is partially covered by a peaked, corrugated plastic roof. It’s not the most lovely aspect of the patio. Its also quite dim out there—mostly lit by candles… which, while sexy and moody, isn’t so conducive to wedding chit chat or photos.
I’ve always loved the look of hanging paper lanterns at weddings, so right away we decided it was a brilliant way to address both issues. We’ll make LED throwies to light them up, and enjoy the glow from above.
We did a count of the rafters, and figure if we hang 3 lanterns on each rafter, on either side of the ceiling peak, it should be just right. Added up, it totals 66 lanterns. I’d love to do two 12″ lanterns flanking one 14″ on each bar, for visual interest… but we’ll see how the pricing shakes down. We got 36 free lanterns from our bridal fairy, Kerri, which helps lessen the blow. But, we really want colored lanterns and they’re more expensive. Unless colored LED’s in white lanterns would do it—anyone know about that?
EBay isn’t really comin’ through for me in the lantern department, so a trip to Chinatown is in order. Hopefully this weekend Mr. Meatball and I can amble down for some research and/or haggling. And maybe some noodles… you just never know in Chinatown. 
Anyone else out there use lanterns to brighten their day?
I am using lanterns above the dance floor and the dinner area in my venue. They look so chic and festive!
Can you also post a how-to on the led throwies thingies? This sounds like exactly what I need. I want the lanterns to be lit but haven’t come up with an idea yet. Thanks.
We did purple and green lanterns and lit them with LEDs. It looked incredible and completely transformed the space! The cheapest lanterns we found were on asianideas.com. We live in Chinatown, but their prices were better!
Elle- a bee did a post on the LED throwies a few months back. It’s the info that we used, and was super helpful!
if your Chinatown expedition doesn’t do the trick, you may want to have a look at asianimportstore.com — i ordered a ton of paper lanterns from there, and they have a zillion sizes and colors.
I love the idea of lanterns…I need to figure out where to use them at my wedding venue. Let us know how the search goes, I may have to make a trip to Chinatown too!
@bettyturbo: Great rec on http://asianimportstore.com/, they are a great, budget friendly source for paper lanterns.
@TaskyBride: It was me! We used throwies to light our paper lanterns, and I blogged about it a few times… I’m in the middle of writing a follow-up post trying to answer all the questions I’ve gotten. Hopefully I’ll post it soon- good luck!
http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/04/03/if-only-i-had-majored-in-event-lighting-instead-of-biology/
http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/06/17/lighting-lanterns-with-led-throwies/
http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/08/25/the-time-of-our-lives-the-pre-game/
Oh Miss Meatball-I live in the OC and have been researching paper laterns purchased in Chinatown, I just sent you a PM.
Have you checked out http://www.orientaltrading.com ? Sometimes they have amazing finds. I recall back in the summer they had lanterns..
i love chinatown!…try some dim sum in while you’re there….empress pavilion on broadway…deeeee-licious!
try http://www.paperlanternstore.com
they also have everything and more..
@elle1009: Click on the link Ms. Meatball had (for throwies) to get the super simple tutorial.
Love this idea!
I got 1′ paper lanterns from Target — 2/$2 at the Dollar Spot. Add a throwie and they’ll be good to go.
Consider checking out craigslist.org and the nest’s trash to treasure boards!! People are always selling lanterns from their recent weddings, lots of colored ones too!! Good luck! 
I would also suggest weddingbee classifieds, you can get some great things there! hehe I think the lanterns are going to look awesome in your space
We got our lanterns from http://www.lunabazaar.com, which was great since they’re priced in bulk. I don’t, however, know how they compare to the other sites that have been suggested.
Good luck!
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Mrs. Meatball, Hollywood Age and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office Maven Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/Writer Engagement Date: October 7, 2007 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Blogging Since: September 16, 2008 Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow Club About Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
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