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Like many a destination-bride, I’ll be having an at-home reception once we come back from the honeymoon, to include those that can’t make it to Hawaii for our celebration. From the looks of it, it could be just as big as the party on the island! This is all fine and dandy, although I’d love for everyone to come to both! But, our budget might not agree.
So the at-home reception will be much more laid back, and hopefully much cheaper, as well!
Here’s our venue (pictures taken at the conclusion of a someone’s wedding, chair covers not included):
That’s right folks. A gym. A church gym.
Cringe all you want at the un-fanciness, the yellow lighting for bad pictures, etc. I’m going to view it as a challenge instead. How can I cheaply transform a gym into a beautiful reception hall?
For starters, I’m thinking it would be nice to erect some poles out of some sort of Home Depot-esque material, and hang some lanterns and lights:
I wish I had these crazy light-bulb shaped ones!
But some normal round ones would probably look a little more formal.
Mr. Sew and I have already started collecting some lanterns!
Though this is what I would do, if I had time and permission to scale the walls and ceilings…
Let’s have some giant pinatas, full of candy! Guests can break them open with slingshots!
In any case, this reception will probably occur in the afternoon. We’ll watch our wedding video and look at pictures to relive the day, eat some delicious family-friend catered food, and have Mr. Sew’s favorite tres leches cake for dessert!
How have you made the most of a venue not-exclusively-made-for-weddings? Any tips on how you would decorate a gymnasium?
I just had a gym reception, and I controlled the ceiling by filling it up with paper lanterns 
I recommend the http://www.paperlanternstore.com for bulk lanterns.
I think it’s awesome that you’d have Jigglypuff hanging from the ceiling. Will he sing everyone to sleep afterwards?!
HAHA! I love your Pokemon pinata! I think it’s a great functional space and you can still make it work out!
If I could have a pinata at my wedding, I totally would. They are my favorite!
My current church currently uses a school gym for services. We’ve held a few weddings there and have somewhat transformed it to look wedding-y.
The best yet is for my sister’s wedding last Fall. It was a purple theme and it had the ethereal whimsical look. You wouldn’t even notice it’s a gym or a church.
We had round tables with beautiful origami centerpieces. We covered the stage where it had all the instruments with black curtain and put hanging origami and flowers and candles there. We had candles on the floor with origami. We bought a lot of branches from Ikea and put it in a tall vase and hung orchids and origami using fishing line. We made sure the windows from the ceiling were closed, dimmed the lights and just used spotlights. It was a beautiful yet affordable wedding. It was also a community effort.
You’ve got some good ideas going. I have helped decorate several weddings in gyms. Here are a few other ideas that maybe you could use.
*Borrow some faux large plants, trees, or topiaries to put around the room and put white lights in them. You could group several in corners or if you have a wedding line put them behind your line.
*You could bring back some of Hawaii with you. Rent some fake palm trees to use around the room and if you can find someone who has a surf board…put it on one of your serving tables and put the guest food on it that you plan to serve.
*Purchase some coconuts and open them. Float a real flower in it or put a large (maybe hibiscus) silk flower in it. Put it on your tables and display a photo of you and your hubby in Hawaii behind it.
*Present each guest with a plastic lei favor and some macadamia nuts in a colorful paper bag or see through white bags with the top folded over and sealed with an elegant sticker.
*Have the guests sign in at a table that has a large outdoor umbrella in the middle of it.
If you plan to have attendants helping with your food, borrow Hawaiian shirts for them to wear and any girlfriends that you have helping could get a grass skirt from a party store and wear that over their dress or pants that they plan to wear to help at your wedding in.
Crazy ideas maybe but would be fun to have a Hawaiian theme for those that couldn’t be with you in Hawaii…would also go great with the pinata!
Best of luck and Happy Wedding!
Have you considered draping fabric over your poles to create a sort of indoor tent feel?
Love the pinata idea and the more relaxed, laid back reception! Let us know what you decide in the end!
I think it’ll be a really fun challenge to figure out how to decorate it! Love the lanterns!
I agree with one of the above posters.. there is no reason NOT to make a tent inside the room (unless there is some fire code preventing it)… could be totally cool. It would lower the ceiling, make it more intimate. With your lanterns hanging from the “ceiling”, it would be great
Also love some of the Hawaii Ideas. And lighting will help a ton!
such great ideas! i’m wondering that if you turn the lights down and use candles/lights closer to the ground, people’s attention will be drawn more towards table-level beauty as opposed to noticing the really high gym ceiling.
@Miss Lace: definitely. and then draw on people with permanent markers!
@jtg: glad the lanterns worked out! yay!
@CLER: @Miss Pug: good ideas, i think dimming the lights would help a lot! I’ll have to figure out how to do that though, since it’ll probably be in the afternoon!
@The Wedding Contessa: lots of great ideas! thanks!
@mcnetn3: @Ella1978: i agree, draped fabric gives a pretty cool effect. My only concern here would be the price. yardage adds up pretty quick. maybe if i could borrow or rent some though?
JigglyPuff! You 2 are too awesome. If you had giant pinatas that guests got to break with slingshots, I would nominate you for best wedding of all time. Maybe dangerous, but still awesome. When I was in high school and decorated the gym for dances, we always created large murals and that always made the space feel more festive.
Check out the latest issue of Martha Stewart weddings. There is one wedding where the bride had puffy, fluffy tissue paper pom poms on string crisscrossing the ceiling and it was FABULOUS! You can also go to stumps.com and they sell “gossamer” on rolls…it’s pretty inexpensive…and use it to help create a faux ceiling…then you won’t need so many lanterns for that huge room!
i’m sorry i have no tips to help but i’d LOVE to come into a room with a ginormous jigglypuff hanging from the ceiling.
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Mrs. Sewing, San Mateo, CA/Honolulu, HI Age and Occupation: 24, Electrical Engineer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Electrical Engineer Engagement Date: June 27, 2009 Wedding Date: July 2010 Venue: Anela Garden Chapel & Japanese Cultural Center, Honolulu About Me: I'm an easily entertained, compulsive idea-scheming machine who loves good art, good food, and a good engineering challenge. I'm planning a half-destination wedding on the beautiful island of Oahu - imagine a plethora of movies, art and games; savory Hawaiian food; blended Chinese and Japanese cultural details; lush, fragrant tropical flowers and all the air conditioning a NorCal native could want! And once I marry the love of my life, we'll come back to the 'mainland' to party it up all over again in my hometown of Salinas, the salad-bowl capital of the world!
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