What To Do With Your Wedding Decorations After the Wedding

You put months of thought into your wedding day details and it paid off. The centerpieces were flawless, the table runners were crisp, and the reception decorations stayed put throughout the party. Congratulations. You’re married! Now you’re looking at overstuffed boxes of tulle, mason jars, lanterns, table settings, and linens in your living room. What’s a newlywed to do? It’s time to gift, sell, DIY (again), donate, and store. Read on to get the details!


Gift Your Wedding Decorations
Look at your decorations and get creative. Which ones can you gift to friends and family? You can turn a mason jar, for example, into an instant gift by filling it with dry chocolate chip cookie mix, tying a ribbon around the top, and sticking a recipe on it. Freebie Finding Mom has 25 mason jar recipes that span all holidays. Or, use small vases or jars to hold cutlery, tea, or sugar in your kitchen.

And the lanterns you used to light the aisle or provide reception ambiance? Add a citronella candle and bring one as a hostess gift to your next outdoor get-together!

Sell Your Wedding Decorations
This may seem the most appealing option for budget-savvy brides looking to recoup some of their wedding day expenses. The best part? You already have professional photographs of your wedding decor! Peruse Craigslist, Etsy, and eBay and you’ll find plenty of brides looking to unload used/unused wedding decor, wedding clothing, and even some wedding gifts. (Yikes, don’t be one of these gift-givers! Get the newlyweds a gift they won’t return!)

If it seems like too much of a hassle to list individual items, post pictures of your wedding and sell your wedding decorations as a themed bundle. You may not recoup all of your money, but you’ll be one step closer to clearing the clutter and still make a little cash.

The best site for reselling gently used wedding decorations and accessories (in my opinion) is Tradesy. They help you list literally everything from your wedding, including your shoes, veil, accessories, paper products, centerpieces, chandeliers, and more.

But you don’t have to go high-tech to make a buck or two. Want to get things out of the house fast? Host a garage sale. While you may not make top-dollar at a garage sale, you’ll certainly clear things out quickly.

No matter how you choose to sell your wedding decorations, you can help them sell faster and at a higher price if you showcase how YOU used them at your wedding. Other brides will be inspired to re-create your look!

Donate Your Wedding Decorations
No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. Know a coworker or friend’s daughter that is getting married soon? The bride-to-be may be able to re-purpose your decorations for her own big event. Do you really need three beverage dispensers? Or, donate your centerpieces to a hospital or elderly home in your area. Your decorations could also go to supporting an up-and-coming young photographer! Talk about some stylish photo props.

Store Your Decorations in a Sentimental Way
Get a large wooden trunk or plastic storage trunk and decorate it with paint, pages from your favorite wedding magazines, and enjoy an afternoon DIY-ing a memento that could be in your family forever. Here, you can keep extra copies of your invitations, “save-the-dates,” the robe you got ready in, and the hanger that held your dress. Wrap vases and lanterns in table linens or table runners to make the most of your space.

So, what did you do with your wedding decorations after the wedding? Sell them? Donate them? Store them? Which decorations did you keep? Help out brides-to-be everywhere and let us know in a comment below!