Image by Les Loups 
Nearly every part of a wedding is expensive (or has the potential to be), right? We had an outdoor tent wedding where every single detail needed to be rented —from the salt shakers to the electricity generators —which adds up fast.
For our table settings, we quickly realized that those Pinterest-perfect tables with floral china, golden silverware and jewel-toned glasses were way out of our budget for our guest count, so we stuck to the more basic options that the rental company had available. To be honest, this wasn’t a major disappointment, as our beautiful white, sailcloth tent complemented the more standard the white tablecloths and plates.
To elevate the tables, we upgraded the standard garden chairs to the Chiavari option, and added yellow napkins, customized menus, a rosebud at each place setting along with a handwritten note to all of our guests, plus scattered the tables with bud vases of fluffy spring blooms and brass candlesticks with yellow taper candles.
Even still, we continued to look at renting colored glasses outside of the standard options, but at around $4 per glass (compared to the $1 standard glass rental), it just didn’t make sense to put our budget there.
Our hack? We purchased blush pink glasses from Ikea for our drinking glasses that cost $1.50 each. For a little more than the standard rental, and a lot less than upgraded version, we were able to buy the glasses for our wedding. After the wedding, we gave some away, kept some for drinking glasses, and I plan to use a few in an upcoming candle-making project.
The glass selection at Ikea changes often, but here are a few finds online now to consider (don’t forget to get extras in case any break!):
