Ceremony decor inspiration

Couples often focus on the reception and afterparty portions of their wedding day, but the wedding ceremony is perhaps the most significant part of the wedding experience. It’s during the ceremony that couples make lifelong promises to each other in front of their closest friends and family; and it’s an opportunity for couples to share the most intimate details of their lives with others, from cultures to faiths. As Tanya Pushkine, also known as “The Vow Whisperer,” says, “The ceremony is the reason why everybody is there.” This gallery is dedicated to wedding ceremony décor, drawing inspiration from gorgeous real weddings around the world to help you conceptualize and envision the stage you wish to set for your own wedding day.

One of the best aspects about wedding ceremonies is observing and participating in the practices of different cultures and customs. During Jewish wedding ceremonies, the traditional chuppah takes center stage in the wedding ceremony décor. Referring to a canopy that looms above the couple, the chuppah is a wedding ceremony décor detail that luxury wedding planners and designers have successfully recreated time and time again. While browsing this inspiration gallery, you’ll find everything from acrylic chuppahs dripping with phalaenopsis orchids, to golden canopies with silky white draping, to four-post masterpieces completely covered in lush greenery and flowers.

Indian and Southeast Asian weddings are another favorite among our featured weddings, and Hindu wedding ceremony décor takes color to a whole new level. For these ceremonies, the nuptials takes place under a Mandap – a wedding ceremony décor structure that gives floral and event designers a chance to truly flex their creativity. A Mandap may be a freestanding piece, carefully constructed with unique curves, draping, and encrusted with crimson flowers. Some couples will have a gleaming white outdoor stage set up, with an aisle lined with flowers and the Pacific Ocean serving as the backdrop. Others may simply take over the infamous Pavilion at The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, where the towering dome requires little more than some floral arrangements and furnishings to provide the perfect setting for a Hindu or Jain wedding ceremony.

Even for Western weddings, what couples and their planners envision for their wedding ceremony décor is completely limitless. This gallery alone features several breathtaking décor schemes that take place in the ballrooms of the world’s most luxurious hotels, church ceremonies in cities likes Venice and Vienna filled with old-world glamour, and incredible over-the-pool ceremonies where the bride makes her way down a transparent platform as if she’s walking on water.

Take a close look at each photo, and you’ll find unexpected wedding ceremony décor details that may serve for future inspiration as well. Petals strewn in geometric shapes; thousands of candles lighting an outdoor wedding ceremony; minimalist draping and candles in lieu of flowers; an altar inspired by the death scene in Romeo and Juliet; and the ever-popular use of mirrored aisles and design pieces. Collectively, we hope this wedding ceremony décor gallery ignites your passion and creativity for dreaming up your own ceremony design that is the ultimate reflection of who you are as couples and individuals.