News, Tips & Offers delivered to your inbox.

Want to celebrate your big day like your favorite stars? Five event planners to the stars offer budget-friendly ways to make your wedding dazzle.

The Planner: Preston Bailey

Towering centerpieces crowned with glowing tapers make a scintillating statement.

A glorious garden in a vase makes a lush welcome for guests.

If high drama is your style, take a peek at the wedding reception of Donald and Melania Trump, at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. (Trump actually had a ballroom built especially for the occasion!) But you don’t have to be a real estate mogul to go for dramatic effect, says event designer Preston Bailey, who worked closely with Trump’s bride to create the impression of “old- world elegance with a streak of the dramatic.” Bailey describes the reception’s crowning glory as the 12-foot-high table candelabra, layered with roses and hydrangeas and topped with tapers adorned with lush rose-petal garlands. “They beautifully complemented the table arrangements of white roses and gold-rimmed place settings,” says Bailey.

You can go tall and spectacular without breaking the bank, Bailey asserts. “Sleek glass vases, or even tiered dessert stands, can offer the same height and effect at a more affordable cost,” he says. As for cutting costs on the flowers, Bailey recommends choosing a variety of blooms, like roses, daisies and tulips, in the same tones, perhaps in shades of yellow or white. “And there is always the even less-expensive option of using silk versions of roses, orchids, hydrangeas, lisianthus, dahlias and peonies,” he adds.

The Planner: Jo Gartin, Love, Luck and Angels

When Private Practice star Kate Walsh and film producer Alex Young chose to hold their reception at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa in California, they told their planner, Jo Gartin, that they had to have tons of butterflies in the décor. “Butterflies hold a special meaning for the pair,” she explains. So Gartin went all out and incorporated a couple of thousand handmade gold- and bronze- feathered butterflies into everything from the floral arrangements to the cake to the venue’s wooden pergolas. “An easy way to achieve a similarly unique and gorgeous look,” says Gartin, “is to purchase craft butterflies online or from a local floral-supply store.” And then keep in mind that in décor, less can be more. Order a smaller quantity, say, 200, instead of 2,000, and get a beautiful effect in a simpler fashion.

To show her appreciation to her bridesmaids and brother (her man of honor), Walsh ordered miniature note cards from Gartin’s design team, made of antique museum board and printed in chocolate-brown ink. The notes, which expressed different sentiments, were tucked into the maids’ bouquets and the man of honor’s boutonniere. “Each note cost about $15,” says Gartin. A pretty, low-cost alternative? Handwrite the notes on simple card stock, and attach them to the base of your bridesmaids’ bouquets with a pearl pin.

Gartin mentioned another clever touch that you might want to try. She placed a giant antique suitcase near the dance floor with a sign that said “For tired toes.” Inside the trunk were pairs of velvet Chinese slippers. “These were for the ladies who wanted to dance but needed a break from their high heels,” she explains. You can do the same for less by purchasing less expensive brocade slippers at Pearl River (pearlriver.com); borrow a trunk or pick up an interesting-looking antique at a flea market. Your guests will feel like VIPs!

Photography: John Labbe.

Page    1  2