{ranai}

The other day I got a text asking if I would help decorate for the pastor installation at my mom’s church. I didn’t remotely know what that meant, but it was for the church so of course I said yes. Once I talked to the individual in charge of the event, I figured out it would be quite a challenge! The task was to decorate a banquet hall that would be set for 120 people with no money to spend, and I had two weeks for planning with the help of a fellow Renee. Linens, tables, chairs and the closet of random leftover party items would be available for use.

I soon found out that the pastor installation was an event to welcome the new pastor and his family to the church. This was a big deal for this church since they had gone without a senior pastor for a couple of years and had many trials and tribulations finding the perfect fit. I wanted to have some special touches since this was such an important occasion.

So how do you start planning when you have little to no funding? First, pick a color scheme. Make sure when you are on a very limited budget that you choose colors that you have a lot of around your house. My mom mentioned yellow, black, and white which I was super excited about. It’s classic and so EASY! I purchase a lot of items in black, white, metal, or wood tones so they can be flexible with many themes. I’ve done a party before in this scheme (on a MUCH smaller scale) so I knew I would have some odds and ends to throw in.

We did end up spending around $70 total on flowers, ribbon, and balloons, which I think is AMAZING for a party this size.

We used yellow linens, various white and black fabric pieces from our stash, and mason jars with lemons and daisy poms to decorate the tables. This is where we spent most of our “budget”. We purchased $50 worth of flowers and greens from a local supplier and my mom made all of the arrangements using her canning jars she had around the house. The beauty of having a party in California in February is that you will know plenty of people with lemon trees; we received lemons from a church member and a friend of mine from the gym. I purchased black ribbon to tie around the mouth of the jars to finish off the look. The centerpieces were really cute and cost around $4 per table.

To add a personal touch to the room, I printed out relevant scriptures and placed them in fancy white frames. They surrounded a fabric covered canvas that normally hangs in my bathroom.

The church has a great mantle to embellish. I added a banner that reads “Welcome Silva’s” along with a frame that has little flags of the family’s first names. I added candles around in cute Ikea tins to finish off the look.

I added a few more details to punch up the décor. Those yellow and white tissue poms were in the closet of random items from parties past. Score! I cut out the yellow pennants and used small pieces of tulle to add a bit of flair. A simple and inexpensive way to amp up the décor is to use candles (also from the closet) that I dressed up with black ribbon.

They’re not pictured, but on the day of the event we added a few balloon bouquets around the room to finish off the look!