The Second Venue

Like many a destination-bride, I'll be having an at-home reception once we come back from the honeymoon, to include those that can't make it to Hawaii in our celebration. From the looks of it, it could be just as big as the party on the island! Which is all fine and dandy, I'd love for everyone to come to both! But our budget might not agree.

So the at-home reception will be much more laid back, and hopefully much cheaper as well!

Here's our venue (pictures taken at the conclusion of a someone's wedding, chair covers not included):



That's right folks. A gym. A church gym.

Cringe all you want at the un-fanciness, the yellow lighting for bad pictures, etc. I'm going to view it as a challenge instead. How can I cheaply transform a gym into a beautiful reception hall?

For starters, I'm thinking it would be nice to erect some poles out of some sort of Home Depot-esque material, and hang some lanterns and lights:

I wish I had these crazy light-bulb shaped ones!

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But some normal round ones would probably look a little more formal.

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Sak and I have already started collecting some lanterns!


Though this is what I would do, if I had time and permission to scale the walls and ceilings...
Let's have some giant pinatas, full of candy! Guests can break them open with slingshots!

In any case, this reception will probably occur in the afternoon. We'll watch our wedding video and look at pictures to re-live the day, eat some delicious catered Filipino food, and have Sak's favorite tres leches cake for dessert!

How have you made the most of a venue not-exclusively-made-for-weddings? Any tips on how you would decorate a gymnasium?