When it comes to adding a touch of character to your wedding décor, nothing beats fabric drapes.With a bit of skill and high-quality material, draping your wedding ceremony or reception venue can create a more sophisticated look, add a bit of whimsy, or make the space feel cozier for your guests. It all comes down to how you hang your drapes and what color fabric you choose.
Pictured Above: Planning + Design: Filigree Suppers | Photography: Karen Obrist
What Is Wedding Draping?
Fabric isn’t just for covering windows. You can use draping to transform any location into the wedding space of your dreams.
Wedding draping is the process of strategically hanging or decorating a space with fabric or textiles to make a venue look more elegant or an outdoor event feel more luxurious. You might also see draping fabric used in other areas of the wedding, like in the bride’s dress or veil. These styles go hand in hand, so it makes sense that draping is a popular choice to upgrade the décor for any wedding theme.
Ideas for Wedding Draping Décor
There are endless ways to decorate your wedding venue with draping fabric! Here are a few of our favorite ideas.
Wall Draping for Weddings
Draping fabric can take the walls of your event space from boring to stunning.
Planning + Design: Filigree Suppers |
Photography: Karen Obrist
01 Use Draping to Decorate Venue Walls
By draping fabric on the walls of your wedding venue, you can soften harsh edges, hide unsightly imperfections, and make a plain or industrial space look more elegant.
02 Section Off Large Spaces
Is your wedding space large and open? You can make the venue feel warmer and more intimate by using floor-to-ceiling draping to divide the area into smaller spaces.
03 Create a Backdrop
Creating a backdrop with panels of draping fabric is a great way to further elevate your wedding décor and to cover up areas of the venue you’d rather guests not see.
Fabric Draping for Wedding Structures
Arches, canopies, tents, gazebos, and other wedding structures can benefit from beautiful draping fabric—and it will also help tie the whole space together.
04 Upgrade Your Wedding Arch
A wedding arch is a visual focal point and should be decorated as such. Use draping fabric to upgrade a plain or rustic arch, and add items like flowers, ribbons, crystals, and lights to make it even more beautiful.
05 Construct a Wedding Canopy
A canopy is a simple and stunning way to add dimension to your ceremony or reception area. Whether you stand under a fabric canopy to say your vows or build a small structure over the dance floor, drape the canopy in fabric to create a statement piece.
06 Elevate Tents and Gazebos
Draping sheer, flowy fabric over the top of a wedding tent or gazebo can make a big difference. You can elevate the look even further by weaving some greenery or fresh flowers around the posts.
Ceiling Draping for Weddings
Give guests a reason to look up with innovative and gorgeous ceiling draping.
07 Build a Faux Ceiling with Drapery
Drapery can elevate the ceiling of an outdoor wedding space—even if there’s no ceiling to start with! Use drapery to create the illusion of a ceiling over the dinner tables or dance floor, which will allow sunshine and starlight to pour through the fabric and give guests a peek of the sky above.
08 Interlace Ceiling Drapes
A modern twist on ceiling draping for weddings is to interlace long, flowy ceiling drapes that crisscross back and forth. It’s an elegant take that your guests will love.
09 Create Maypole-Style Ceiling Drapery
What better way to decorate for a bohemian-themed wedding than to hang overhead drapes in the style of a maypole? From the center of the venue’s ceiling, start with a spoke-and-wheel arrangement and use it to anchor panels of white draping fabric. It will create a whimsical, ethereal setting that goes hand in hand with the boho look.
10 Emphasize Soaring Ceilings
If your wedding venue has soaring ceilings, make the space even more eye-catching by adding floor-to-ceiling drapes. They will emphasize the height of the room and bring a bit of magic to the air.
Other Fabric Draping Ideas for Wedding Venues
Take your draping game to the next level with these special touches.
11 Drape Staircases and Entrances
Don’t forget entrances, doorways, and staircases! These areas of your venue can be elevated with draping fabric so your guests are entranced from their first steps into the space.
12 Hang Draped Cloth Signs
With a fabric sign draped over the entrance or strategically hung on one of the venue’s walls, you can write a special congratulatory message to the happy couple.
13 Include Fresh Florals and Greenery
Bring the outdoors in by accenting your drapery with fresh florals and greenery. Weave organic climbing ivy throughout the canopy or tie back billowing drapes with ribbon and flower bouquets. Either way, incorporating the natural beauty of the outdoors into your wedding drapery will create a romantic garden vibe.
14 Design a Photo Wall
Use some drapery to set up the backdrop of a photo wall where guests can snap a few selfies or a photographer can take fun professional shots. The fabric backdrop will add depth to the pictures, making them even more interesting.
15 Decorate with String Lights or Candles
String lights hanging alongside ceiling drapes create the illusion of stars or fireflies, and candles glowing next to draped fabric add romance and drama.
How to Choose a Draping Fabric for Your Wedding
Draping fabric comes in a variety of types and colors, so you can get one that matches your wedding theme. And the good news is that if you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, we can create custom drapes that match your exact specifications.
What Fabric Is Used for Wedding Draping?
There are four popular fabric choices for wedding drapes: chiffon, organza, tulle, and satin:
- Chiffon is a lightweight woven fabric that is sheer, slightly shimmery, and often made from silk.
- Organza, also made from silk, is stiffer than chiffon and brings a lot of body while remaining extremely light, making it a good choice when you need to add volume to your draping décor.
- Tulle holds its structure well and remains soft and smooth at the same time, and you can choose from different levels of opacity to match your style.
- Satin is a broad term for a type of weave used in fabric draping that is characterized by its soft, shiny, durable, and smooth look.
Other fabrics used for wedding draping include voile and netting, so keep those in mind as you search through your options.
Don’t forget that you can also mix and match fabrics to create an appealing texture. Layers of different fabrics add visual interest.
What Color Should Wedding Draping Fabric Be?
The color of your draping fabric should match the theme of your wedding.
All-white fabric is the most common color for draping fabric at traditional weddings (and for good reason—it’s stunning!), but other colors work well too:
- Neutral colors (ivory, blush) create a clean and simple look.
- Metallic colors (gold, silver) fit well with edgy themes.
- Bold colors (red, green, blue, orange, etc.) add contrast to your décor.
- Multicolored fabric complements a modern style.
One way to decide what color your wedding draping fabric should be is to get inspiration from your color palette.
If your palette is composed of lighter colors, white or ivory will brighten the look of the venue. If you chose dark colors instead, make a bold statement by having draping fabric in the most prominent hue of your color scheme or design a more subtle look by using the most neutral hue instead.
You can also layer different colors of drapery to design a striking space for your guests. Pair a neutral color with the boldest hue in your color scheme to provide contrast and create more visual appeal.
Create Custom Fabric and Wedding Draping Décor at Lola Valentina
At Lola Valentina, we can help you decorate your wedding space with unique table linens, runners, napkins, chargers, placemats, drapes, and more. You can shop our revolutionary design house to mix and match our selection of original designs to find exactly the right drapery for your venue, or you can work with our team of in-house designers to create a custom pattern for your fabric drape of choice that matches your wedding color scheme.
Visit our design bar to explore color and pattern combinations until you find just the right look for your wedding. Are you ready to bring your wedding design ideas to life? Talk to a designer today to get started.
