Table runners are a great way to easily dress up your tables, adding to the visual impact of your reception room or space. I have rounded up some of my favourite unique ideas for table runners- many of which you can easily DIY!
Floral Runners
For outdoor weddings or those with a garden or woodland theme, you can consider adding a natural, organic runner using anything from flowers, to fruits, vegetables, leaves, moss, rocks etc. Floral runners are perfect if you want to add some lush texture to your tables.
Images- Style Me Pretty (Milou + Olin Photography), Stone Blossom Floral & Event Design, Blush Botanicals (Vallentyne Photography), WedLuxe (JLS Photography), Style Me Pretty (Abi Q Photography)
Leaf Garland Table Runners
I love the way the sunset coloured, fall leaves in the pic on the left are used. The effect is strikingly beautiful! You will notice that the tables in the pics to the right (magnolia leaves garland above and lemon and lime garland at the below), are left very minimalist for a lovely, organic tablesecape.
Images- Storyboard Wedding (Foskett Creative Photography), Style Me Pretty (White Loft Studio Photography), Kara Rosenlund (Nikole Ramsay Photography)
Moss Table Runners
This is an easy DIY whether you use natural moss or fabricated. For tips on growing your own moss and to see more moss projects take a look at this post.
Images- Style Me Pretty (Lane Dittoe Fine Art Photography), Hatch Creative Studio, Ruffled (Wild Whim Photography)
Clementine and Poppy Table Runner
Such an unusual and lovely idea! I love the idea of using fruit in the table runner but because that may be quite costly locally (here in Barbados), I would probably just keep it to the head table.
Images- Green Wedding Shoes (onelove Photography)
Wooden Table Runners
What a great way to add a rustic touch! This would also work well for a beach or sea-side theme with clusters of shells.
Images- Style Me Pretty (Austin Gros Photography), Sunday Suppers (Karen Moredechai Photography), The Pretty Blog (Lauren Kriedemann Photography), Style Me Pretty (Anna Kuperberg Photography)
Lace Table Runners
I am obsessed with the rustic elegance which springs from the lovely pairing of soft, delicate lace with simple, wooden tables. For these runners, you can use upcycled or vintage lace or doilies for an eco-friendly, low-cost and easy DIY.
Images- Style Me Pretty (Abby Ross Photography) Style me Pretty (Bryce Covey Photography), Style Me Pretty (Susan Baker and Francesco Mastalia from Susan Baker Photography), 100 Layer Cake (Caroline Tran Photography), Style Me Pretty (Kristyn Hogan Photography), Ruffled (Tracy Turpen Photography)
Ikat Table Runners
Patterns add quite a punch and the ikat runners below are impactful without being overbearing. These would be great for modern brides who love mixing it up as well as for bohemian brides who are searching for an eclectic look.
Images- Eddie Ross, Style Me Pretty (Emily Blake Photography), Style Me Pretty (Jose Villa Photography)
Chevron Table Runners
Chevron is still a big fave in the wedding world but what is really trendy right now is adding a little sparkle as seen in the two pics on the right. Chevron + sparkly sequins = so much win!
Images- On To Baby (The Why We Love Photography), Style Me Pretty (onelove Photography), 100 Layer Cake (Cassidy Brooke Photography)
Ribbon Table Runners
Another great idea you can DIY! You can play with different colours, textures and sizes to create any kind of style- the three runners below project different looks- rustic elegance, vintage glam and a touch of whimsy.
Images- Le Magnifique (Gabriela Ines Photography), Belle The Magazine, U Create Parties (Jeanna Hayes Photography)
Watercolour Table Runners
Have some fun indulging in your artistic side by creating a watercolour table runner!
Images- Green Wedding Shoes (2) (Amanda of Swoon Over It Photography), A Beautiful Mess (Ryan Strong Photography), Valley & Co. Weddings (White Haute Photography)
Geometric Table Runner
Ruffled has a DIY tutorial for creating this unique and stylish geometric runner.
Images- Ruffled (Lauren Fair Photography)
Beach Wedding Table Runners
Of course, I had to add in some great beach wedding runners- the first (left) is made of oyster shells and the second (right) is a mesh runner with dendrobium orchids and tea light candles. So gorgeous!
Images- Joy Thigpen (Jose Villa Photography) , Coco & Jules Wedding (Ross Coffey Photography)
More Table Runner Ideas
Using a double runner (first pic, top left) allows you to pair different colours and textures for more impact. You can also tie your runner and add a simple flower or branch to dress it up as was done with the brulap table runner in the top pic on the right.
To create the lovely pinwheel table runner (bottom, left), you can find instructions here. If you want the impact of sequined linens like the gold table runner in the last pic (bottom, right) but want to DIY it, why not use glitter instead? Here’s a tutorial.
Images- Style Me Pretty (Trent Bailey Photography), Style Me Pretty (Blumenthal Photography), Green Wedding Shoes, Style Me Pretty (Hayley Sheffield Photography)
Using creative runners can really save you some money by allowing you to minimize the rest of table decor. Hopefully this has sparked some ideas for you. Let me know your thoughts- leave a comment or find me on Facebook or Twitter.