10 Great Ways to Use Ribbon

Satin or chiffon, narrow or wide, plain or personalised, ribbons are the unsung hero, yet inexpensive essential accessory to every wedding.

Here are our top tips for how to create a stylish look for every aspect of your wedding using ribbon.

  1. Invitations
    Get creative by using narrow, satin or chiffon ribbons to decorate your own hand-made wedding invitations, finishing each with a trim in your chosen wedding theme, be it bow trims, buckles or summer butterflies. Co-ordinate your wedding stationery by using the same ribbons and trims to make your orders of service, place cards, menus, table planner and thank you cards all match beautifully.
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  2. Favours
    Favours are the bride and groom’s way of thanking their guests for coming and are traditionally an opportunity to wish for happiness, good health, wealth, fertility and long life. Add five sugared almonds, sweets or chocolates to a favour box or sachet bag. Use narrow, satin or chiffon, personalised or plain ribbons to decorate each one and finish with a trim to match your invitations.
  3. Venues
    Wide ribbon can be used to great effect to decorate your marquee, and for round Moroccan style marquees, long lengths of ribbon can be tied to a central point for a stunning ceiling focus. Use the same wide ribbon as chair sashes in chiffon or satin to match your wedding colours.
  4. Car
    Your wedding car is just a car without the ribbon! Tie a funky retro-style ‘Just Married’ ribbon across the bonnet or ask your driver to add a smart satin sash to co-ordinate with your overall colour scheme. Just think of those fab wedding photos with the coloured ribbon on your car!
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  5. Hair
    When it comes to your little bridesmaids and flower girls' hair, ribbons look adorable. Use one ribbon tied into a bow on top of the head or ribbons to tie bunches or plaits with a small flower to finish.
  6. Dresses
    Use wide satin or chiffon ribbons as sashes for your little bridesmaid’s dresses, either to match the ribbons in their hair or to match your colour scheme. As many people dress their flower girls in ivory, this is a simple yet attractive way to co-ordinate their outfits with that of your bridesmaids.
  7. Gift wrap
    Make a pretty presentation of your thank you gifts to your bridal party during the reception by tying their gifts with ribbons and bows to match your venue décor in your wedding colours. Tie a matching large satin ribbon around the presentation bouquets for your mothers to match and use personalised ribbons to say’ Thank you mum!’ or words to that effect.
  8. Cake(s)
    Use a ribbon in your wedding colour to decorate either your wedding cake or cake stand or even table on which it is displayed. If you’re making your own cake or cup cakes, use pretty ribbons to decorate each one and continue the ribbons to your cake boxes.
  9. Wishes
    An unusual alternative to the guest book, a wishing tree is usually a twig tree with many branches and twigs onto which you invite your guests to write a wish on a label or card and hang, using narrow ribbons, onto the tree.
  10. House!
    Finally, the most spectacular use for wedding ribbon is to tie a giant bow around the house of the happy couple for their return. They’ll always remember it and it will make their newlywed home feel all the more special for ever more.