Key Takeaways
Turn your pool into a beautiful centerpiece with lanterns, candles, and personalized floral arrangements for a magical look.
Floating pool decorations like lanterns and flowers can add vibrant colors and serve as a playful deterrent to swimming.
Create an unforgettable experience with custom details like initials or wedding logos themed with romantic lighting over the pool.
Though you likely aren't thinking about planning a wedding reception pool party, there are ways to incorporate this body of water into your big day. How? Well, instead of ignoring the in-ground pool at your reception venue, turn it into an elegant part of your wedding décor by adding a few customized touches.
More specifically, candles, lanterns, and floral arrangements lining the edge of the pool work as both a safety element and a pretty addition to your overall décor. Personalized touches—like monogrammed floral arrangements or your initials painted on the bottom of the pool—can even tie the space into your other social areas. But that's not all! Floating decorations—like lanterns, colorful blooms, or delicate petals—will add a pop of color to your reception, all while deterring guests from spontaneous swims.
If you need a few visual ideas to help inspire you while wedding planning, ahead, see how 15 of our real wedding couples turned a traditional swimming space into an unforgettable part of their reception design.
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Create a Pool Deck Garden
Photo by Brogen Jessup
At their Tuesday night wedding for 80 guests, Natalie and Steven turned the pool deck at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma, San Diego, into a “fun, funky, playful—and, like, really, really pretty!” reception space, the bride shares. Flowers in a rainbow of muted shades adorned the edge of the pool, matching the bright furniture and textiles.
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Add Twinkling Candlelight
Photo by Brooke Miller Photography
The natural surroundings at this Joshua Tree wedding inspired the earth-toned color palette. Long tables flanked the rectangular pool, where dozens of hurricane-enclosed pillar candles reflected off the water during the evening.
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Pack It With Petals
Photo by Erich McVey
A hanging floral canopy over the reception space at this colorful wedding in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, matched the bright pink petals the couple used to fill the turquoise pool.
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Make an Initial Impression
Photo by Stephanie Sunderland
Lifestyle blogger Corey Golden and her husband, Brian, tied the knot at her grandparents’ home in Westhampton Beach, New York, where custom details included a floral layout of the couple’s initials floating in the backyard pool.
09 of 15
Put the Music in Motion
Photo by Abby Jiu Photography
A bout of rainy weather forced this couple to install a tent for their English garden-inspired wedding, but the dramatic draping and climbing foliage created an intimate enclosure for the dining tables—and the musicians, who performed on mini stages that floated in the pool.
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Go Above and Beyond
Photo by Pablo Laguia
At La Fortaleza, a 17th-century fortress in Puerto de Pollença, Mallorca, a shimmering mirrored aisle was placed over the courtyard’s water features and accented with terracotta-toned florals.
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Create a Custom Candle Layout
Photo by Carlos Lopez Ayerdi
A more-is-more aesthetic at this colorful wedding in Guatemala extended to the pool décor, where frames suspended hundreds of candles over the water and multi-hued roses lined the edge.
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Spell It Out
Photo by Norman & Blake
After more than a decade together, Christina and Cam received a nearly unanimous reaction from their friends and family to their engagement. They embraced the phrase as one of the themes of their playful and elegant Big Sur wedding, even creating oversized floating letters that spelled it out in the pool.
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Make It Personal
Photo by Erich McVey
Bride and groom Angela and Justin were surprised by a custom detail at their destination wedding in Riviera Maya: The venue had painted the couple’s wedding logo onto the bottom of the pool.
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Add Romantic Lighting
Photo by Patricia Lyons Photography
The deep green water in this courtyard pool in Malaga, Spain, matched the lush vines climbing the walls of the luxury hotel and the statement-making plants that surrounded the tables. Dozens of floating lanterns lit the couple’s after-dark party.
