How do you decorate a tent for a wedding?

Layering is everything — florals at multiple heights, a mix of textures like crystal and gold, and a statement ceiling treatment, like a draped wisteria installation with hanging crystals, turn a simple tent structure into a fully immersive space.

Tented Wedding Design | A White & Gold Estate Reception

Sara and Jamal's tented wedding reception was both opulent and incredibly personal. Held outdoors on Jamal's family estate in Los Gatos, we designed the tented reception to reflect the clean, elegant style of the property — with layers of white florals, gold accents, and a dramatic draped ceiling that transformed the space into something unforgettable.

Modern, elegant white wedding florals by Eddie Zaratsian Lifestyle & Design

Why Choose a Tented Wedding Reception?

A tented wedding reception gives you the flexibility of an outdoor setting with the control of an indoor one — you're not limited by an existing structure's layout, lighting, or style. For Sara and Jamal, a tented reception meant we could design every element from scratch: the draped ceiling, the floral installations, the lighting, and the flow of the space, all built around the natural beauty of the family estate itself.

Glass-covered pool aisle at an outdoor estate wedding ceremony

Designing a Tented Wedding

Working alongside Kat Minassi Events, we constructed a huge fabric draped tent for the reception and filled it with layer upon layer of white wedding florals. Dramatic white floral centerpieces made from roses, orchids and hydrangea rose above each table, some in clear glass vases and others sitting atop modern gold and copper floral stands.

Over the dance floor we created a dramatic and romantic ceiling treatment of draping white wisteria with crystal chandeliers and individual crystals hung with white satin ribbon. It made the dance floor feel like a magical place where the guests danced all night!

White & Gold Wedding Tent Details

I love using gold and clear crystal accents to elevate a white wedding inside a tented reception — they add depth and interest to a clean, modern atmosphere without feeling heavy. This kind of gold and white wedding decor works because every metallic element stays intentional rather than decorative for its own sake: nothing competes with the florals, it all supports them.

At this event, sparkling glass candelabras lined the long dining tables, and each place setting featured gold flatware alongside gold-rimmed glass chargers, so the metallics carried through the tablescape from the centerpieces down to the smallest details guests would notice up close. Guests were seated in clear Chiavari "Napoleon" chairs, chosen specifically so the eye moves straight to the florals and gold accents rather than the furniture itself. Even the property's pool became part of the design, covered with a glass platform so the space could flow seamlessly from the tented reception to the surrounding grounds.

Gold chargers and flatware at a white wedding reception table setting

A Floral Backdrop for the Wedding Cake

To anchor one end of the tented wedding reception, I created a large asymmetrical floral frame that showcased the beautiful tiered white wedding cake. Built from the same white roses, orchids, and hydrangea used throughout the wedding tent decor, the frame cascaded down one side in a lush, uneven line — a deliberate contrast to the clean, structured lines of the tent itself.

The cake sat at the center of the design, tiered in soft white and surrounded by loose floral accents at its base, so it felt less like a dessert display and more like a floral cake backdrop in its own right. This backdrop also created the perfect setting for Sara and Jamal's private dining table, giving the couple their own quiet, beautifully framed moment within the larger tented reception.

Tiered wedding cake with white floral arch backdrop

Bring This Tented Wedding Design to Your Own Celebration

This tented wedding reception is one example of what we create through our full-service wedding design and production — from structural elements like draped tenting and floral ceiling installations to tablescapes, lighting, and every detail in between. If you're envisioning a tented reception of your own, explore our wedding design and production services to see how we bring a vision like this to life.

Dance floor with custom monogram beneath a wisteria ceiling at a tented wedding

Sara and Jamal's tented wedding reception is a favorite example of how the right structural and floral choices can transform any outdoor space into something entirely their own.