Although a garage is not necessarily the first place that comes to mind when considering where to celebrate a wedding, it is an affordable option for small weddings or second weddings. Yards of fabric, fresh flowers and charming lighting can transform this functional space into a fabulous wedding party atmosphere. Here's how.

Take three white or ivory sheets and sew together at the edges lengthwise. You'll need seven to eight sets of these for the average size garage.

With the garage door open, attach white sheets or ivory material from the sides of the open door (which is now at the ceiling of the garage), with tacks or staples. If you have a metal garage door cut small holes in the fabric along the edge and attach to the door with twist ties or zip ties. Sweep the material along the sides of the garage walls and allow it to drape down. Attach sheets like this on all three sides of the door, leaving the opening uncovered. This creates an internal canopy look that camouflages the garage interior. Alternatively, if your garage is big enough, you can simply rent a canopy frame and fabric and place it inside the garage.

Use white Christmas lights to give the garage a romantic ambiance. Buy white lights with a white cord (as opposed to a green cord) and string along the sides of the room in a repeat V pattern. To do this, plug the lights into an extension cord on the floor. Tape the first light into place on the floor in front of the sheet or materials you have draped. Bring the lights up towards the ceiling and angle outward slightly to create that V angle. At the ceiling, tack the lights into place and bring the string back towards the floor. Secure at the floor and bring back up to the ceiling, repeating until you have covered all sides.

Make the room look more festive by placing green plants and ornamental trees along the edges of the room in front of the sheeting to create a boundary. Get tall silk ficus trees and string white lights around the branches and trunks. Plan on three per side. Fill in the spaces with shorter flowering plants to match the wedding party colors if possible. For example, for an autumn wedding you can buy large flowering mums to place along the sheeting "walls," or a summer wedding might mean containers of wild daisies.

Rent round tables and chairs for your garage and driveway to seat guests. Rent two long rectangular tables for the wedding party and place at the back of the garage. Scatter the round tables throughout the room (usually you can fit about five in an average garage) and out onto the driveway depending on how many guests you expect. Cover all the tables with white table coverings that drape to the floor. Place baskets of flowers to match the wedding party colors on all of the tables along with battery operated "candles" or real candles in glass candle holders.