Is anyone making their own centerpieces?

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This is a thread that was started in our old BlissWeddings.com forums by Pandorasboxx03 on 10/01/05.

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posted by Pandorasboxx03

Fi and I are on a tight budget, and I was planning on making my own centerpieces, does any one have any ideas?

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posted by Marge129

I made my own (25 for about $100). My Mom found glass goblets at the dollar store, we put fish tank rocks in the bottom, a candle (in holder) on top, and surrounded the candle with glass stones. We're going to put one goblet on a mirror (the reception site had these) and put some confetti on the mirror also. It's VERY pretty! Hope this helps!

Margie

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posted by 6amandaf6

We bought some candles with a pre-Raphaelite painting on them, put them on some cheap candle holder stands (1 per table), put a wreath made out of twigs and leaves around the bottom of the candle holder, and then on top of the white linen tablecloths, put a dark blue organza tablecloth kind of scrunched up underneath them. It loked cool I thought. You don't have to do anything too fancy and it can look really effective but not costing much. Candles can be bought really cheaply, same with candle holders. And our wreaths were made by our florist for next to nothing. You could definitely make most of it yourself and doing it heaps in advance you can take the time to get stuff for a good price.

Good luck

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posted by Jazzy

i'm using floating candles. I'm buying glass cylinders that pretty much look like vases, putting glass fish tank gems in the water and putting a floating candle in the shape of a flower on the top. Around the cylinder will be real flowers.

Hope this helps

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posted by wedgirl

My friend just got married, and she did what Jazzy is doing, minus the fresh flowers. She used 3 cylinders per table, in 3 different heights, with the floating candle. It looked gorgeous!

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posted by Amanda

At my friends wedding she's using beta fish and placing them in glass bowls with some tea light candels around, she showed me one. I looked nice...excpet for the fish, i'm scared of fish. but she said it was about 5 bucks a table.

I'm having a british weddding so the centerpeices are different sized pillar candles in red white and blue with englsih candy on the tables.

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posted by Amanda

At my friends wedding she's using beta fish and placing them in glass bowls with some tea light candels around, she showed me one. I looked nice...excpet for the fish, i'm scared of fish. but she said it was about 5 bucks a table.

I'm having a british weddding so the centerpeices are different sized pillar candles in red white and blue with englsih candy on the tables.

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posted by Holly

You don't have to be particularly craftsy to make your own centrepieces. It can be as simple as putting a pillar candle or two in the middle of a table, or a vase of flowers. I've heard of some people who put all of the wedding favours in the middle of the table, so it forms a kind of centrepiece.

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posted by Star Bride

Wal-Mart has a lot of great glass vases and bowls to float candles or flowers. Votives are always cheap too. Scatter some flowers around the table. Just don't make them too high so your guests can still have conversations.

*Star*

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posted by jegallan

In my opinion, you can't buy better atmosphere then candle light. With Walmart and 1$ stores selling inexpensive candles, holders, pretty rocks, silk greenery, vases, etc... you can create own centerpieces very easily and inexpensively! That's what I certainly plan to do for my wedding in August 2005. I also plan on buying lots of white mini-lights after the Christmas season this year, when they are on clearance!!

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posted by wynelle

One daughter was getting married and used red white and blue colors. Had different sized pillar candles, and then had those things that look sort of like coils of gold stars on a springy gold cording draped around the candles, all on a mirror. those coily things come in shamrocks, stars (in gold or silver) and other holiday themes and colors.

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posted by 6amandaf6

Oh, yeah, I forgot to say to look for stuff on clearance after Christmas. We got all our favours in a Christmas clearance.

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posted by princess2005

This is what we are using for our centerpieces if this helps you out any. I bought hexegon mirrors, placed a very fancy, yet cheap votive holder on top of the mirror and put a deep purple candle inside (since this is our color). Then I bought a bunch of silk flower bunches and pulled all the petals off the them (ALOT cheaper than flower petals) and sprinkled them around the centerpiece. It turned out to be very pretty and elegant looking. For about 30 tables (one centerpiece on each table) the cost came to about $100. I have a picture if you would be interested in seeing what it looks like. Just let me know.

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posted by serendipity53120

If anyone has pictures of their centerpieces they used for their wedding can you please email me them.. My mom and maidren of honor are going to be doing them but I would like some ideas. I would like to a butterfly theme to it. Thanks

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posted by Tonysgirl

I once coordinated a wedding where candles of various heights were placed on a glass mirror with rose petals sprinkled throughout. Contrary to popular belief fresh can be less expensive than silk flowers especially if you chose flowers that are in season. Find out where the wholesale flower markets are in your area. There are websites out there also, try out freshgrowers.com (I thinks thats it)

I once attended a wedding where they used potted plants, and it actually looked quite nice.

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posted by SkyeCPHT

We're making our own centerpieces. We don't have a lot of tables, so what we're doing is picking several places that are special to us (place where we met, place where we first kissed, our first vacation together, etc) and getting pictures of us there and a little story about why that place is special to us, and arrange it on a small board or something. Then we'll have a little theme. For example, for the "place we first kissed" table, which is a pier in Philadelphia, we'll get things like little boats or the flowers they have growing down there, and sea glass. And for the "our first vacation together" table, which was New Zealand, we'll have like some of our small New Zealand souvenirs. That works out well too, because relatives from NZ will be there, and that will be their table. I hope this helps! Get creative and just think of things that are special or important to you.

cristin

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posted by 6amandaf6

Thats such a cool idea Cristin (and I especially like the New Zealand table idea lol!!!)
I like the little special things like that that make a wedding special and unique. I think your guests appreciate stuff like that too.

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posted by SkyeCPHT

Thank you Amanda! I actually got that idea out of a magazine, and I thought it was so cool. So instead of numbering our tables, we're naming them, and the meaning behind the name is the centerpiece.

cristin

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posted by TheaterDiva1

We're having a beach-themed wedding, and we were thinking shallow glass bowls (dirt cheap from a thrift store, and since they're not really next to each other, I'm not worried about getting a matching set) filled with sand and scattered on top with shells and stones (all taken from the beach ourselves, so no cost there) and a few votive or tealight candles. In the middle, a tall thin card holder holding a sign with the table number (high enough as not to catch fire, though the sign can be removed once everyone sits down). Also, I bought two hole punchers shaped like sea shells and will use them to make confetti out of pastel-colored paper. We will sprinkle some on the tables and/or have guests throw them instead or rice. You can do variations on that to fit other types of weddings (for a garden theme, potted flowers instead of sand and shells - you get the idea).

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posted by Sarah76

Practical question about centerpiece candles:
How long do tealights burn for before you need to replace them? I really like the idea of having tealights and/or floating candles for our reception. But our florist said pillar candles would be better as they burn for longer, and with tealights you need to have someone at the reception watching them, ready to replace them. But maybe this wouldn't be a problem if tealights/floating candles last 3 or more hours??

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posted by 04bride

Regular tealights only burn for 2-3 hours at most. However, I bought some tealights recently from PartyLite, a company that does "candle parties", and theirs last 4-6 hours. Plus, they come in numerous colors/scents. You can find them online at partylite.com. What we did for our centerpieces, however, was use clear glass votive holders and votive candles, and they lasted through the entire reception. (I bought the votive holders at Michael's for 25 cents each, and then glued wide gold ribbon around the votive, to give it a classier look.)

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posted by maxine

I have found that looking at various dollar stores can be quite prosperous. We are having our wedding at a wine bar, so during the cocktail hour there will be wine tasting for those who want it. on those tables i will be putting a square 3" high ivory candle (that has a small bunch of grapes on the side) on a small plate. Both found at the dollar store a buck each, i needed 10 total. Then for the reception i went to a fruit and vegetable stand that sells all kinds of flowers in the front window instead of a florist. They have a guy there who makes beautiful arrangements however, since the selection is so vast, i plan to p/u the vases and go the day before the wedding and arrange them myself for a fraction of the cost probably $100.00

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posted by christmas_bride

I'm making my own centrepieces with three different sized pillar candles on a mirror-plate (got the mirror-plate and candles from Wal-Mart), and then I'm going to sprinkle rose petals around it. A bag of rose petals is costing me $5. I'm putting a sprig of fresh holly in the middle, to go with the Christmas season and all, but you don't even have to do that. The only thing I would say is that I found with white candles, you almost need to have something to "dress" them up a little or they look really bare. So maybe another colour(cream, red, etc). Hope that helps, and good luck!!!

Lindsay

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posted by TheaterDiva1

Hi again!

I posted back in May about centerpieces - our concept had since changed. We still used shallow glass bowls, but we ordered a set from Oriental Traders (about $4 each). We still used the sand and shells, but no wooden sign - I had gotten giant clam shells (Quahogs, or something like that), wrote table names on them in gold in the same handwriting as on the invitations and favors, and stuck them up in the sand. We then arranged bear grass (found in craft stores) to form something of a backdrop. Tealight candles stayed on the table. The confetti I had mentioned in the previous post was used by the flower girl in place of flower petals.

-Maggie

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posted by TheaterDiva1

I just went back and read some posts regarding candles. Word of advice - use unscented candles on the table. You don't want the scent of the candles to interfere with the aroma of the food.

-Maggie

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posted by MOBMEMBER

Great Ideas! My daughter is still trying to decide on centerpieces. She really wanted flowers, but with 30 tables that can get real expensive.

We did see alot of cute stuff at Ikea that you could use for centerpieces. I really liked thier metal lanterns for only $5. Candles go inside. But my daughter wasn't real keen on those. We also saw all kinds of cute candle holders that were very resonably priced and some large colored bowls for only $4 that would look great with floating candles. If you don't live near an Ikea they have a website Ikea.com

She's still deciding. We are trying to limit the expense to $5 a table.

MOB

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posted by feb-bride

You might want to double-check to see if your reception venue will even allow candles. I was all set on them until I found out that they were prohibited.

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posted by mrsyarwood2b

I know this will sound weird, but the centerpieces I made turned out really cute! I bought terra cotta flower pots and painted them with ivory crackle paint, so some of the brick red color shows through. Then I bought ivy bowls and hot glued the bottom of the ivy bowl to the bottom of the terra cotta pots. I tied a ribbon that matches our colors where the two join and... presto! Instant lantern. We're going to put votives in the ivy bowl and place one on each table. The terra cotta and ivory crackle will look great with the room we have (it has exposed brick walls circa 1900).

Aimee "Yarwood"

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posted by HeatherR

That sounds beautiful Aimee...

Heather

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posted by small wedding

Costco sells 24 roses for $13 check out www.costco.com also sams club sells flowers in bulk. We are getting 200 roses for around $100 and buying votives and glass vases at walmart for super cheap.

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posted by marchbride05

Our centerpieces are going to be pretty simple. We are buying small shallow glass bowls ($1 each at an outlet store). We are putting colored gem stones on the bottom. They are from Michael's and I got them for .88 cents a bag on sale. Then we will put water in the bowls and float candles. We are thinking about putting mirrored tiles below the bowls and decorating the tiles with rose petals or some other kind of flower. I'm trying to be ultra-thrifty with the centerpieces. I think the most expensive thing will be the tiles. Has anyone gotten a good deal on those? If so, where?

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posted by HeatherR

march, I would try some place like Home Depot or Lowes. They usually have a good deal on those type of items b/c of home decorating.

Heather

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posted by TheaterDiva1

I know this will sound weird, but the centerpieces I made turned out really cute! I bought terra cotta flower pots and painted them with ivory crackle paint, so some of the brick red color shows through. Then I bought ivy bowls and hot glued the bottom of the ivy bowl to the bottom of the terra cotta pots. I tied a ribbon that matches our colors where the two join and... presto! Instant lantern. We're going to put votives in the ivy bowl and place one on each table. The terra cotta and ivory crackle will look great with the room we have (it has exposed brick walls circa 1900).

That sounds cool Aimee! Do you have pictures you can post?

-Maggie

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posted by autumnj3

I am just in the beginnings of planning an April 2006 wedding. Two things I would like to mention.
1. Before going with the candles theme make sure that you can have a lit flame at your reception hall. Someplaces wont allow you to have them lit unless they are in a certain height of a glass container, or just dont light them.
2. An idea that my mom and I are going to try to do, is force hyacynth bulbs and other spring flower that tend to be shorter than tulips-which can be hard to keep standing straight. We dont have the timing figured out quite yet, but the idea is to have hyacynth bulbs in hurricane glasses with white rocks. I also plan on giving away bulbs to my guests, the gift that keeps on giving every spring.
Hopefully this will help other brides.

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posted by autumnj3

I just thought of an other idea I will use as my backup plan. I love going to thrift stores. You can find some really cool looking glassware. They wont need to be matching, because I love colors. Even if you want to have clear glassware, you can find good bargains. For flowers, I will get some flowers from a wholesale store, or even the grocery store, and just trim and place in the glasses. That way you wouldn't feel cheated out of buying all the glass and not use it again, if you are unable to rent.

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posted by autumnj3

To respond to March05 question on cheap tiles....
I was thinking of a place to get mirror tiles cheap. Maybe it would be possible to go to a place that makes specialized mirrors. We have a place here for glass, like for doors and mirrors. I'm not saying go and just buy straight from them. But they may have 'scraps' left over from a big project and would be willing to just give them to you. Or certain mirrors might be 'out of style' and would get cheap. They may be in a huge slate, but it may not sot much to have them just cut into squares. It's not that difficult.
Or look in a junk yard. Many people who get new mirrors just throw stuff out. Other people's junk is someone else treasure.

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posted by wynelle

Hyacinths, jonquils, paperwhites and amaryllis are all fairly easy to "force" bloom and come in a variety of colors. Paperwhites are the shortest.

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posted by CupieJen

Also, sometimes the reception site will have mirrors that you can use. Ours had votive candle holders that we used.

MOB--We had a summer wedding and wanted tons of flowers. for the center pieces, we bought terra cotta pots and painted them in our wedding colors. we made arrangements in them using flowers from my mom's garden. They were sooo pretty. Everyone loved them, and we ended up letting people take them home. I think there was a total of 50 pots in all. (there was about 3 or so on each table).

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posted by jennyz

depends on your theme but you could try something as simple as a dozen tulips in a tin bucket or a glass bowl from the dollar store filled with an assortment of items like citrus fruit, gilded nuts, pine cones... anything you can find outside. Put some sand on a tray and add some marbles & shells and candles.

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posted by letsparty

I was just watching my new favorite show "The Party Planner with David Tutero (sp?) on the Discovery channel and he did the following cenetrpieces:

He took plain white styrofoam cut into a random shape. Then he took a glass hurricane candle holder and covered it in medium sized circle stickers and then sprayed it with glass frosting spray that you can get in a craft or hardware store. When it dries, you peel off the stickers and you have clear dots to let the light shine through.

He placed that in the middle of the styrofoam and added white, frosted and clear ornaments that you would us to make a christmas ornament wreath (the ones with the long wire attached to them. He placed them all bunched together at differing heights and it looked like a sheet of pearls...so pretty.

Then the final touches were strands of fake pearls that you can get at a craft store and fresh gardenias that smelled really good....it was GORGEOUS!!

Jamie

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posted by Charmed

my table centerpieces are very simple - tulle, Ivy, and those beaded garlands for christmas trees. They will all be wraped and woven together, and then placed along the center length of the table. One of the favors is mini terra cotta pots with some blue ribbon wraped around it and some blue alyssum planted in the pot. tried it out, and looks really cute! Also, if there are enough plug-ins, we are thinking of having the white mini lights wrapped in as well.

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posted by MOBMEMBER

We just finished making the centerpieces for my daughter's wedding. We are doing blue and silver colors with a snow theme for February wedding.

After pricing out flowers for 27 tables we decided to make the centerpieces. We are using 12"x12" square mirrors. We found this really amazing snow stuff. It comes in a little packet that you mix with water... it looks like snow, and even feels like snow to the touch. We are putting the snow on the mirrors with 3 votive candles buried in the snow, then along the edges of the mirrors we make square frames out of apple tree branches and decorated them with pinecones that we painted with white faux snow and sprinkled with crystal glitter. They turned out really nice and we are putting them on blue tableclothes so they should really stand out nice.

We are hanging silver snowflakes from the ceiling and decorating the cake table and buffet table with the same painted pinecones, along with the snow theme the wedding cake will be an ice cream cake with chocolate fondant sprinkled with white food glitter.

Only two weeks to go!

MOB

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posted by journeyoflove

I've made Orgiami Lilies for meeting last Novemeber. Check it out at http://journeyoflove.tripod.com/id3.html

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posted by TheaterDiva1


I went to check it out... the link's not working.

-Maggie

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posted by mskay

I found the most adorable & priced right glass angel candle holders! Two angels that face each other. I'm placing them on a round mirror-(rented) with a white dinner candle (I've tied a small lilac colored ribbon with tiny lilacs (my color)& greenery around the candle and surround the angel with three votive candles and sprinkled the mirror with glitter. Its really quite pretty. I'd like to also say, don't buy cheap candles. If you want that soft lighting to last the night, go to a candle store, you'll pay a little more, but you'll have candles that will burn 8-10 hrs. Well worth the added pennies! The candle that's placed in the angels I won't be lighting as I will be giving the angels away at the end of the night. They are so adorable, I want to keep all of them!

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posted by MOBMEMBER

Funny story on our centerpieces. (See earlier post)

I made sure this snow stuff was non-toxic because we were having kids at the reception and I thought just in case. It is non-toxic so we went with it.

I didn't get any reports of kids eating it. But two adults confessed to me that they tasted it! I couldn't believe it! I think because it looked and felt so much like snow they were trying to figure out what it was. They said it tasted terrible, go figure!

MOB

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posted by TheaterDiva1

Funny story on our centerpieces. (See earlier post)

I made sure this snow stuff was non-toxic because we were having kids at the reception and I thought just in case. It is non-toxic so we went with it.

I didn't get any reports of kids eating it. But two adults confessed to me that they tasted it! I couldn't believe it! I think because it looked and felt so much like snow they were trying to figure out what it was. They said it tasted terrible, go figure!

MOB

Oy vey... that's like putting up a "Wet Paint" sign, and people have to touch it "just to make sure..."

-Maggie

[MrsP]

I HAVE A CENTERPIECE IDEA FOR YOU THAT I AM USING NOW FOR A FRIEND WHO WANTS ELEGANCE ON A STRICT BUDGET. YOU CAN PURCHASE FAUX FLORALS THAT LOOK SURPRISINGLY REAL. THE ONES CHOSEN FOR THIS WEDDING ARE DEW TIPPED ROSES DONE IN BALLS. IT TAKES TWO BOUQUETS (I GOT THEM HALF PRICED) COULDNT AFFORD THE MEDIUM STOROFOAM BALLS SO MADE MINE WITH YARN BALLS AND HOT GLUE. PULLING THE ROSES OFF GLUING THEM ON BALL THEN PULLING THE LEAVES OFF AND DOING THE SAME THING .YOU CAN LEAVE AREA UNDER THE BALL FOR SETTING ON TABLE SPRINKLE A FEW PETALS AROUND IT, CANDLES AND CALL IT DONE.OR USING TALL VASES ADD BEADS OF CHOICE BARE BRANCHES FLOWER PETALS MOUNT THE ROSE BALL ON TO BRANCHES MAKING SURE IT IS WEDGED WELL SO IT DOESNT FALL OFF,ADD PETALS AROUND THE VASE ADD CANDLES AND YOUR DONE. HOPED THIS HELPED