Wedding centerpiece suggestions needed

[mommytotwo]

My friend will be getting married next year in July and we are thinking of centerpieces.
The price of flowers are priceier here, so we are trying to think of a way to make a centerpiece using less flowers-more greenery....

Does anyone have suggestions and pictures?
Have you gone to a wedding where there was something else instead of a floral arrangement on the table? Ex. I had gone to a friend's wedding where they had a nice orchid plant in a basket.

TIA.

 

[Amapola]

I've seen potted poinsettias at Xmas time weddings -- especially the white ones. Maybe some gorgeous bromeliads? Orchids would be spectacular too.

I think it's a fun idea

 

[mommytotwo]

Has anyone seen big pillar candles with a flower ring around it as a centerpiece?
If so, what did it look like?

 

[WDWAurora]

We had no flowers. We used a glass bowl filled with water and a floating candle in the wedding colors (pink and some silver). I tied green ribbons around the lips of the bowls (that was the other wedding color). These were on white tableclothes, so I also sprinkled a small amount of wedding confetti in a circle around the bowl to add color to the table. I loved how it turned out.

 

[princess pooh]

To save money on flowers we decided to go for something more structural. Our florist attached branches to a candelabra and put roses and orchids in the branches.

 

[trappednabox]

Candles are always nice for weddings, right now you can find tons of these b/c people like to give candle sets for x-mas

 

[CA Disney Fans]

We did something similar to what WDWAurora did for her wedding. We had orchids in the bowl with the floating candles. And had petals on the tablecloth around the bowl.

 

[palmtreegirl]

We had no flowers. We used a glass bowl filled with water and a floating candle in the wedding colors (pink and some silver). I tied green ribbons around the lips of the bowls (that was the other wedding color). These were on white tableclothes, so I also sprinkled a small amount of wedding confetti in a circle around the bowl to add color to the table. I loved how it turned out.

That sounds really pretty.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Well...On thanksgiving my auntie didnt have flowers so we put oranges (Any other fruit would work) in the middle of the table in a pretty vase.

 

[Carys]

At a friend's wedding earlier this year, each table had a fish bowl with a couple of gold fish, and rounded river pebbles in the bowl and artistically around the bowl on the table as a centerpiece - the fish were on loan from an aunt who breeds them, I don't know if you happen to know someone who breeds fish as a hobby too whom you could borrow some from? Long shot, but it was very effective and yes the fish seemed to be happy and healthy at the end of the event, so thought I'd throw that into the Ideas Cauldron You could then just skip flowers and have some greenery around the bowls...perhaps vines trailing through the pebbles...

 

[Samandmom]

For our wedding we used small glass bowls (got them from Michael's and they are called Ivy bowls for only .89 cents each) we filled them up with water and had a small fish in each bowl (they were about 15cents each) we also put purple rocks (fish tank rocks pebbles) at the bottom the bowl and then had floating candle on top.

 

[Lil_Tink]

At a friend's wedding earlier this year, each table had a fish bowl with a couple of gold fish, and rounded river pebbles in the bowl and artistically around the bowl on the table as a centerpiece - the fish were on loan from an aunt who breeds them, I don't know if you happen to know someone who breeds fish as a hobby too whom you could borrow some from? Long shot, but it was very effective and yes the fish seemed to be happy and healthy at the end of the event, so thought I'd throw that into the Ideas Cauldron You could then just skip flowers and have some greenery around the bowls...perhaps vines trailing through the pebbles...

Also at most pet stores you can get guppies for about 10cents each

 

[pfishgirl]

candles seem to be everyone favorites...
just went to a wedding and the bride used mason jars with handles, put candles inside and made hand made tags for each table.. enough tags for each couple that had their wedding date and names on them... she also used apples for place cards, the leaves were paper with the guests names on them..

 

[barkley]

we bought the small bags that people put on thier walkways with tea candles in...we bought them in our wedding colors, filled each with a bit of sand and put a lit tea candle in each. around the bags there was a bit of confetti (again in the wedding colors) and some chocolate gold foil coins (which the kids loved). on the main table we had large candles with rings of silk flowers that matched the wedding bouquets-i still have one in my china hutch.

 

[ducklite]

I made the centerpieces for a friends wedding. I looked online and through a bunch of books at craft stores for ideas. Then I watched the sales at Michaels and bought everything at 50% off. I used silk flowers and greenery, hurricane glass and candles, and wired ribbon. Unfortunately I don't have a photo. They came out very nice, and cost a fraction of what fresh from a florist would have cost.

Anne

 

[golfgal]

My SIL decorated some terracotta flowerpots to match the theme of her wedding (she was married on St. Patrick's Day and used some old fashioned looking St. Pat's postcards) and then we lined them with clear plastic bags, filled them with ice and put bottles of wine in them. It looked great. On some tables she had some topiary trees, small ones, that she found at Michaels cheep, on sale.

 

[mommytotwo]

Great ideas, thank you.
Keep them coming.

 

[Towncrier]

We went to a wedding in Hana (Maui) in 1997. My wife is a floral designer and she was blown away by all of the decorations at the reception. There were gourds that were trimmed with some sort of cording and filled with flowers and kukui nuts. Some of the locals had woven palm fronds into a sort of pocket that was tied to the posts of the tent where the reception was held and again filled with flowers. I guess it might have helped that the bride worked at the university in the horticulture department and that the groom's family owned a nursery in Hana.

Sorry that I don't have any pictures to share (although the gourd I described is sitting in our family room at home).

I am a bit surprised that flowers are more expensive in Hawaii. There are lots of exotic tropical plants that cost a fortune on the mainland that I just assumed were less expensive because the can be grown locally. Just goes to show you what I know.

 

[mommytotwo]

We went to a wedding in Hana (Maui) in 1997. My wife is a floral designer and she was blown away by all of the decorations at the reception. There were gourds that were trimmed with some sort of cording and filled with flowers and kukui nuts. Some of the locals had woven palm fronds into a sort of pocket that was tied to the posts of the tent where the reception was held and again filled with flowers. I guess it might have helped that the bride worked at the university in the horticulture department and that the groom's family owned a nursery in Hana.

Sorry that I don't have any pictures to share (although the gourd I described is sitting in our family room at home).

I am a bit surprised that flowers are more expensive in Hawaii. There are lots of exotic tropical plants that cost a fortune on the mainland that I just assumed were less expensive because the can be grown locally. Just goes to show you what I know.

Sounds like a nice arrangment.
My sister's friend had also used a gourd as a centerpiece because of their culture.
Yes, flowers are expensive here no matter what type you get.
If we had one of those really big farmers markets where you can really buy in bulk, that would help, but that is not the case and things would have to be flown in.

 

[Disney Doll]

We did this centerpiece for an anniversary party, so same general idea. It was a silver anniversary, and the wedding colors had been light blue (bridemaids gowns, flowers etc), so we wanted to go with a silver & light blue theme.

We had white tablecloths on the tables, took a light blue cloth napkin and put it in the center of the table. Took a "rose bowl"...one of those sort of chubby round vases...and filled it halfway with water and put a silver floating candle in the shape of a rose in it. We tied blue & silver ribbon around the top of the rose bowl..it had sort of a "lip", so the ribbon stayed in place...and two silver weddings bands (little cheapies purchased at the party store...they came in a bag of 100 I think) tied into the ribbon. We curled the ribbon to give it a little "zip". We placed the rose bowl in the middle of the blue napkin and sprinkled silver table confetti around it. Ours had the individual confettis in the shape of the number 25, but I ma sure you could get wedding bell, doves, or some other "wedding- ey" thing. The party was held outside, so when it got dark we lit the candles and it was quite pretty. The whole thing total cost about $10, which is pretty cheap considering what flowers cost.