Homemade Wedding Centerpieces Ideas

From LoveToKnow Weddings

For a fun distraction during wedding planning, use these homemade wedding centerpieces ideas to get started with your table decorations. Not only is making your own centerpieces perfect for crafters, but it can also end up saving money.

Fruit bowls are simple homemade centerpieces.

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Guide to Making Centerpieces

Brides-to-be who are not familiar with crafting may find the idea of making their own centerpieces daunting. But almost anyone can do simple homemade centerpieces with a little planning and help.

Craft stores like Michaels offer wedding project ideas that are ranked by skill level, making it easy for you to choose one. Stores may also offer classes on how to do various centerpiece projects.

Friends and family who are into do-it-yourself projects can also be a source of information. They can offer ideas, advice and insider tricks to finishing a wedding reception centerpiece with finesse. Be sure to recruit plenty of people to help you make the centerpieces.

General guidelines to help you make your centerpieces include:

Watch sale circulars and internet deal trackers for discount supplies, then purchase in bulk.
Unless you have prior experience making the particular centerpiece, buy enough materials to do a few trial runs.
Renting supplies, like fish bowls, mirrors, or candle holders can sometimes be cheaper than purchasing.
Cutting corners, like using tape instead of glue, can cause an entire centerpiece to fall apart.
The centerpiece should be either above or below eye level to make it easy for guests to converse.

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Homemade Wedding Centerpieces Ideas

The kind of centerpiece you make depends on several things: how crafty you are, how much money you have to spend, and how you want the wedding reception decorations to look. The actual design of a centerpiece usually relates back to either the theme or color of the wedding. Food is another easy and simple centerpiece, while centerpieces made out of candles or flowers are classic choices for any wedding.

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Themed Centerpieces

Make simple centerpieces that relate back to your wedding theme. For example, a simple Christmas wedding centerpiece can be an arrangement of oversized candy canes tied with a large red velvet bow. Place them on a red or white silk napkin with wrapped red candies scattered around the tied canes.

An outdoor or garden themed wedding in the fall can make a simple vase or bowl of fruit the perfect centerpiece. Spring and summer weddings with lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits in centerpieces look lovely. Use fruits like apples and pears for outdoor fall weddings.

Beach themed centerpieces can be cheap and easy to make. Couples throwing an informal wedding can pick up inexpensive sand castle molds. Dust a little sand and seashells around the mold to complete the look. Molds can be found at dollar stores and big box retailers. For a rainbow themed beach wedding, buy multi colored molds. For a more uniform look, purchase all the molds in the same shape and color.

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Tasty Tabletoppers

Make your centerpieces serve a dual purpose by making them edible. Centerpieces can be either appetizers or desserts or they may serve as homemade wedding favors. A tower of homemade jams is a great break away favor for guests to take home.

Appetizers like fruit, cheese, and bread are perfect for centerpieces. Use cake servers or tiered stands for a more dramatic display. Mints, wedding truffles, or chocolate covered strawberries make tasty additions to an edible centerpiece.

Couples who are catering the wedding themselves or through family members can make recipe books as the centerpiece. Place all of recipes that will be served at the reception dinner into a bound album in the wedding color and display upright in the center of the table. Add recipe cards and pens for guests so they can copy their favorite dishes or add recipes for the couple to try.

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Classic Centerpieces

Simple fruit vases are classy.

Classic centerpiece designs often involve flowers, mirrors, fish bowls, and candles. Here are some easy ways to make these classic supplies into a centerpiece:

Tie ribbon around the top of a fishbowl, fill with water and add floating candles.
Place tea light votives on mirrors with scattered rose petals.
Fill a fish bowl with sand or colored glass beads and add a large silk flower to the center.
Make luminaries by cutting out a stenciled design (flowers, hearts, doves) in a white paper bag. Place a candle inside.
Fill a vase or fishbowl with potpourri, and then scatter a few pieces around the bowl.

Wedding receptions held in the late spring or summer can make use of Mother Nature’s gifts. Pick wildflowers the morning of the reception, place in a glass vase and tie on a ribbon. For a more rustic or western themed wedding, put a single stem into a glass canning jar and tie with raffia. Make the centerpiece larger by posing several vases or jars of varying height together.

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Centerpiece Tips

To help make the day of your wedding run more smoothly, follow these tips when it comes to homemade wedding centerpieces ideas:

Accept or ask for help making the centerpieces.
If possible, make centerpieces several weeks in advance of the wedding.
Set the reception hall up after the wedding rehearsal if you can.
Delegate someone to finish up centerpiece preparations or supervise the reception hall decorating on the actual wedding day.

Centerpieces are a main feature of wedding reception decorations. Keep yours simple and budget friendly by doing them yourself, and you will find that different homemade wedding centerpieces ideas can create lovely and sentimental decorations for your special day.

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