DIY Centerpieces

One of the biggest things to figure out when planning a wedding or event is what type of centerpiece to do.   The first thing is to really determine your budget per table and then see what you can get that falls in that budget.  There are tons of different things you can really do yourself which saves alot of money.  Check out some of the DIY centerpieces I found online.

Candles on a cupcake stand....Isn't this pretty cute? I've never seen this before but its a creative
way to do a centerpiece!

You can never go wrong with a few nice vases grouped together with flowers in them for a centerpiece.  These vases are from Pottery Barn but of course you can find nice, inexpensive vases anywhere these days!

I've always liked the look of stacked roses! And its soo easy to do.  All you have to do is cut your stems down to about 3 inches and then neatly layer them as pictured.

This is another easy centerpiece arrangement I found. All you need for this one is a pretty vase & pillar candle for center, rose petals, and the smaller vases and candles to go around it.  Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the mirrors alot of people like to use for centerpieces but that's just me :)  They do add a nice reflection though when candles are sitting on them.

Lastly, check out this cute yellow and blue centerpiece designed by Object Splendor.  This can totally be recreated.  All you need are the vases,  flowers, pebbles, and ribbon.  If you notice, they even have a votive candle sitting in the middle of the pebbles.  That's pretty cute!

Decorating with Candles

Candles are a very popular item used to decorate weddings and receptions. Outside of the fact that they are beautiful especially during an evening wedding, candles can be a less expensive way to get that wow factor versus going with some of the pricier floral centerpieces.

One of my all time favorite places to get event decor from is Jamali Gardens in NY! They literally have anything you can think of that you would need to decorate a venue! It's not a super big store but what can you expect in the city? But they have everything! I found out about it while I was planning my own wedding and purchased a few things like vases, pillar and floating candles, and ribbon. But let me tell you...if my budget was bigger, I would have bought half the store! LOL

They are reasonably priced for alot of things but you wouldnt believe how much certain things that you see used in wedding reception decor costs!!!

Pillar candles like these below are often used for weddings. I love pillar candles grouped together.. I think they are very dramatic!

They run between $3.50 to $10.99 each at Jamali Gardens depending on the size you are looking for.

Check out these beautiful pillar holders! Just imagine how pretty they would look grouped together on a table!

They costs $14 & $18

These crystal bead candle holders below costs $68 & $90 !! Very pretty but pricey if you need alot of them! And guess what? They are out of stock so someone is buying them!


These 12 inch votive holders are a steal at only $5 a pop! And used in the right way, they could really add a nice touch to your event decor! It would really be great if they had them in different heights!


Floating candles are often used as well and they are a great alternative to the more expensive pillar candles. These come in different sizes and can range from $1 or less to about $2 depending on where you go. Below are 3inch candles. They cost $1.75.


Check out how candles were used at these wedding receptions I found online and get inspired!





Remember, before you start planning your candle set up, make sure you check with your venue. Alot of places..hotels especially... won't let you have open candles burning without some kind of dome or without them being in a vase of some sort.

My DIY Wedding Reception Centerpieces

When I started planning my wedding, I had no idea I would spend so much time trying to determine what look I wanted to go for with the reception centerpieces. Ideally, I would have loved massive pink floral centerpieces draped in rhinestones or something elaborate like that... but those cost serious dough!!

So now the dilemma was ...how do I come up with something cost effective that looks elegant and classy but not cheap?? Although, I couldn't have my dream floral arrangements, I still wanted to incorporate flowers in the centerpieces and I knew I wanted to make use of candles too. Sooo in my quest to come up with something... I had quite a few ideas over the course of planning. I took a few pics of some of my ideas....shall we take a look (lol)....

Idea #1 - Ive always loved the way flowers submerged in water look..so I came up with this:

(Purchased tall vase from Michaels and square vases from Dollar Tree)

Idea #2 - The inspiration for this idea came from a picture I saw in a wedding mag:

(Purchased lamps from Ikea for $5 and covered them in fabric and ribbon)

Idea #3 - Still the lamp idea but decided to try out contrasting patterns


I decided to nix the lamp idea because something was off about it and bases of lamps looked a little cheesy to me.

Idea #4 - This look wasn't far off from what I ended up going with


Idea #5 - This was a mockup of the look I decided to go for.


BLOGGER TIP: Try to do mockups of all the ideas you come up with. The last thing you want to do is see how the idea you came up with in your head looks in real life for the first time on your wedding day!

The vases I used were 5X15 and we used floating candles instead of pillar candles. Using floating candles vs pillar candles is definitely a sure way to save money. Floating candles run from $1.00-$2.00 a piece vs pillar candles can run anywhere from $3.00 to $20 each. I knew I didnt want to just use a plain vase for the centerpieces so I decided to get some ribbon and rhinestones and jazz up the vases a little.

All you need for this project are the vases, ribbon, strings of rhinestones and a hot glue gun.

Here are the rhinestones I used:

If you are in the NY area, you can get them from B&Q Trim on 210 38th Street. If not, you can order online at www.shinetrim.com

First step is to cut ribbon out and use glue gun to glue it around each vase.


Next, glue rhinestones around ribbon using hot glue gun.



After those were done, it was time to move on to the smaller square vases that were going to hold the roses. I bought them for $1 each at Dollar Tree. FYI, you can buy in bulk online at www.dollartree.com. But again, I didnt want them to be bare, so I decided to glue a thin ribbon around each of those too.

Ribbon cut out in pieces:


Thank God I had help with these (Thanks Katisha :)


So after all that was done, here is how it turned out at reception:


The centerpieces sat on 20 inch cardboard pizza circles that I covered with damask fabric. I got them for $0.95 each at www.epartypaper.com/Cardboard_Pizza_Circles.html


I also used the rhinestones to decorate vases for head table and we used pillar candles in these for more of an impact


Head Table/Sweetheart Table


P.S. I bought my vases and pillar candles from Jamali Garden in NY. If you aren't in the NY area, check out their website www.jamaligarden.com