Table of Contents
One of the most fun aspects of wedding planning is perhaps choosing the centerpieces. Centerpieces can set the tone and create exactly the kind of atmosphere you want at your event. They can range from bright vases and bold florals to hanging candles and paper lanterns, to simple garlands wrapping around deer antlers.
The World of Wedding Centerpieces
Centerpieces are whatever you want them to be; you just have to decide what kind of ambiance you want your guests to feel upon entering the space.
Consider the colors you chose for your wedding. Take into account the kind of venue where your centerpieces will be on display. What is the theme your wedding will have?
Are you thinking sweet vintage? Old World charm? Country chic? Art déco style? Outdoors rustic? Ballroom elegance? Desert beauty? Beachside getaway? While you don’t want to come across as overly matching, you might not want to pair mini potted succulents with a more lush and glitzy style of wedding.
What Are Wedding Centerpieces?
Wedding centerpieces are what catches the eye of your guests as they walk through your venue. They catch a vibe and feel the energy of your wedding from how you set up your decorations, and the centerpieces play the most important role. As the name suggests, they are the center of it all.
They can be tall and flawless or low and tumbling on your tables. They can be every color of the rainbow or subdued earth tones. The joy of centerpieces is that you get to choose exactly what you want. Nothing is out of the question for your event!
Is There a Need for Wedding Centerpieces?
While you do not necessarily need centerpieces at your wedding, you should consider that some centerpieces can make a huge impact while being very cost-effective and simple. There’s no need to go all out shopping for the perfect florist that everyone recommended if that’s not what you want.
Centerpieces can double as guest favors, making the process simpler for a more hands-on, DIY weddings. They can take over the role as name cards and place settings on the table, or be used to send off the happy couple. You can even set up a game for your guests, implemented in the centerpiece design. Centerpieces don’ have to be “just” centerpieces.
Some brides wonder if their budget will allow for costly fresh flowers and crystal vases. There is no cut and dried rule when it comes to the centerpiece. This is where it is critical to think of your style, your personality, and your situation. Each wedding is unique, having a centerpiece that is quirky and different will make a statement about who you are, and even tell a story about your love story.
Don’t let budget limits or style guides decide on your centerpieces. The purpose is to stand out to the people coming to celebrate you and your significant other, so show them who you are. A centerpiece can do just that.
Choosing the Perfect Wedding Centerpiece
Before You Begin
First, you must think about the colors palette you want for your special day. You could choose a variety of shades for one color; you could pick complementary colors, or colors close to the color wheel. Anything goes at your wedding.
Once you’ve chosen your color (or colors), come up with the kind of theme you want to radiate for your event. Will it be a simple get-together to celebrate nuptials or an outlandish event of the year? Consider your personality and your story. What will your centerpieces say about you and your event?
The time of year that you’re planning your wedding can determine what flowers or plants are available.
We’ve done the research and have come up with the top five categories to help narrow down your search for the perfect centerpiece.
Tall Statements
For the bride who wants her centerpiece to stand out, literally, she might consider going for high vases or hanging options. Make containers tall enough that your guest can still talk across the table, but don’t hang pots or jars so high that they can’t be seen by anyone in attendance.
Hanging a combination of candles and lanterns or glass jars with fairy lights can create a romantic and whimsical environment while impressive planters can make an impact filled with statement grasses and foliage.
Pots of training roses hung from above and give your wedding a sweet and simple air, yet full bouquets of dinner-plate dahlias and fluffy peonies sitting atop a golden pedestal will add a bright pop to your tables.
You can show off your crafty side by stringing pearls along antique chandeliers and create an ambiance without spending big bucks.
Sprawling Beauty
Boho brides will love the idea of overgrown bundles of fully leaved ranunculus, wildflowers, roses, pomegranates and bay leaves, offset by tangling passion vines. Or, with a desert appeal in mind, place mini potted succulents and air plants all along your table runner scattered with driftwood pieces and pebbles.
Romantics will love the image created with wide planters filled with eucalyptus foliage, ivies spilling down the sides, centered with cream colored blooms. Vines that hang from trellises can provide shade and also add a more lush environment for your guests.
Simple Impact
Sometimes less is more, and there are a lot of things that can be done with fewer materials. This is especially appealing to brides on a budget and looking to save some money on resources for their centerpieces.
It can be as easy and finding candles in varying heights and placing them in the perfect spots along your tables. Or choosing an all-white centerpiece of white roses, peonies, and poppies can tie the venue together without adding too much color.
A wedding with a quirky personality might sport flowering cacti in simple clay pots, offsetting a bright table runner. Even classical romance can be captured by pairing cream peonies and pink ranunculus with little sprigs of greenery in a glass vase.
Bold and Bright
Women with loud tendencies will lean towards a centerpiece that showcases who she is in a beautiful display of florals with deep colors.
A fall wedding might have golden vases stuffed full of jewel-toned roses, ranunculus, jasmine, sweet pea, and cosmos ranging from dark pink to blood red,
scattered with ferns for a wispy addition to this statement centerpiece.
If the main color palette is complementary or if the theme is varying shades of one color, your centerpiece can either be a menagerie of rainbow blooms, to an ombre bouquet in white bowls, even pairing off purple pansies with orange camellias and daffodils for an eye-catching array.
Fruit can be added for a perfect getaway experience whether in the forms of actual mandarin shrubs in planters or tropical mangos scattered in bright green leaves along the platform.
Antique Chic
Pinterest fans love the trend of breathing life into old things, such as adding barn wood or broken-down pallets to make a tray for jars filled with simple wildflowers. Deer antlers can be tangled with fairy lights and pale flower petals. Succulents can be planted in a grandmother’s antique tea sets.
So many things can easily become centerpieces with a touch of paint and dainty cream-colored flowers. This can be a more cost-effective option, especially if choosing recycled wine glasses over ready-made vases from the florist.
Cream and pastel flowers in antique silver vases or an array of traditional roses in old mason jars can bring people back to a different era. Family costume jewelry can be scattered along an aged lace tablecloth along with bunches of feathery ferns.
Conclusion
There is no right or wrong way to a create the perfect centerpiece for your wedding. It’s all about you and choosing what matches the image you have in your head of your perfect day. The season, the location, the color palette, and the wedding theme can all play vital roles in choosing the centerpiece of your dreams. Use them as a template for moving forward when it comes to more detailed decision making.
Once you have set your own guidelines based on the core choices of your ideal wedding, move into the more advanced stages of creating your unique piece.
Are you looking for the bold statement of a rose or the understated sweetness of tiny forget-me-nots? Your colors will help you narrow down if a white dahlia is preferable to a pink peony.
What is your setup like? Tall or hanging centerpieces might look flawless in an old barn or fancy ballroom, but they might not work well for a small backyard get together.
What is your personality? What is your story? Romantic, girly girls might not appreciate the simplicity of single flower arrangements, while the modern bride may shy away from large bundles of wildflowers.
Relax and go with what you feel. These suggestions will get you started on the right path for choosing the centerpiece that is a perfect complement to the wedding of your dreams.
