Non-floral Wedding Centerpieces - Photo Collage

Before you begin, you will need:
Between 100 and 150 photos of the bride and groom
One sheet of glass per table, approximately 8" square depending on the size of the tables
Confetti, glitter or similar decorative material

Collect enough photos of the bride and groom to put between four and six on each table. Include everything from baby pictures to pictures of the couple together, as well as pictures of the bride with her bride's maids and the groom with his attendants. If members of the wedding party have been part of the bride's or groom's life for a long time (sisters, brothers, cousins, childhood friends), old photos of them together are terrific, if available. This is going to be the most time consuming part of the project.

You can get sheets of glass at most hardware stores. You shouldn't need it much thicker than what you would find in a standard picture frame. Call around for prices; be sure to ask about prices for plexi-glass as well. In some cases it may be cheaper and will serve the same purpose without the risk of breaking, should it get dropped in transit.

Arrange time to go into the reception location the morning of the wedding and set up your centerpieces on site. If this is not possible, make copies of the photos you want to use and adhere them to the glass. You will want copies because the adhesive will be on the front of the photo and may damage originals. Scan your photos and print them on a color printer, or, if you don't have access to on or the other or both of these things, most photo labs will make copies for you. By copyright laws, they are not permitted to copy studio or professional portraits so if you have any of those, you will need to contact the studio, the name of which will be printed on the back, and request reprints.

Visit a craft store or scrapbooking supply store and purchase clear photo adhesive stickers. Place the stickers in the corners of your photos, on the photo side, opposite of where you would to put the photo into an album, and adhere them to the glass that way. Then all you have to do once you get to the reception location is flip the sheet of glass over onto the top of the table so that the photos are face up. Sprinkle glitter in your chosen colors over the whole table, paying special attention to the photo collage in the center.