Simple Elegant Wedding Centerpieces Do-It-Yourself

The engagement has been announced, the date set and the bride and groom want a wonderful wedding day. All kinds are plans are needed to be made. Take a breath, sit down with a notebook and start jotting down what the couple prefers. It is their day! Here are some ideas that may just help to decorate the reception tables to go with the couple's own romance story.

Coffee Romance Did the bride and groom meet at a coffee shop or had a special date at one? Here is an easy yet elegant wedding centerpiece for the guests tables. Take a large coffee cup in a neutral or decor color, fill with shredded paper or balls of foil. Cover material with coffee beans or clear glass stones. Set a small candle in the very center. You can add a bread plate as a saucer and place a ring of fresh or silk flowers around the base of the cup. If desired place a small bow on the flowers or tie on the cup handle. Caution, make sure that there is no flammable material near the candle! Fresh flowers are flammable. Cost: less than $6.50 each. Cups and glass can be found at local discount or dollar stores.

Sea Romance Take a small tray and fill with clean sand. Place three small round or star shaped candles in line in the sand. Cover so only the candle material shows. Place a sea shell, sea glass and a sand dollar on the sand. A small orchid could be placed at one corner. Make sure the florist has it in a tube which can be covered with sand. Cost:$5.00 and up. Buy trays at dollar store, shells found at ocean or bought at craft store with sterile craft sand. Do not use sand found at the beach etc.

Best Friends FindRomance Small boxes or treasure chests can be found at craft or discount stores and can be painted the colors of your choice. Take the treasure chest and open the cover. Glue a piece of craft foam in the bottom of the box. Make a small arrangement of silk flowers of choice that will fill the box cavity and hold the cover open. Take favorite candid shots of the couple from over the years, photocopy to no larger than 3 inches. Frame if desired. Glue or tape to small sticks of dowel, balsa or skewer sticks. Cover back with either a second photo or piece of paper for a neat appearance. Put one to three photos in each box. These can all be different photos. This will inspire guests to visit one another's tables and no one will feel left out of the crowd. Boxes at craft store are under a dollar. Project cost under $5.00 and up. When silk flowers are used these elegant wedding centerpieces can be made ahead, stored in plastic to keep free of dust and damage.

Simply Elegant For an elegant wedding centerpiece use your budget on the flowers. White roses, carnations or peonies are beautiful with glass. Simple or cut glass dishes from dollar store. Cover dish bottom with colored glass pebbles or marbles. This will hold floral stems in place. According to the size of the dish use 3, 5 or 6 flower stems with no greenery for this arrangement. One of these beautiful centerpieces can be at the church on the table with the guest book. It then can be carried to the reception with the guest book to welcome guests as they enter the building or area. Cost up to $25.00 per centerpiece due to possible price of more expensive flowers.

Crystal Clear Take a wineglass or goblet. Fill three quarters full of water and place one single flower blossom in the water. Rose, lily, iris, gerbera daisy or your favorite flower will be a simply elegant touch on each table. If desired, wrap a length of stringed craft pearls around the stem. Cost: less than $3.00 per centerpiece and up $5.00 according to flower price.

Hearts and Flowers Take a glass floral dish that is shaped like a heart. Fill half full of water and float one to three candles in it. Add in a few small fresh floral blossoms of choice or one single flower that signifies your love. The flower can be from your mother's or another family or friends garden. If you gather your own flowers be sure to cut them at night or early morning before the sun is on them. Cut the stem at a slant and put them directly into a bucket or dish of warm water. They need to have water in the stem no matter how short it is. Experiment with a few kinds of flowers a few days prior so you will know what will work. If you have one flower surround it with three candles if there is room. Warning - make sure blossom petals do not touch flame. They will catch on fire! Heart floral dishes are under $1.00 at local discount stores. Project under $3.00 a centerpiece if flowers come from family gardens.

Church Romance Did the wedding couple meet at church or a singles group? An elegant wedding centerpiece could be a Solitary white candle in candlestick set on a piece of rustic looking wood (to symbolize the cross) with flat bottom to set on table. A small New Testament or Bride's Bible can be placed at the opposite end of the wood to protect it from wax drippings. Using an elegant font, type up a brief testimony as to how the couple feels about the Two Shall Become One sanctity of the day on a piece of parchment paper. Roll ends a bit to look like old paper or a scroll. Center this between the New Testament and the Candle stick base. A lily blossom can be placed on the piece if the budget allows. A silk blossom will be less expensive. If you already own the candlestick the cost will be approximately $25.00.

Food Table Centerpiece A gorgeous melon basket is an awesome centerpiece for your elegant wedding. Be aware that this project takes a good three hours to complete. This is a project for a trustworthy person or duo that will be able to dedicate the time to get this done and delivered to the reception site to have it as fresh as possible. If they are guests at the wedding this has to be factored into the time schedule. This centerpiece is completely edible and can cost an average of $50.00 for ingredients. It is worth the time and cost if there is someone willing to take on the project.
Ingredients needed, one watermelon that has a good shape and will set on a table without rolling easily. 2 quarts strawberries, 2 pints blueberries, 2 to 3 cantaloupes, 1 to 2 honeydew melons, 2 to 3 pounds each of red and green grapes. Wash all fruit that does not require peeling and set aside on a tray. With a very sharp knife cut into the top rind of the watermelon and remove the top just as you would a pumpkin at Halloween time. Discard the top rind. If you want to be fancier you can leave a two inch wide strip for a faux basket handle. The handle is decorative only. Do not pick up the melon by this melon. Remove the edible interior with a melon baller to make nice round bite size melon balls and place in large bowl or pan. Peel remaining melons and use melon baller or cut edible interiors into cubes. Remove all grapes from stems. Remove strawberry stems. Gently mix and place all fruit into 'melon basket'. If the reception is on a hot day it is best to lay the melon basket on a tray of ice. This is a colorful, beautiful and tasty wedding centerpiece. Do not use any frozen fruit, fresh only.

The Bridal Table The wedding bouquet and bridesmaid bouquet make wonderful centerpieces on the table. They can be set into vases that have heavy bottoms, can be clamped (ask your florist about this product) to the table cascading down the front edge of the tablecloth or simply lain, center table, in front of each person that has carried it.

Any bride and groom can have elegant wedding centerpieces with any budget.