Floral Cake plate

A footed cake plate is usually made of glass, has a border around it that is about three inches tall and is a perfect vessel to serve as a vase alternative. If you can get your hands on as many footed cake plates as you have tables, you are in business.  Simply fill each with water, place a small arrangement that you can make yourself (or have friends and family help you with) and that is it!  You are done!

Shabby Chic

Mix and match is a hot trend for a lot of things these days, so who says you can’t incorporate this idea into your wedding centerpieces?  Go to the flea market and find as many vases or other containers as you need where you can arrange some fresh cut flowers in a slightly random way.  Try and find some long stemmed vases to make some of the increasingly popular tall wedding centerpieces. If you get them all the same color, for instance a distressed white, then it will really look shabby chic.  Another thing you can do is to get various ceramic vases with flowers so that they are all the same thing but mix and matched at the same time.

Fishbowl and Foliage

One relatively affordable way to make great wedding centerpieces is to fill fishbowls with foliage.  Leaves, branches and other foliage are nowhere near as expensive as flowers.  They also smell great.  If your wedding is in the fall or winter seasons and as long as it works with your overall wedding theme, you can use pine tree branches for added fragrance.  Couple that with some scented candles and you will have a beautiful wedding centerpiece on each table that will have guests enchanted throughout.

When planning your wedding try to save money whenever possible so you can put it to good use elsewhere.  Look for cheaper materials to use in your decorations such as wedding balloons and you are away. For wedding centerpieces to be beautiful they don’t have to be expensive at all.

Wedding centerpieces are sometimes what we forget to focus on when planning a wedding.  We forget how the guest tables matters during the wedding reception.  We often fail to remember that putting a wedding centerpiece on every table should reflect the love and compassion of the wedding couple.

Plain flowers arranged in fancy vases or baskets lined with the same color motif as the wedding are the usual wedding centerpieces.  However, we can make the centerpiece more personalized and memorable so that it stands out and is not the common look typical of many weddings.

Glass Photo Vase

A glass vase with a built-in photo frame is a very unique and wonderful wedding centerpiece idea.  Guests or the wedding couple can even take the vases home as a souvenir.  You can have this custom-made so you can put your pre-wedding photos in them before your guests arrive.  Some glass photo vases are built with fixed photos inside already.  Most vases, however, have removable photos so you can change it to any photo you want to use during the wedding and after you take the vase home.

Glass Photo Candle Stand

These unique and custom-made candle stands are like the glass photo vases.  You can also put beautiful photos of the wedding couple inside the built-in photo frame.  You can also have this built with fixed photos, or use an image or the wedding couple’s names etched on the glass.  These glasses are normally custom-made and hand-blown to match the desire of the wedding couple.  If big enough, you can use it too as a vase.

Signature Vase

It is a new way to celebrate the wedding couple’s day.  A simple white ceramic vase with flat surfaces that comes with a special permanent marker for porcelain that allows writing on the vase makes a great centerpiece.  The guests can write their names, wise quotes and wishes, and greetings for the couple on the vase.  Add some pretty flowers on the white vase for a touch of color.

Personalized Confetti

Use custom-design confetti to add a surprise to your invitations and wedding tables.  There are so many designs and ideas to choose from.  Metallic confetti makes a great decorating accent.  Shiny confetti leaves, stars or wedding couple cutouts are fabulous, too.  Tiny printouts of the wedding couple’s pictures are a unique idea to use as confetti shower and wedding table décor.

Personalized Table Cards

The table cards for the wedding are used for the seating arrangements of the guests.  These are great wedding centerpieces if you have this custom-made with flowers that match your wedding theme or made as little figurines of the wedding couple.  They also work as great giveaways or souvenirs.  You can have a customized photo frame table card also, just as with the glass photo vase and candle stand.

If you’re feeling incredibly uncreative, though, you might change your mind and fall right back into the flower arrangements. Here are some unique ideas for wedding centerpieces to get you started:

The season in which the wedding will be held is a good place to start for determining centerpieces. If you’re wedding is at Christmas time, you’ve got a bounty of decorating ideas right at your fingertips. Use gingerbread houses, Christmas village pieces, baskets of Christmas ornaments, festive cookie tins, garlands, gift boxes, nutcrackers, nativity scenes, Christmas baking supplies, or mini Christmas trees as centerpieces.

For autumn weddings, create arrangements out of leaves and other fall foliage, combine several autumn vegetables in a basket, place large pumpkins right on the table, or stack fresh red and green apples in little pails. Candles create a beautiful ambiance when placed alongside the deep, rich colors of fall.

Spring calls for bright paper flowers, Easter eggs, oranges or lemons in baskets, anything pink and green, or tiers of brightly colored treats. Summer continues with the bright themes, but you can also incorporate other details such as flip flops, seashells, beach towels, fruit, or leis.

For couples who like to travel, cardboard replicas of the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben might be the perfect addition to a reception table. Tickets, small suitcases, packing lists, cameras, or photo books are also great additions. Athletic couples could have a pail of baseballs or tennis balls or trendy aluminum water bottles as centerpieces. Coffee-loving couples would enjoy having centerpieces created from favorite coffee mugs or coffee tins.

For those hoping to have unique wedding centerpieces, try to decide upon a wedding theme. Having a theme will give you a foundation from which to brainstorm. Once you have a theme, you can think about all of the items that are part of theme and create centerpieces from there. Don’t be afraid to sift through pictures and other people’s unique ideas. Maybe you’ll fall in love with something or be inspired to try something on your own!