1. Bud Vases
Bud vases are a great way to add florals in an affordable and easy way. You can purchase the vases in bulk or singles for low cost, and flowers can be purchased from your local famer's market.
We suggest that if you are doing these as centerpieces, that a few per round table will be required. The exact amount will depend on the size of the table and if you are adding other decor. In our opinion, an odd number of bud vases in varying heights look the best especially when paired with candles.
What You'll Need:
- Glass bud vases in any color you desire. They usually come in clear glass, however, with a little looking you can find them in blue, teal, green, pink, amber, and more.
- Flowers in your desired color palette. You can purchase flowers at your local farmer's market, a grocery store, etc. We recommend buying them no more than two to three days prior to your event for maximum freshness.
- Floral shears or any scissors that can easily and cleanly cut flower stems.
- Additionally, you can purchase greenery such as eucalyptus if you desire.
Prep Work:
- You will want to trim your flowers by cutting them at an angle. This will help them get the most hydration. You will also want to remove any price stickers on your bud vases if they came with any. You can spritz the sticker side with water or let them sit in water to break down the sticker.
Directions:
To begin arranging start with one flower at a time, carefully placing them in the bud vase at varying heights. If you are including greenery you will want to place the greenery first to better visualize the look you want. There's really no wrong way to do these since the opening on bud vases is usually small enough where you don't need to overthink it or use floral tape. Have fun with it! If you have a lot of bud vases to do you can even ask friends and family to help.
2. Pressed Flower Table Numbers
What You'll Need:
- One pressed glass frame about 5x7 inches in size per table. You can also purchase these in bulk.
- Pressed flowers in your desired color palette. You can press them yourself or purchase them on Etsy in a variety of colors.
- A glass marker in the color of your choice.
Directions:
To create this, all you need to do is simply lay the pressed flowers inside the frame, close and secure the frame, then write the table number on the front side of the glass. This is a super easy project to do and adds some flowers to your tables in a unique way.
3. Eucalyptus Tablescape
If you are having long rectangular tables for your reception such as farm tables, and you want something simple and low cost then consider eucalyptus down your table. This is a super easy way to add some decor to your tables and you can also place candles down the table for an added touch. Loose eucalyptus also looks great along side bud vases.
What You'll Need:
- Eucalyptus which you can find at your local farmer's market or you can always call us and we will be more than happy to source some for you. If you're lucky you also may know someone who has a eucalyptus tree who won't mind you taking some greenery. We recommend silver dollar and/or feather eucalyptus because these tend to lay better than sprial eucalyptus.
Instructions:
You may have to clip some branches down so they are easier to work with and look neater. Then to place the eucalyptus, you will want to simply lay pieces down the middle of the table. This is super easy to do and looks best on wooden tables without linen or at most a simple table runner. If desired, you can pop in candles such as tealight candles here and there mixed in with the eucalyptus.
4. Succulents in Terracotta
If you're looking for a unique centerpiece idea and love to garden, then consider planting succulents in terracotta pots and arranging them down your table. You can even dress spruce them up by topping them off with rocks for a more festive look.
What You'll Need:
- Succulents in varying types and sizes. Mixing up the variety will look the best and make it easier to style.
- Terracotta pots and saucers in appropriate sizes for your succulents.
- Soil
- Gardening gloves if you don't have these already.
- A gardening shovel and any other similar tools if you want.
- If desired, rocks to place on top of the soil for a cleaner look. You can get colorful with it and purchase colored rocks too.
We recommend visiting Green Thumb Nursery if you live near one for a one-stop shopping experience.
Directions:
- You will want to carefully take your each succulent out of its plastic store container being careful not to prick yourself with any cacti.
- Fill your pot with a little bit of soil, place your succulent, and finish adding the rest of the soil. Be sure to leave a little bit of space for the rocks to sit securely in the pot at the very top. If the soil is too high up the rocks will fall out and you will have a hard time watering the plants without spilling.
- To arrange your potted plants on your table whether its rectangular or circular, just keep in mind to have varying sizes and heights for a more interesting look. You can start by placing the larger plants first then sprinkle in the smaller ones.
As a bonus, you can offer these as gifts for your guests to take home.
5. Terrariums
There are a myriad of terrarium styles and ideas out there so there are no directions for this one, but we had to include it on this list because if you're crafty, this is such a cool way to decorate your wedding. If you aren't super handy, then I recommend only making one or two as an accent piece for a guest sign-in table or any other similar space.
What You'll Need:
- Most commonly you can find geometric glass terrariums at craft stores such as Michaels, or if you are looking to make just one or two, you can try your local home decor store such as Home Goods. For a more rustic look you can also use a glass cloche with a wood base. We recommend starting with a Pinterest search for terrarium ideas and seeing which style catches your eye.
- Depending on the kind of terrarium you will be making, you will want to source the types of flowers or plants and make sure they aren't too big to work with.
- Added touches can be anything from moss or if you are looking for something truly unique, miniature figurines.
- Again, depending on the type of terrarium look you are putting together, be sure that if you are using live plants that you have layers such as a layer of soil, a layer or rocks, and a layer or bark to have enough drainage. Root rot can easily happen in a terrarium due to there closed or partially closed shapes.
To put your terrarium together we recommend starting with your base or bark or whatever material you are using for drainage. Then you will simply want to continue layering in the other materials with soil being second to the last if you're planting any plants. The last layer will be your choice of either moss, rocks, etc.
One final note on doing your own wedding decor is to choose just one project. It can be easy to get overly ambitious especially if you have months before your wedding, however, its best to choose one project versus many.
For your personals and ceremony flowers, we have a skilled team of wedding florists with years of experience. Reach out of you're in the Los Angeles area and take a look at our portfolio here!
