Budget Friendly Wedding Centerpiece Ideas

When it comes to wedding planning, I know: it's expensive. Every part of a wedding is expensive, and flowers are no exception. So when you're looking for ways to save a little money, I've got a few ideas for budget-friendly centrepiece ideas for you. 

PILLAR CANDLES WITH UNIQUE COASTERS
Many wedding venues don't allow for open flame on the tables, for two reasons: 1) fire hazards 2) wax drips. If your venue allows for open flame, then you've got the perfect option for your centrepieces: pillar candles with unique coasters or dishes, to catch that pesky wax. Pillar candles are inexpensive to buy (hello, Ikea!), and will burn for much longer than your reception requires. Adding a coaster underneath, unique to your style and aesthetic, is a great way to pull it all together. In this case, we used marble coasters but if you're craft in any way, you could DIY something with concrete, wood, leather, glass...almost anything! 

TAPER CANDLES WITH LOW-COST RENTALS
Taper candles immediately elevate the look of a table, and I personally love coloured tapers to deepen your colour palette. Clustering 3-7 taper candles together at the centre of a table is such a simple, elegant look for a reception. Here, I've popped them into vintage brass candle holders (rented for just $0.50 each) along with a low-budget cylinder vase. Easy to set up, easy to clean up, and cost-effective! If you want to create your own taper holder, I love this super easy modelling clay candle holder tutorial!

FLOATING FLOWERS
I'm not sure when or why floating flowers were forgotten about as a great option for cost-effective centrepieces. This style is easily updated depending on your style or wedding date: a single floating peony in a glass vase for a springtime wedding, or a few bright blooms in a fun copper bowl like this one from my inventory. I've also taken lined a ceremony aisle with galvanized buckets, and popped a combination of bright flowers with floating candles in them. Look for a pretty container than suits your style and test out a few different flower options (not everything floats well!). 

BUDGET-FRIENDLY WEDDING CENTREPIECE TIPS

1) MIX AND MATCH: Alternate a higher cost centrepiece style with a lower cost centrepiece style to fit your overall budget. Just because you can't afford a $75+ arrangement on each of your guest tables doesn't mean you can't afford a total cost of $45 per table. You might alternate a fuller floral arrangement on half of your tables and something with candles on the other half of your tables.

2) WHEN IN DOUBT, KEEP IT SHORT: Floral arrangements that are short will almost always be more budget-friendly. The taller your centrepieces are, the more flowers that you'll need to create visual balance, and make a statement. So if you're on a tighter budget but want flowers on your tables, ask your floral designer to keep them low to the tables. 

3) SINGLE-VARIETY ARRANGEMENTS: Keep centrepiece costs lower selecting arrangements that feature just one type of flower. An arrangement composed solely of stock is going to be more budget-friendly than a  vase of roses, tulips, and stock. Why? Because all flowers come in bunches of 5, 10, or 25 stems and the more bunches that are ordered, the better wholesale price your floral designer gets on them. In most cases, it's also a lot quicker to design with just one type of flower than it is to work with several varieties.

4) STEM VASES ARE YOUR FRIEND: If you're looking to make a statement but want to keep you budget in line, ask your floral designer for stem vase options. You can cluster a few of these together with mini arrangements or single stems in each in the centre of a round table, or space out several stem vases down the length of a long table.

5) DON'T UNDERESTIMATE FOLIAGE: Just like stem vases are your friend, foliage is your FRIEND with a capital F. Some varieties of greenery are more expensive than others, but you'll always get WAY more of out 1 bunch of foliage than you will 1 bunch of flowers. A few stems of wispy greenery arching down the centre of a long table is beautiful, or a vase filled with foliage-only could make a unique and vibrant centrepiece. 

Looking for more decor ideas for your wedding? Check these out! 

STONE HOUSE CREATIVE IS NOW BOOKING 2017 WEDDINGS. I'D LOVE TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT YOUR IDEAS - INQUIRE TODAY!

Sara and Chris' Winter Wedding at The Fort Garry Hotel

Designing Sara's wedding flowers was such a lovely treat. She showed me two inspiration photos that her wedding planner, Amanda Douglas, had shared, and was then happy to hand over the creative reigns to me. She had no specific requirements, and with no bridal party and a small guest list, Sara was really just happy to let me do what I thought would work best. I loved Amanda's idea to work with darker tones in the bridal bouquet and lighter shades of pinks and purples in the rest of the decor flowers. I also love how her bridal bouquet came together - the heart shape wasn't completely intentional, and I just adored it!

Purple can be a tricky colour to design well with, and I think the accents of those soft pinks really brought depth and interest to this bridal bouquet.
Bouquet ingredients: ranunculus, hellebore, stock, alstroemeria, amnesia roses, quicksand roses, faith roses, blackberries, and Italian and Israeli ruscus.

Event Planning: Amanda Douglas Events / Photography: Palma Photography / Linens and Draping: Planned Perfectly / Stationery: Minted.com / Venue: Fort Garry Hotel

AS FEATURED ON HOST WINNIPEG

Blush and Coral Bridal Bouquet Recipe

As featured on Host Winnipeg, with photos by Brittany Mahood Photography. Silk ribbon from Stella Wolfe.

Playing with your colour palette can be one of the most fun and creatively rewarding aspects of planning your wedding. Gone are the days of choosing 1 main colour and sticking it with white. Weddings today are showcasing a broader colour palette, incorporating a range of tones, along with different textures or metallics to create a palette with depth and life to it It's important to remember that just because you may have 5 different colours in your overall palette doesn't mean you need to splash them into every aspect of the wedding design - layer in touches here and there, and the overall look will come together.

For this bouquet (created for the launch of Host - a brand new Winnipeg-based wedding planning website!), I chose to keep a more feminine palette working with the ever-popular blush as the base, but adding in some vibrancy with these amazing coral garden roses (they are one of my absolutely favourite varieties!). I wanted to add in some depth, so I chose smokebush foliage (that darker, plummy leaf) along with the black privet berries, purple trachelium, and touches of purple astrantia as a filler. When you're planning your flowers, you'll want to think about texture and shape as well as the colours. I love the whispy, botanical vibe that touches of white veronica give this bouquet. Finally, I added in touches of jasmine foliage - when things are getting a little too much, I find it's best to place in a sold-coloured, richly toned leaf to ground the design.

INGREDIENTS

Sword Acacia
Jasmine Foliage
Romantic Antique Garden Rose (**one of my personal faves!)
Secret Garden Rose
Trachilium
Gunni Eucalyptus
Veronica
Black Privet Berries

Baby Welcoming Party with Feast & Festivities

Feast & Festivities, a newer Winnipeg-based wedding planner, asked me to be a part of a baby welcoming party this past fall - for none other than her own, sweet little boy (the amazing coincidence that he happens to share my birthday is not lost on me). Emily sent me an awesome inspiration board, filled with colour and fun ideas, and it was so much fun to design these flowers. There was nothing "sweet" or "precious" about this party. Oh, no - baby Enzo rocked a crown, while his parents welcomed guests to the event space at a luxury auto dealership with literally the best smelling appetizers possible (it was SO hard not to steal a few while I was setting up).

My favourite detail was the food table garland - Emily had the idea to add in those mini helium balloons, and I can't get enough of the way that turned out!

AS FEATURED ON HOST WINNIPEG

Photos: Gabrielle Touchette Photography // Planning and Coordination: Feast & Festivities // Venue: Nott Autocorp // Stationery: Jessica Alcantara Design // Florals: Stone House Creative // Cakes & Doughnuts: Laugh Love Cakes // Commissioner: Marry Me, Hunnie

You can also check out this awesome video from the shower from Jag Video Production!

Karen and Chris' Fall Wedding at The Qualico Centre

Karen was a dream bride to work with. She had some great ideas for her flowers, and wanted to hand over the rest of it to hear my thoughts and suggestions. We started with this great colour palette, working with the 2015 Pantone colour of the year - marsala - and tucked in tones of blush, cream, and dusty blues. With an early October wedding date, I was able to forage some autumn toned foliage to add in, and in the end, Karen's bridal bouquet was one of my favourites of the year!

The sweetheart table was intended to have a major impact, and I think the floral garland we added did just that. I loved being able to add in a lot of extras for her here - Karen was such a sweet bride, so being able to spoil them with a grand statement on this table was something I definitely wanted to do!