The "Did you Know?" Centerpieces

Here's a wonderful DIY non-floral centerpiece idea from Tribesmaid Katie Sue's wedding — a log-sliced wooden base, with two wrapped candles and trivia about wedding traditions held aloft for guests ponder. The bride, Katie Sue, explained:

Nearly everything purchased for the wedding was on sale, free, or crafted with things I already had or could easily find. My fiance and I had craft-night nearly every night for about 7 months leading up to the wedding. We hand-made everything we could, including the boutonnieres, invitations, programs, thank-yous, centerpieces, signage, bouquet, and headpieces.
& Candles


groom's bout. that he made!

The wedding was performed on a Sunday evening outdoors as the sun began to set. Our colors were cream and chocolate and everything was very natural-based with wooden pieces strewn throughout the wedding and reception. Our whole wedding party wore chocolate Converse and we served candy instead of dinner.
beautiful day Chuck shot again Brownie Cake & Crochet Bird Toppers

I can't even imagine the amount of work that Katie-Sue and her fiance put into all these DIY details … and I just scratched the surface! To see the rest, check the slideshow.

All photos by Heather Cook Elliott Photography

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Comments on “Did you know” log centerpieces + tons of DIY inspiration

  1. for real, those centerpieces made me "squee!" with delight! the trivia idea is fabulous and so entertaining. this is definitely an idea that is borrow-able (or steal-able for the more blunt terminology) and would work for so many other themes and ideas.

    what a beautiful wedding with so much beautiful DIY-ing. way to go! and congratulations!

    • 🙂 thanks. my husband doesn't know it yet…but ive been trying to seek out other brides and help them plan their weddings too! it's was so much fun and i miss it!!!

  2. The centerpiece idea is brilliant. Also, on a totally random side note: The photo of the little boy sitting between the man and woman… so awesome. Whoever took the photo should be so proud

    • isn't it gorgeous!? i absolutely LOVE that picture. the lil boy is my nephew and godson, so it was a huge treat to get such an amazing picture of him! she also got a FABULOUS photo of my neice. it was so cute that her parents special ordered it and used it for her birthday invitations last month!!

  3. Love the boutonnieres! Any chance of sending along a step-by-step on how you made them? Also–I love your baby's breath bridesmaid bouquets! I'm planning on having those, too. Actually, I'm planning on putting them together myself. Did you make them yourself? Order the flowers wholesale? How many field bunches did you use per bouquet?

    • Aislinn – the boutonnieres were pretty simple to do. you'll need feather, leaves, flowers, or whatever other decorations you can think of. i used raffia for EVERYTHING in the wedding. raffia and hot glue! start with a stick or flower & stem as a base. take a little hot glue at the base of the flower (in back) and attach an end of raffia. (you can find this stuff at any craft store!) wrap the raffia around the stem, adding/weaving in feathers and leaves or whatever you want along the way. tie or glue the bottom and you're done! for a dramatic look attach a big leaf in the back with some more hot glue.

      the baby's breath bouquets were so inexpensive! i got mine from the floral dept. at pick n save. i used 2-3 "bunches" for each bouquet. i had so much left over, that i let my brother make little…"forests" with the rest and we put those by the cake. I made them with my sister/matron of honor the day before the ceremony and let them sit in water overnight. my husband even gave my bouquet a "pistol grip" handle with yarn!!!

      if you need anything else, let me know!!!

      • Does anyone know where i could find a pattern or an explanation for the bird toppers? were the DIY or bought? I'm trying to help an friend of mine who really wants to make/buy them for her wedding in 7 months and it would be a great help to me and her. Thanks anyone who can help and thanks Katie for such a beautiful and inspiring wedding!

  4. Love the centerpieces, so unique with a vintage charm. The wedding site looked amazing too. Congrats!

  5. I want to know what was on the back of the bridesmaid trivia card. Please share?

    • Me too! The internet doesn't seem to have the answer, how is that even possible?

      All looks beautiful, loving the charm of it all, it looks so warm! In spirit that is!

    • I think it's to intentionally confuse anyone who was coming to kidnap the bride.. evil spirits, you know how they always show up at weddings (it has its roots when ALL the maids and the bride used to wear the same dress)

      • that is exactly what the back said i think. the bride bridesmaids wore dresses to confuse the spirits. then, somewhere, a bride decided that she wanted to stand out…and look more beautiful for her groom so she wore a different dress than them. what a weird way to wind up with that tradition!!!

    • It's also the same reason that brides wear veils. To hide their faces from the evil spirits.

  6. This is the kind of thing im looking for, for my engagement centre pieces and i just cant find the wood slices.. where did u get this from?
    im struggling. please help. Thanks x

  7. I have to agree with everyone about the beautiful centerpieces, but I really like the trivia idea! Did you make up the questions yourself, or did you find them somewhere?

  8. How did you do the flowers on the centerpiece? I’ve been trying to find a SMALLISH diy flower and everything i’ve found is so big. Such a cute centerpiece!

  9. Crazy – I shot this wedding for katie and Hubs. It was a delight then and still pretty great to look back on. Katie had a great vision for her day. Please credit : HeatherCookElliott.com or Heather Cook Elliott Photography when posting these so they don’t get picked up as stock photos on web. Thanks!

    • Thanks for letting us know the photo credit! There was none included with the photos on Flickr, so we were flying blind. I’ve updated the post with credit. Thanks for taking such great shots. 🙂

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