Non floral centerpieces 2.0
Decor Porn
By
on April 21, 2010
79
A thousand years ago, okay more like three years ago, Ariel put out a post called "Non floral centerpieces." Well, in Offbeat Bride years, three years is a looooong time because we've been inundated with so many more amazing alternatives to floral centerpieces since then. So here is our non-floral centerpieces post version 2.0.
Fake coral
This is a shot from my beach wedding. We spray painted those suckers bright orange and placed just one piece of brightly colored fake coral on each table, they looked awesome.
Wine bottles
Wine bottles, or bottles in general, with cool graphic table numbers like these from Nicole & Kyle's wedding can make quite an impact.
Jars full of fruit
Yummy and functional. And so easy to shop for! Buy fruit in colors that match or in various fun colors and fill up cool glass jars. Voila, centerpiece done and you can eat it when it's over.
Planets
Perfect for geeks in love, or weddings in a planetarium or for astronomy themed weddings. These planet centerpieces from Deana and Glen's wedding are made from inflatable planets.
Feathers
They pretty, they're fluffy, they're colorful, and you can play with them on your wedding night after everyone goes home. (wink wink.)
Books
Ariel mentioned books in her last post, but this stack is bigger and with more ribbon. A stack of books topped with flowers or photos of the couple, or topped with nothing at all, just a stack of the couple's favorite reads can be meaningful and lovely. Perfect for bookish brides.
Nerdy video game references!
Yes yes yes. Do this! This is from Stephanie and Chase's Nintendo-themed wedding of which we don't have a profile (boo).
Oil lamps
A single oil lamp — how badass does this look!?
Trivia questions
We featured this centerpiece before because we loved the fact that they used a log-slice, two candles and trivia about wedding traditions and made it look beautiful AND it was bound to get guests talking.
Games
Interactive board games and the lick are often colorful and, not to mention, fun. They can also double as a way to get your table mates to interact with each other.
Felt or paper flowers
There's nothing bad about this idea. Felt and paper flowers can be made in all colors in existence and they never die AND they can be as affordable or as expensive as you want them to be. Loooove this idea.
Mason jars
Mason jars are really popular centerpieces with OBBs. A single mason jar with pretty flowers, or colored mason jars with a candle inside. But I'm so into this idea from Cori and Evan's wedding where they placed pictures of themselves into Mason jars and then filled them with oil. WOWFACTORx10.
Have more non-floral centerpiece ideas? Leave 'em in the comments or submit yours to the OBB Flickr pool and perhaps they'll end up in our next round-up — version 2.1!
Read more posts about: centerpiece, decor, diy centerpiece, non-floral centerpiece, paper flower bouquet, roundup« Previous post
About Megan Finley
Megan Finley is the Managing Editor for Offbeat Bride and the Associate Publisher for the Offbeat Empire. When she's not slaving away for the Empire, she's sharing her dork side on her own blog and on Twitter @meganfinley.
Phoenix_B said
My idea (for a small wedding) is to use the black and white wedding or individual photos of my no longer alive grandparents from both sides, and my partners (he gets six – step parents!) as centerpieces. They would also form the "table name" and maybe include a little bio about their lives, and how we love them and want to include them in our wedding.
misty said
we are going to be taking the book idea and stacking them on each table then adding different sized seashells aroound the books. we have tons of both already so we dont have to spend a thing!
Melissa said
We had a destination wedding and a reception back home, so we named our tables after places we'd visited in Scotland, and put photos we took at each table as decoration.
We also used a simple glass bowl ($4 at IKEA) filled with water, floating candles and cranberries (which float on water) as centerpieces. Worked out to less than $5 each.
Pic: http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/ph…8_7471.jpg
Jesh said
I'm surprised branches weren't on this list. We're using manzanita branches placed in 6x6x6 black wooden boxes.
Offbeat Megan said
Branches (or sticks) were suggested by Ariel in the first non-floral centerpiece post.
Aurora said
I have a head vase that was my grandmother's (http://www.antiqueheadvases.com/productimages/headvaseimages/625-2.jpg) and even without flowers in them, they are just so beautiful and would make a great centerpiece.
Alex said
Yup, we had stacks of videos tied up with ribbon, because we met in a video shop. They doubled up as favours.
stephanie said
I love the mason jars with pictures in them. What kind of oil would you put in them?
Ava said
We're just using water for our wedding. We tested it out and it works quite nicely!
Stephanie said
Thanks Ava….actually that's a cool idea because you can tint the water with food coloring just a bit if you want to add some color!
carissa said
we bought little birdcages from michaels, and surrounded the base of them with moss, and had little ceramic birds nesting in it… it was sooo precious and we had so many wonderful compliments!
Tess Hawe said
I love the idea of game centre pieces , it sounds like a great way of getting guests to get to know each other, as long as the games aren't too competitive. The image of a bunch of my call of duty loving friends battling it out around a game of Risk is a touch worrying.
Sharon said
I want to use blown glass pieces in my centerpieces, with minimal greenery or something (I want to mimic Dale Chihuly's pieces in the NY Botanical Gardens), but I can't find anything like that at all. Help!!!
Jen said
I'm doing floating candles in wine glasses. There are a few fake rosebuds at the bottom, but the centerpiece could stand on its own without the flowers.
samthegirl said
Just an FYI about the paper/felt flowers- I'm the photographer for the featured pic, and these are actually different layers of fabric with a button in the middle. A small distinction, I know, but my friend made these and I just wanted to clarify for her craftsmanship. Thanks.
Stephanie said
LOVE LOVE LOVE the log slice idea! My fiance does logging on his days off from the fire department, and that is a great way to incorporate who he is into the reception without making it too gaudy. I've been struggling with that concept. Thanks for the inspiration!