How to Make a Beautiful and Inexpensive Wedding Reception Centerpiece
Creating a do-it-yourself wedding centerpiece gives you a chance to make an inexpensive alternative to a traditional table decoration. Add elegance to your wedding by putting together a look with flowers and vases of your choice. You can use roses to achieve this look, or other seasonal flowers work with this centerpiece. Look around for low-cost but elegant vases that you can use for the table's center. If you want to go a bit quirky, pick vases of different hues that match your wedding colors.
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Things You'll Need
- 50 to 75 thick-stemmed flowers
- Vase
- 1/4-inch piece of green, florist (adhesive) tape
- Stem cutter
- Stem stripper
Instructions
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1
Strip off excess foliage from your bouquet. Remove blooms that appear wilted. Take off any thorns along the stems.
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2
Fill up sink, or bucket, with water. Place and hold your flowers stems completely under the water. Cut stems, with stem cutter, 2 inches up from the bottom, in an angled pattern.
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3
Soak bouquet for three minutes. Place in bucket or sink with half-filled water until you need to arrange them.
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4
Pick up flowers, one by one, and secure them with your other hand while you arrange the bouquet.
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5
Arrange four flowers into a square shape to make up the center of your arrangement.
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6
Place other blossoms around the square to create a dome shape. Continue until all the flowers are placed around the square to form the rest of your bouquet.
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7
Apply adhesive tape (green tape you see at a florist shop) 3 to 4 inches below the flower blooms. Add another layer of tape to the bottom of your arrangement to double up the strength of your tape. Leave 2 inches of space at the bottom because you may need to cut the bottom stems off.
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8
Place your flower arrangement next to the vase centerpiece to gauge how much stems you need to cut from the end of the bouquet. Cut off, at an angle, any length that you don't need.
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9
Place your arrangement into the centerpiece, whether it's a vase or container.
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10
Mist and refrigerate once your arrangement is complete to keep them from getting too hot. Place in an air-conditioned room if you do not have a refrigerator handy.
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Tips & Warnings
Use short-stem roses (if you want to use this type of flower) instead of long-stem roses for a cost-effective solution for your wedding centerpiece.
Force open roses that haven't bloomed by placing them under hot water. Only do this for a few minutes as too long an application time can kill the rose.
Use longer stems than you need as you put together the arrangement. Cut to fit when you're finished arranging.
Hold flower bloom heads up to the container you plan to use, as you are working, to figure out if you need less or more flowers to fill the vase.
Spread stems out into a fan shape if you are using a see-through vase to add modern flair.
Bind stem ends to create an elegant look.
Add a touch of lemon-lime soda to give your blooms a longer lifespan.
References
- Photo Credit Buccina Studios/Photodisc/Getty Images
