centerpiece help

sphinx24

hi! I am renting vases for my centerpieces but i don't want the flowers to go to waste and i cannot think of a good way to have guests take the flowers home while leaving the vases. I am concerned that they won't understand about just taking the flowers but leaving the container. I recently went to a wedding where a friend did the same thing and when the DJ announced the centerpiece giveaway 1/3 of the guests took the vases and when she realized this she had someone take all the inserts out of the vases and had them put on the table and the vases taken out of the room. I found this really awkward to do during the reception and she ended up having to reimburse the florist for the rental of the vases :S suggestions?

nooniesinlove

Buy cheap vases and let people take them if they want them.

squirrly

Instead of giving the flowers to guests, you could donate them to a local hospital or nursing home.  You could have the DJ announce to leave the vases.Or you could purchase very cheap vases that they could take with them.

3plus2=5

Do you HAVE to rent the vases from your florist?  You could find cheap ones to purchase then you wouldn't have to worry about it.

redheadfsu

People are not going to understand. If you say please take the flowers home they will take the vases too. I don't know a way to explain only flowers w/o confusing people. I mean your DJ can say "Please take the flowers but not the vases" but that is as awkward too. Like pp said just buy cheap vases so they can take them home. But maybe you could do something something during your bouquet toss. Like, "the oldest/youngest/single woman at each table please take the Flowers out of the vase as a gift"

sphinx24

i don't have to rent the vases i admit it's just that i fell in love with this style of vase and the way the flowers will designed in it and if i were to purchase them they would be about 40.00 each which is outside of my budget. I do actually really like the idea of donating the flowers to a hospital or retirement facility. my second question then would be if i chose not to give away the flowers at the wedding and donated them should i do something in place of the centerpiece giveaway or just exclude it?

squirrly

Just skip it.  I've only been to one wedding where they gave them away, and I found that to be very awkward.  There will be more people who want them than can have them, so if you play a game somebody looses and is annoyed that the person who DID get them may not want them.  Ours will go to the nursing home or specific family members (like my mom).

Brie2010

Ask your florist.  My florist comes back at the end of the reception to pick up the vases and she brings cellophane to wrap them in and gives them away.