Centerpieces - My first DIY - PIP!!!!

Enchanted616 · June 2010

Okay, so I've spent the entire day trying to turn my dream centerpieces into reality..and I think I'm getting close!

Big dilemma: I was sorta planning on spending around $75 per centerpiece.. and the trial run ran me about $180.. so.. yea. That's not good. I'm notorious for going over budget.. but that's a little excessive. We will have probably around 40 tables, at least, so thats what.. like, $7,000 on just the centerpieces? That's not gonna happen. I can find cheaper supplies in bulk online; had anyone ordered things like silk flowers or vases from places like these? Do they look true to pictures? Can you recommend a good website?

Anyways, on a style note, couple of questions. First off, I'm going to surround these with rose petals and a bunch of different level candles encrusted with rhinestones, so I'm gonna need a much bigger mirror underneath. These flowers are gorgeous and look very real.. but I love the sparkly, ultra-crystaly look--would it look tacky to lightly spray the rose ball with glitter? Not like drench them, but just to make them shimmer a bit. And I was thinking about adding like some individual crystal picks among the roses. Too much? And I have no idea what to do with the vase.. I used a wooden dowel painted white and covered in white glitter to keep the ball on, but that looks weird. Any advice on how to make it look prettier? I was thinking about wrapping it in ribbon, or filling it with something.. I don't know.

Any ideas would be really appreciated! I know this was long and lots of questions.. thanks in advance!

beka0404 · June 2010

SO PRETTY.

I ordered silk flowers in bulk from Spring Hill Floral Supply. It was a gamble but it worked for my project (pew wreaths). Save On Crafts.com (both vendors in my bio under vendor reviews) has bulk quantities of the tower vases.

I like the idea of ribbon wrapping for the dowel... is there enough room between the vase and the dowel to fill it with sparkly sand? Not sure on the glittery flower idea - I like the richness of leaving the flowers as-is, but crystal picks might be nice. (Or if you use a lesser-quality flower from bulk suppliers, the glitter idea might cover up any flaws in the flowers themselves...) I think the crystals and mirror and candles will combine to make a lot of sparkle.

I love the look of the mass-roses, but I found roses to be pretty expensive, even in bulk. I wound up choosing carnations because I like the look of all-carnations massed together. Could you do half the table with the tall centerpieces and the other half with a lower centerpiece? That might help cut costs.

leggwilliams · June 2010

I don't have advice, I know nothing about flowers and am not planning on using silk ones so I can't recommend any sites. I just wanted to tell you I think it's turning out GREAT so far! I commend you on taking on such a big task!

shudak1 · June 2010

Those are awesome!

drdifabio · June 2010

First of all I think these will look great but I was trying to add up the cost in my head and cant figure out how you go up to $75. I think you could do the same thing for cheaper. Was it the crystals and the flowers that got expensive?

So one idea - instead of spaying the flowers with glitter, what if you moved the crystal strand up so it started maybe 2/3 the way down and that way drapes along part of the flowers and down versus just being below the flowers. That might allow you to see more of the crystal sparkle without adding glitter. I also like the classic elegance look that these have already so I dont think they need glitter or crystal picks especially if you move the crystal strand up.

Instead of a wooden dowel - could you get a clear one? Otherwise, I really like the idea of wrapping the vase with ribbon.

Also to keep costs down, you could do this CP on say 2/3 of the tables and do an all candle CP or something like that on the other 1/3. The candles would help pick up all the sparkle then too.

Enchanted616 · June 2010

Thanks for the good advice! I guess I didnt even really think of having more than one type of centerpiece.. I love the multiple candle idea!

Okay, quick breakdown of price:

$80 in silk flowers (there are about 110 roses)
$20 for the styrofoam ball
$5 for vase (discount cause it was damaged)
$50 in crystals
$7 for mirror (and I want to get an even bigger one)

The wooden dowel and paint and stuff I just got from my dad, so didn't spend money on that, but that stuff would add up quick too..

Yea, the money was mostly spent on the flowers.. which is why I am hoping I can find a good website to buy flowers in bulk. I know I could do it cheaper that way.. I just am nervous ordering something off a picture online.

beka0404 · June 2010

If it helps, the picture of my wreaths in my bio (DIY tab) is high-res, so if you click on it you can magnify to see detail. Compare it with the image from the website where I bought them: https://www.directfloral.com/bigshot.asp?ProductID=453059317

I was nervous too, but they worked out just fine.

Did you get your flowers for your mock-up at Michael's? I did, and even with a sale the mock-ups of my wreaths cost over $50. Sick.

I'm pretty sure you can get the foam balls for cheaper through save-on-crafts.com.

Enchanted616 · June 2010

Oh, those look great! I'll def have to check out both of those websites, thanks so much!

JoeyBloom · June 2010

Beautiful idea! As a cheaper alternative use the following:

$7.99 Pomanders

$7.98 Bobeche Crystal Ring

http://www.koyalwholesale.com/pages-productinfo-product-14783/bobeche_candle_ring_-_clear_acrylic_crystal_diamond_best_seller.html

TriSaratops10 · June 2010

AMAZING!!!!! It looks really gorgeous!!

Steph0871 · June 2010

Woah. Those are gorgeous. Yeah. I would never spend $180/piece on centerpieces, though. Can you scale them down, even a little? I'm sure you can find crystals for less than that, too!

graysquirrel · June 2010

While they are fabulous, I agree that $7000 is ridiculous for centerpieces unless you're really wealthy. I keep wondering how many hours a person would have to work to pay for that. That is more than my whole wedding! If you can't reduce costs on the individuals, what if you used the expensive ones for the head table and made little ones for the rest? Or what if you used some kind of filler in with the roses? Like some moss or something?

Enchanted616 · June 2010

Again, great advice. I have lots of time to keep trying these diffferent ideas too, which is perfect.

We do have kinda a larger budget.. but only because I have the worlds most amazing parents who are hosting the wedding. I cant imagine spending so much money on a lot of things that have come up, but my mom keeps telling me not to worry about it.. thats really hard! At least a tiny justification is that I might be able to sell them afterwards. I try to keep things under control, then I watch these elaborate wedding shows.. stupid platinum weddings!

kkaew816 · June 2010

Those look gorgeous!

You could get mirrors for much less, I'm pretty sure Home Depot sells mirror for much less, not sure what shapes though

kristigiles · June 2010

sometimes real flowers are less expensive than fake flowers if you buy in bulk at sams club or something like that. I don't know if that's an option for you, but its worth looking into!

beka0404 · June 2010

Enchanted, YGPM...

Enchanted616 · June 2010

Thanks, you do too.

Centerpieces - My first DIY - PIP!!!!

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