Wedding Reception Forum

Wine Bottle Centerpieces

Hi, all! I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for my centerpieces. I've staged this wine bottle centerpiece, but I'm afraid it's going to be too tall/obstruct the view across the table. Any advice? And the cord for the lights will be concealed. We're going to cut the bottom of the lights bottle to hide the battery pack/cord inside the bottle.

Re: Wine Bottle Centerpieces

  • ei34ei34 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Yeah just scale back the flower and it'll be fine.  Tall is fine if it's something slim/simple.

    Yours is lovely and mine looks like shit but here's what I did for my sister's wine-themed bridal shower.  Guests had no trouble talking to each other. 


  • I think there's too much going on
  • I would go with a single bottle with a single stem of a lean flower coming out. Tall and lean is fine. I think yours might be too much.
  • missfrodo said:
    Hi, all! I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for my centerpieces. I've staged this wine bottle centerpiece, but I'm afraid it's going to be too tall/obstruct the view across the table. Any advice? And the cord for the lights will be concealed. We're going to cut the bottom of the lights bottle to hide the battery pack/cord inside the bottle.
    I agree with PPs about too much going on.  I think one wine bottle, or several bottles spaced a bit apart (like the example photos Ro041 has), will look better.  Having two bottles with flowers and one with lights doesn't look right to me, so I'd either scrap the lights entirely or experiment with one bottle with lights and flowers.  I also think the light cord you have has too many lights for that bottle--if you could find a thinner cord with only 10 lights or something, it might look more like fireflies in a jar and less like someone crammed a whole Christmas tree into a bottle.  

    quote of the day, cracked up when I read that!
  • kaos16 said:
    missfrodo said:
    Hi, all! I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for my centerpieces. I've staged this wine bottle centerpiece, but I'm afraid it's going to be too tall/obstruct the view across the table. Any advice? And the cord for the lights will be concealed. We're going to cut the bottom of the lights bottle to hide the battery pack/cord inside the bottle.
    I agree with PPs about too much going on.  I think one wine bottle, or several bottles spaced a bit apart (like the example photos Ro041 has), will look better.  Having two bottles with flowers and one with lights doesn't look right to me, so I'd either scrap the lights entirely or experiment with one bottle with lights and flowers.  I also think the light cord you have has too many lights for that bottle--if you could find a thinner cord with only 10 lights or something, it might look more like fireflies in a jar and less like someone crammed a whole Christmas tree into a bottle.  

    quote of the day, cracked up when I read that!
    Thank you, and they said being a creative writing major would never get me anywhere :).  
    OP: Look for those super-thin battery-operated light strands, I think they're called fairy lights.  They had a bunch on clearance after Christmas, and they're literally designed to be put in small bottles.  
  • missfrodo said:
    kaos16 said:
    missfrodo said:
    Hi, all! I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for my centerpieces. I've staged this wine bottle centerpiece, but I'm afraid it's going to be too tall/obstruct the view across the table. Any advice? And the cord for the lights will be concealed. We're going to cut the bottom of the lights bottle to hide the battery pack/cord inside the bottle.
    I agree with PPs about too much going on.  I think one wine bottle, or several bottles spaced a bit apart (like the example photos Ro041 has), will look better.  Having two bottles with flowers and one with lights doesn't look right to me, so I'd either scrap the lights entirely or experiment with one bottle with lights and flowers.  I also think the light cord you have has too many lights for that bottle--if you could find a thinner cord with only 10 lights or something, it might look more like fireflies in a jar and less like someone crammed a whole Christmas tree into a bottle.  

    quote of the day, cracked up when I read that!
    Thank you, and they said being a creative writing major would never get me anywhere :).  
    OP: Look for those super-thin battery-operated light strands, I think they're called fairy lights.  They had a bunch on clearance after Christmas, and they're literally designed to be put in small bottles.  
    I have found quite a few of these lights on sale at Marshalls/Ross/equivalent stores as well. Most of them are identical despite being from different brands

    image
  • I think the issue with the grouping is that the 3 bottles are the same height. If you look at the other pictures posted of groups of bottles, the bottles are all a little different. 

    We did a wine-bottle table number (painted the bottle silver, then had a label on it with the number), next to a low greenery centerpiece. 
  • sfr91sfr91 member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    The fairy lights are what is in the bottle.
  • The fairy lights are what is in the bottle.
    Pack of 2 3M 30 Micro LED String Lights on Copper Wire
    Sorry for the huge pic, is this what's in the bottle?  It may be the size/color of the bottle that's the problem then.  These are "Micro LED string lights on copper wire," which is what I was picturing.  The wine bottle makes them look huge, like Christmas tree lights, but now that I look closer at it, I think it's the camera making the lights look bigger.  I still say either cut the lights entirely or maybe even string them on the table, outside of the bottles?  I get that you want lights in the display, but there are too many lights on the strand you have for that size of bottle.  Can you find a bigger bottle?  MandyMost is right that you need to have bottles of different sizes if you want them in a grouping--and I still wouldn't have them tied together.
  • One question, what size are your tables?  For a larger round you may want to add a ring of low lying greenery to keep the bottles proportional.  A smaller table and you can get away with less without it looking to small/understated.  At one point I ended up cutting some cardboard into the size of my rounds to make sure everything looked portioned on the tables.  (We had 120" I believe)

    That said I really like where your idea is going, but like others I think a few tweaks would make it that much more perfect.

    - Use three bottles of varying height or just go to a single bottle on each table.
    - Use the fairly lights in some greenery/flowers around the base of the bottle(s) instead of inside, or maybe try a battery operated tea-light in the base instead of the fairy lights.
    - Use a single stem flower/smaller buds on a thin stem instead of the larger flowers.
    - I personally like them tied together if you have a little variation in height.  You could use a nice ribbon on a single bottle also. 

  • SP29SP29 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I think the bottles look fine tied together, but I agree that different sizes (or even shapes) of bottles would look better.

    I also agree that the flower is too big.

    The lights are throwing me off, and I'm not quite sure why. I think there is too much contrast between one really bright bottle and two dark bottles. Can you wrap the lights around all 3 bottles in some way (thus the lights would be more spread out), or place the lights on the table around the bottles (but not exactly touching) to create a base?
  • sfr91sfr91 member
    5 Love Its First Comment

    Here is another option I'm working with. We will be having ten person round tables. I like this option more, but only one bottle will look silly and besides the table number in a stand I don't know what else to add.
  • LondonLisaLondonLisa member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited March 2017

    Here is another option I'm working with. We will be having ten person round tables. I like this option more, but only one bottle will look silly and besides the table number in a stand I don't know what else to add.
    Have you thought about spray painting the bottle? Wine bottles give off a greenish tint which can be aggressive, especially if lit. If you did a light layer of a soft gold, it would difuse the light and glow candle-like. Also, you could start saving all kinds of glass jars (jam jars, sauce jars, beer bottles etc) and spray paint them the same colour as the wine bottles (and even drop those LED tea lights in them). 
    You don't have to do gold. I love this colour ombre you could easily do with your wedding colours: 


    Or you could wrap them with twine if you want a more earthy look that PP posted. 

    I really think tying the bottles together with the same colour palate will really elevate the centrepiece. 
  • You want to try to avoid obstructing guests' site lines. Nothing is more annoying than trying to talk to someone on the other side of the table where you're both playing peek-a-boo around the centerpiece. As a general rule, stay under 12" or over 24" (with a skinny base, like an eiffel tower base). 

    Are these wine bottles sentimental to you? If not, I would consider other, shorter options. Maybe consider shorter, fatter, round containers or short cylindrical containers or a variety. You can still use your fairy lights if you like that idea:

    Image result for centerpiece fairy lights and flowers
    Image result for centerpiece fairy lights and flowers
    Image result for centerpiece fairy lights and flowers
    *********************************************************************************

    image
  • Ro041Ro041 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I like the single bottle way better.

    Also, Knottie#, can you change your username to something unique to you?  It will help me realize you are the OP.  Thanks!

  • sfr91sfr91 member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    edited April 2017
    Okay! Last one. I left the wine bottle idea and I think I found something I really like. I just have to find a vase with a wider bottom so I can lay the battery pack flat. I also am going to fill it more, but this was all the flowers I had for the moment. I am also going to find a ribbon that is as wide as the two stacked together.
  • SP29SP29 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I like the single wine bottle better than the first option. I think it looks nice.

    I do like your third option with the light coming through the burlap band- softens it a bit. I think I would cover the glass with that ribbon you have- just looks a bit odd to have ribbon at the bottom, open glass where you can see random flower stems, then more stems coming out of the vase. Or, do a slightly taller, thinner vase with the same or less flowers with the ribbon and lights at the bottom.
  • I like the new look!
  • I like the new direction much more. 
    image
  • Ro041Ro041 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Yup.  The new look is WAY better.

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