White Pumpkin Centerpieces

Fall weddings are the perfect time to use white pumpkins in your wedding centerpieces. While not as widely available as their orange cousins, the white pumpkins add a bridal look to your tablescape. 

You can hollow them out and use them as a vase or hollow out the centers and add a votive candle for the center of your tables.  Decoate them with bling -- Options are only limited by your imagination.

 Photo from April Hiler Designs (faux flowers)

Where can you get white pumpkins? Last weekend Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania had a huge stack of them outside, but I'm sure there are other places to pick some up.  And if they had them in that store, they're probably widely available at other stores. 

If you want to use a white foam pumpkin try the design by April Hiler Designs shown above.  I'm not usually a huge fan of silk flowers or faux anything, but love this design! April has other great designs available in her Etsy Shop.

Photo from Wedding Party Centerpieces

5 Fabulous Wedding Centerpieces

Why consider thinking outside the box for your wedding centerpieces? Sticker shock for one.  If you are looking for options that won't break the bank, try these five fabulous wedding centerpieces that look great too. Wedding centerpieces can run the gamut from the hot colored succulents to aromatic coffee beans. Those fancy floral arrangements are not just expensive they don't give you wedding a personal touch.  What other five ideas can you use to vamp up your centerpieces? Here are a five of my favorite wedding centerpieces. Why did I choose these? They all offer great color and/or aroma.  I'm a big fan of appealing to as many senses as possible when you're planning centerpieces. 

1.  OK, I admit it, my favorite is succulents.  Head to your local Home Depot and pick up some individual succulents.  If you're really creative, once you get them home get out your air brush paint and turn the succulents into pieces that will wow your guests and keep them guessing about "where did she get these..." When I first saw these I spent hours running searches for purple succulents--needless to say I didn't find any as brightly colored as these since their color is due to paint.  They're easy to do plus inexpensive.

Photos and designs courtesy of: http://www.tableart.net/

2.  Instead of a large floral centerpiece go with submerged candles in a tall vase with some flowers submerged.  This is a great way to make flowers like orchids go farther if you don't have a large budget or you can even use silks for these.  Face it, who is going to dip their hand into the water to check?  OK, I admit, I know a few people who might....but they're not invited to the wedding! Or check out the great daisies above.  Simple to do yourself or have your florist put together at a lower cost than most centerpieces.

3. Choose using a variety of fruit artfully displayed.  If you're planning a wedding in a colonial venue consider a cone covered with apples with a pineapple on top (OK, I know that sounds weird, but click the link to the right and you'll see what I mean.  It's actually pretty easy to make.  See this link. Otherwise consider adding apples, grapes and berries to your centerpieces at the bottom of the vase, it gives a great pop of color and adds a great scent to your table displays.



4. Consider using items like legumes or coffee beans.  Add a bow and it wows as an inexpensive centerpiece.

5.  Paper flowers are another great option.  Less expensive than live blooms (and you can make them yourself.  Visit Do It Yourself Wedding Planning to learn how to make your own.  Or Etsy.com has paper artists who can save you from getting paper cuts making your own.

Is It Real? Or ...

Today's vintage look includes mixing and matching everything from chairs to china to your flowers--some real, some great paper creations.  The soft colors echo the rest of the wedding decor.  Consider combining your real flowers with some paper flowers in your bouquet and on your table, they look so creative!

Pretty Pumpkins For Fall Weddings

Photo and Directions at Martha Stewart

Looking for some pumpkins that will make your tablescape pop? Visit the Fall Inspiration Boutique by Frugal With a Flourish for great ideas you can use to decorate your tables for your fall wedding.  Some are easy DIY projects other require a bit more crafting savvy.  No matter what your skill level is you're sure to find some great ideas.  I've posted my favorites, but visit their website to see additional ideas and links for tutorials.

The pumpkins with the holiday lights above are a Martha Stewart favorite.  My feeling about these, if you are good with holiday lights (I admit, I'm not. I buy new ones every year. I know, I know, I should be able to make them last for years but... somehow they never make it to  the next year without disaster occurring!) so this project was one of my least favorite.  Between managing not to mess up the lights and scraping out the interior of the pumpkin--ych! But the end product looks really nice and being able to vary the sizes and colors is a real plus.  My husband was way better at this one than I was (which is why he gets to do the Christmas lights every year), although even he wasn't thrilled with scooping out the guts of the pumpkin.  Using his drill to put the holes in the pumpkin was another thing entirely--the man loves his power tools!

Having a wedding closer to Thanksgiving? Try these lentil covered pumpkins from HGTV mixed with candles with a ring of lentils circling them as well-the perfect late fall tablescape! Be sure to check with your venue and see if they allow open flames on your tables! 

This project was easy to do (even for the DIY  challenged).  Even if you aren't having a fall wedding they are great for fall decorating.  You could also cover your tapers about 1/3 of the way up with lentils--they work on almost anything. 

Want to dazzle your guests? Try this bedazzled white pumpkin complete with a glittery spider.   This fake pumpkin is easy to make (see directions here) and since it's made with a fake pumpkin it's easy to do ahead of time for a Halloween wedding.  You can paint the pumpkin other colors or just decorate the pumpkins and leave off the spider if you have queasy guests who might not want to dine with a large spider staring at them(even if it is obviously fake). 

The gilded pumpkins above are my favorites.  The best part? Everything you need (except the pumpkin) comes in a kit by Caromal Colours.  The gilding in the kit can be used on fruit like pears as well, so consider thinking outside the box and not just limiting yourself to pumpkins or gourds.  If you're planning on making these for a wedding, get some practice time in first and be sure to have enough kits on hand to complete the number of pieces you need for your wedding.  The worst thing would be to run out of gilding and not be able to get it in time for your wedding.  This makes a great DIY project for your bridesmaids or family members to help you out with (or even your groom if he's good at crafts).  Since most of you know I test out these for how easy this craft is, I'll tell you, this was the most difficult of the pumpkin crafts shown, but by far the best looking in the end.  I assigned my husband (The Wedding King) to do the base coats since he took one look at the gold leaf and was positive it was going to be difficult.  I admit, the first two were ... well...let's just say I hadn't mastered the art--AT ALL! LOL.  But by the third try I had it down.  I started out working on small pumpkins but this might actually be easier using a fruit like pears that don't have so many valleys to get in and out of.  But it's well worth giving it a try.  Also since I had to test these, it means I don't need to do too much work for Halloween this year!

Painted Ladies--Glamorizing Succulents

Are you a bride in love with succulents? These beauties make perfect centerpieces when grouped together on your tables or spread out in a table scape with some candles in between them.  You've never seen succulents like these before? I'm about to tell you why. The florist spray painted them!  There are reason's I'm NOT a florist!  It never would have occurred to me to spray paint flowers or succulents.  Then some colored stone was added to coordinate with the paint colors used and it pulls the whole look together.  Succulents varied in shades as did the colored stones used.  Who created these? The florist on Flowers by Bornay Inspiration web site.

If you look through the posts you'll find other great floral ideas to use for inspiration.  Be sure to leave a comment letting them know how much you like their ideas.  For more information on painting succulents go to my DIY site.  Don't forget you'll need a few accent succulents for your bouquet as well!  And best of all, you can use them as your wedding favors too--talk about double duty and instant re-purposing!

Pretty In Pink

If you love flowers but you are also looking for a modern look visit Chive Inc.  Their selection of vases offers modern brides options for vases that make doing your own flowers (or having a friend do them) not quite the production it might be.  Their vases are simple and meant for flower arrangements with a minimalist look.  They also have a variety of small vases in a variety of colors as well as white and test tube vases. No matter what your preference, Chive Inc. will have something to appeal to you. If you are using their clear vases add them to tablecloths that have some color and it will show off their design as well as your flowers.

More Succulent Bouquets

This succulent bouquet by Aubrey Messick takes my breath away with the sheer size of the succulents used.  More succulent bouquets below also from Aubrey's Floral Blog.

I love using succulents in bouquets, they work well as either the primary 'flower; or as an accent as in the piece above.  Best of all, you don't need to worry about them drying out!  Look through Aubrey's pages for even more great inspiration for your wedding.  If you're really lucky you live near Glendora, California and Aubrey can style your wedding for you.

Poolside Nuptials--Decorating Your Pool

Having a wedding around your pool? Consider floating flowers in your pool to add some zing to your decor.  Larger flowers make a bigger impact.  Bright ones take advantage of the contrast between the clear aqua of the pool and the bright florals.