Eight Incredible Centerpieces for Your Wedding
1. Don't get Bored, get Board!
In just about every wedding, there's a group of people who prefer just to sit around their tables and talk, often catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Sometimes, these conversations can lull, leaving the people at the wedding who don't dance with little to do. This won't be a problem with a small collection of board games in the center of the table. This not only gives the guests something an activity, but provides an excellent opportunity for people to mingle at a table where guests might not already know each other.
2. Get Fishy Wid' It
Tired of that bowl of traditional flowers or shiny multi-colored balls? Why not fill it with live fish? Just fill simple glass bowls with a few small decorations (marbles add a nice touch to the bottom) some water and, of course, a few exotic goldfish. You could even include a small packet of fish food. If you've got kids at the table, the goldfish is sure to be a big hit, especially if you let them feed the fish. It's unique, cheap, and keeps both kids and adults entertained.
3. Write makes Right
If you've got a lot of literate friends, another unique centerpiece idea is an attractive journal that matches the theme of the wedding. It looks lovely on the table, and if you include a few pens (how about getting your names and the wedding date on them?) your guests can leave messages, congratulations, best wishes, fondest memories of the bride and groom, embarrassing stories, or anything they feel the bride and groom would enjoy reading as they reflect on their wedding day.
4. Bring it On, Cupcake
Never underestimate the power of a good cupcake. Small cakes or cupcakes artfully arranged on an attractive serving tray and decorated with small fresh or artificial flowers make a truly unique centerpiece. If you like, you can even use these as an alternative to the traditional wedding cake. This allows for more variety in decoration and flavors. Also, your guests can relive wedding memories by cutting the cakes at their table after the bride and groom.
5. Smoke and Mirrors
The combination of candles and mirrors can make for some dazzling effects as centerpieces. Place an attractive round mirror in the center of the table, and have several lit candles of different heights and shapes on the glass. If the light in the reception venue is dim, the light of the candles on the mirrors can produce an awesome effect. Make this tried motif more modern by placing square mirrors under square glass vases, delightfully filled with floating candles and/or submerged flowers.6. Gift and Grab Boxes
If you've got bigger tables, different-sized gift boxes can add a unique touch as centerpieces. Take three different sized boxes and wrap them in unique but complimentary wrapping papers, then glue them together at odd angles to make them unique. For a little extra fun, get some grab bags at a local dollar store and put them inside the boxes for children, or the children at heart.7. A Puzzling Venture
One idea that's growing in popularity is to have a jigsaw puzzle made from a picture of the couple as a centerpiece. It encourages the people at the table to work together to assemble the puzzle, and this serves as a great icebreaker.8. Champagne Anyone?
Another great and useful idea for a centerpiece is a collection of unique champagne glasses. Thrift stores and garage sales often have a lot of these at very reasonable prices, and with a little cleaning they can look as good as new. Arrange the flutes on the tables in random patterns as a centerpiece. They don't have to match — they just have to play well together. The unifying touch? Fill each one with wedding-friendly candy, such as translucent vanilla Jelly Bellies, champagne candies, or pastel M&Ms. The guests can then use the flutes for toasting — and munching.
Don't be stifled by traditional centerpiece choices. These unique ideas can not only give your guests a way to break the ice the wedding, but something to marvel over later for years to come. Break the mold, but not your budget!
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this is so bad…. fish are beautiful and they can feel so i totally disagree with the idea of fish as centerpieces …. noone should buy this idea and maybe one day they’ll stop selling fish for wedddings
ok wow a lot of drama going on. I think it’s a great idea and i am considering it for my wedding. It’s ok there are plenty of goldfish to go around. Lol too funny. Well congrats to everyone planning a wedding.
Well said
I just attended a wedding with fishbowls as centerpieces. This was a bad idea. There were 4-5 fish in each tiny bowl and we had to watch them slowly choking to death because there wasn’t enough oxygen in the water. Even if they are just tiny animals, it’s cruel to kill anything by aspbhyxiation. They reacted to vibrations of the loud music and any time someone bumped the table. Watching a bowl of fish die slowly as I tried to eat and enjoy a party pretty much ruined my evening. Nobody wants to see that.
opps forgot the filling it with water part & the beta lol
I LOVE the fish centerpeice idea & will be using this idea for my centerpeices, October 18 [my wedding] Our colors are different shades of pink. I will be getting tall vases, filling them a few inches deep with pink & clear glass rocks & putting a pink glow light in the middle of the rocks to light up the rocks, & will top it off with a few flowers [same as in my bouquet]. I can NOT wait until its all put together!!
“We used feeder fish which cost 10 cents apiece and don’t have a long lifespan anyway. I put chlorine neutralizer in the centerpiece water. None of them died during the reception and survived just fine for a short time after. We put them in the base of our fountain after the reception and removed each one as they died. We also did not turn the fountain on during that time. Expecting a fish to spend a few hours swimming around a fishbowl is not any crueler than making a human sit in a crowded airplane. Get a life” -Removed them as they died? So you sat there for 25 years and removed each one as they died? Goldfish need filtration and oxygen, they hear via vibrations, at which a wedding or other party there will be lots of. The fish will become confused and stressed, and then more prone to becoming sick. I work in an aquatics centre, and many of these fish sold by other aquatics centres end up back at my fish shop with parents and their kids wanting “the cheapest” set up for the fish they were given - yes.. cheapest, it’s about £30 for the cheapest set up, which is too much for the majority of these people. Please think about these goldfish before you put them in bowls at your wedding or other party. Just because they only cost pennies, doesn’t mean that they don’t feel the same amount of distress as having, say, a puppy in a box on each table. Yes, fish have feelings too. What about the guests who will inevitably devise cruel ways to torment the fish? Pour a drink in the water and watch it slowly die from poisoning? C’mon guys, this just isn’t fair on the animals. What’s wrong with flowers? Or the glass fish which float via a glass air bubble? There are plenty more alternatives to using a live animal as a decoration.
To the person who in May said vegetarians eat fish: Vegetarians don’t eat fish. Fish is not vegetation.
As a party planner, I’ve used many types of fish at functions with out anyone offended- in fact, most guests found the idea unique and fun! It is best suited for a party with children- then why not invite them to take the fish home afterwards?
I have to agree with the fact that using goldfish is not the best idea for your center piece, I orignially planed to do that for my own wedding, but decided against it. While I don’t agree with keeping a goldfish in such a confined place, I also don’t agree with the attitude of some of the posts. Tellign someone they are dumber than a sack of bricks is not really the best way to sway them to your side of the argument. Goldfish definatly feel, but so do the people your posting about. On an end note good luck and warm wishes to everyone planning their wedding.
We used feeder fish which cost 10 cents apiece and don’t have a long lifespan anyway. I put chlorine neutralizer in the centerpiece water. None of them died during the reception and survived just fine for a short time after. We put them in the base of our fountain after the reception and removed each one as they died. We also did not turn the fountain on during that time. Expecting a fish to spend a few hours swimming around a fishbowl is not any crueler than making a human sit in a crowded airplane. Get a life
I had beautiful fish centerpieces at my wedding and the movement and color on the tables were unique.Everyone loved them.After the party we had a fish tank waiting to put them in.It is two years later and my fish are happy and loved being invited to the wedding.
Use betta’s and place the bowl on a small revolving light. it is very effective for a cocktail party. the party only lasts a couple of hours and the lights aren’t strong enough to hurt the fish nor warm the water that could harm them in any way. good luck with your event
Who wants to look at a fish swimming around trailing a string of poop out of it’s behind while they’re trying to eat their nice catered dinner? Anyone who’s ever owned fish knows exactly what I’m talking about…
Come on ladies…regardless of how YOU feel about the cruelty issue, gauranteed there will be guests at your reception who will not approve because THEY will believe it’s cruel and inappropriate. ESPECIALLY if something happens to the fish and your lovely centerpiece ends up featuring a dead fish floating belly-up. Why even go there and risk offending anyone?
And before anyone starts flaming me…I’m not choosing sides here. I just think that there are plenty of other creative alternatives that won’t potentially offend anyone.
Wow if you think trying to educate people to avoid animal cruelty is silly and pointless that’s quite sad.
My goodness…why is everyone fighting over a silly centerpiece for a wedding. This is so funny…I thought I was going to find wonderful ideas on this comment list but instead I found a bunch of silly and pointless remarks about a fish….HILARIOUS! I think I would try and sit down and make a list of other things I should be doing with my time…instead. ( :
I don’t think anyone is disputing the fact that it’s ok for bettas…
Ok, I think most people use betta fish when using fish as centerpieces and if any of you people would do your research, you would know that betta fish are perfectly happy in a small fish bowl with 1/3 a gallon of water in it. Don’t tell me it’s cruel because it’s what they prefer. Don’t tell them to do their research when you haven’t done yours.
Wow..just wow! You guys are a bunch of nuts…once again we care about a little tiny thing rather then something a little more important..I can give you a list thats is..hmm,like a human life? like the planet?
everyone who said goldfish are not animals must have an IQ similar to a bag of bricks. They are classified under the kingdom ANIMALIA. They have a brain,heart,nervous system and a LIFE. How stupid can any of you be who proclaim that goldfish are not animals and their quality of life does not matter? I keep a number of different exotic animals ranging from poison dart frogs to sea urchins and it is safe to say i know a thing or two when it comes to animal husbandry. Bowls are completely inadequate for a number of reason that i dont really want to get into due to the fact this a site for bored housewives who don’t really care about goldfish. If you are still interested there are a number of books and websites about this topic. Any gold fish caresheet will also confirm what i said earlier.