Centerpiece Masterpiece

I've been working out how I would like our centerpieces to look for while now...in my head.  But recently, I gathered supplies and created my mock centerpiece masterpiece.

I got the idea for lanterns from our venue.  When we went to drop off our signed contract a few months back, I saw the reception area set up with lanterns and burlap runners.  It was simple and beautiful.  Stevenson Ridge actually has lanterns available to rent for $10 a piece.  It would be so easy to just rent the lanterns, but to me that feels like throwing money away.  So, Jeff found a website that sells all sorts of wedding, decor, and crafting supplies at VERY cheap, wholesale prices.  It's a little sketchy...as in, I was worried that we would pay for the merchandise and never see it...mostly because of the website name.

www.superwholesaler.com

See?  It just sounds fake.  But, lucky for us, it's not fake at all.  We received the 2 cases of 10 lanterns, and only one lantern is broken.  Not bad for what we paid.  Each lantern cost slightly less than Stevenson Ridge's rental price, and we'll (hopefully) be able to sell the whole lot to another frugal bride when we're done with them and make at least 50% of our money back.  We will prop each lantern up on a distressed, wooden box.  (In the pic above, it's balanced on Tupperware I inherited from my grandmother.)  Jeff's dad has graciously offered to make the boxes for us out of scrap wood.

I also found a shop on etsy that sells birch wood pieces of all shapes and sizes.   I ordered 20 table number holders for under $35.

And finally, the flowers...I love flowers, but they are SO EXPENSIVE.  I understand why so many weddings happen without any flowers at all.  Sheesh.  However, a wedding without flowers just isn't for me.  I saw an idea on pinterest that involved flowers in tea cups.  I tracked down a few mismatched tea cups at a local flea market.  I believe I paid a total of $1.25 for all three of them.

I tried it out last weekend, and voila!  It worked perfectly.  My plan is to order flowers in bulk from an online retailer like fiftyflowers.com and have some very nice people help me put them all together 2 days prior to the wedding.

With a burlap and lace table runner and a pillar candle in each lantern, I think our centerpieces will be  pretty amazing.  And the best part is, they'll be amazingly cheap as well!