African American Brides Blog: April 2013

A common misconception about formal wedding receptions is they cost a fortune. But there are ways to impress but without going into debt. With a little know-how and creativity, you can transform any wedding reception venue. A perfect example has to do with making table centerpieces. This decoration sets the tone for the entire room so it has to be right. There is no reason to spend a significant amount of money decorating the bride and groom table, as well as guests’ tables when you can make beautiful but also cost-efficient wedding reception centerpieces that people will never forget. In fact, one of the newest wedding trends will give you beautiful centerpieces for beans! All that Glitters The thing that makes this wedding reception centerpiece so unique is that most people are surprised at some of the materials used. To begin, you will need to purchase the following for each table. The majority of materials can be found at local hobby stores with the remainder sold at discount retail and grocery stores. o Three 1-pound bags of dry lima beans or coffee beans o One 12 x 12-inch square mirror o One 12-inch tall by 6-inch in diameter glass tube o One 10-inch tall taper candle or 10-inch tall by 3-inch in diameter pillar candle in colors that coordinate with the wedding and reception o One 12-inch long by 3-inch wide piece of ribbon in coordinating colors o You might want to purchase cans of gold and silver spray paint (or you can leave them plain!) For this wedding reception centerpiece, you will begin by laying the dry beans out on cardboard or newspaper and then spraying half with gold paint and the other half with silver paint, making sure to cover both sides well. Once completely dry, the beans would be separated by color and placed in plastic zip-lock bags for storage until the centerpieces are ready to be assembled. On the day of the wedding, each table’s centerpiece would be set up as follows: o The square mirror would be placed in the center of each linen covered table o The glass tube would then be placed in the center of the mirror o A 3-inch depth of beans would be poured inside the tube, followed by placing the candle securely in the center o Additional beans would be placed inside the tube, filling it about two-thirds. For this, you can pour even amounts of gold and silver spray painted beans, mix the two colors, create a spiraling effect, or whatever you feel looks best. o To complete the centerpiece, the 12-inch long piece of ribbon would be tied around the glass tube about four inches from the base, leaving a little bit of the ends to flow onto the glass mirror. You're done! Your centerpiece will be perfect as is, but if you like you can improvise even more by adding a floral accent. You can also play around with the sizes of the candle and tube. Everyone seems to put their own spin on it, so here are some variations from around the web:

Interestingly, this homemade centerpiece sounds expensive but compared to what it would cost to have a professional decoration made, the savings is huge. Because some of the items can be purchased in bulk, you would expect to pay about $15 per table. For a formal wedding, this is definitely a cost-saving solution. To make the wedding reception even more special, a winning number could be taped to the bottom of one chair at each table and whoever is sitting in that position would have the opportunity to take the centerpiece home. What about you? Do you have any DIY wedding centerpiece ideas to share? If so, please let us know by leaving a comment!