Centerpieces: How to Pick Something You Will Love!

Planning for the big day? If so, centerpieces may be on your list of things to consider. At first glance, centerpieces may not be a high priority of something to focus on, but perhaps they should be. After all, your centerpieces will be the center of attention at the dinner table. Your guests will be spending most of their evening gazing into them. A well designed centerpiece can either contribute or distract to your event decor. So, let’s make sure we know how to pick something you and your guests will love!

Go Tall and Small-

 Have you ever noticed that when you walk into a room with high ceilings, that the room can feel empty? Avoid this mistake by making sure you feel up the space. Give it a feel of being fully decorated by having a mixture of tall centerpieces and small centerpieces.Tall centerpieces add height to the table and therefore to the room. But tall doesn’t mean wide, you don’t want to block the line of site between your guests,  going narrow will allow your guests to see each other. Also, consider glass for your tall centerpieces to avoid the feel of a wall being placed in the center of the table.Alternatively, short centerpieces are wonderful for starting conversations amongst the guests. Just make sure the centerpieces are small enough for the guests to see over. A rule of thumb to follow when selecting the height of your centerpieces both tall and small is to keep your tall pieces 24” or higher and your small pieces 12” or smaller.

Compliment the Shape of the Table-

Keep in mind that the most common shapes of table you will come across will be round, square or rectangle.Round tables best suit a single centerpiece and bodes well to tall centerpieces because its design makes it easier for the guests to look around and converse with other guests.Square tables have the most space in the center, lending a wonderful design to a fuller and more substantial centerpiece.Rectangular tables also need to have a more robust set of centerpieces to make the space feel full. Mixing tall and low centerpieces with a larger centerpiece in the middle accompanied with smaller arrangements on each end with make your table look full but not over crowded.

Be Creative-

The sky is the limit when it comes to selecting what items you’d like to showcase as centerpieces during your big event. If your wedding has a theme, this is a great place to start.  Pick centerpiece items that compliment and follow your wedding theme.  Flowers is a great place to start when you begin your centerpiece hunt. When considering flowers, it helps to consider the date of the event and what flowers will be in season during that time. If its a summer wedding you're planning, you’ve chosen the easiest season when it comes to being able to have many different varieties of  flowers! Roses, daisies, lilies, lavender, snapdragon, hydrangeas, are all in season and make lovely cut flower centerpieces! If you’ll be tying the knot during the winter months, your selection of seasonal flowers are more limited but a beautiful combination of roses, carnations and amaryllis would make for a lovely February centerpiece arrangement.Choosing which type of flower you would like to have on display and the shape of your table will help determine the best style of vase for your centerpieces. Popular vase design and shapes include: rectangular, stem, bottle, column, barrel, and orb.Of course, you can go with a non-floral centerpiece as well. Other popular designs that do not include flowers are candles, photographs, lanterns, fruit, twinkly lights, wooden boxes, plants, branches, decorative rocks, seashells, etc. The sky is the limit when it comes to picking out your centerpieces, so let your creative genius fly!Remember that your centerpieces can be the star of your wedding decor! Your guests will appreciate a creative and lovely display to look at while conversing and dining, so get creative, and put together something your guests will be talking about for days to come!Photos included in this blog post were taken at Le Jardin by Lori Romney of Lori Romney Photography.