A couple of weeks ago, I put out a request to my Little Black Book florist and event planners for some really great, easy DIY centerpieces. I know that there are brides who are trying so hard to reconcile their love of chic, beautiful details with their thinning budgets. So I thought this would be a great idea!
Well, we got a couple of really beautiful ideas for DIY centerpieces that I had to share with you! This one, by the amazingly talented Natasha of Waterlily Pond in San Francisco. I should probably tell you that Natasha is considered one of the best florist there is, so to get DIY tips from her is, well…pretty great!
the gorgeous photographs were taken by Rosemarie Lion…whose work will make you swoon!
The location of this wedding was a beautiful Mediterranean style courtyard with a cobblestone patio and a fountain. The bride wanted the style of her centerpieces to reflect the style of the location – old world, Tuscan villa feel. However she had 22 tables and a very limited budget. So my challenge was to design $60 centerpieces to look gorgeous and rich.
To meet the challenge, I decided to allocate most of my cost into renting beautiful wrought-iron urns, which instantly gave me great basis for the look. Instead of filling the urns with loads of flowers the way they are usually used, I just placed 3 tiny pots of trailing ivy inside the urn, and added only three huge dahlia flowers in each centerpiece, which made them look overflowing and lush. These centerpieces turned out looking exactly the style the bride wanted at a low price, and she was also able to give away lots of cute ivy plants to her guests to take home.
Flowers and General Retail Pricing:
1. three 1″ potted ivy – mix of varieties, preferably with longer trailing vines – $3 per pot at Home Depot or local nursery
2. three dinner-plate size or just very large bloom dahlias (or other large bloom such as peonies) – $2-3 per stem ($5 each for peony)
Materials
wrought-iron urn ($20 rent or flee market find), can be replaced with rusted iron urn or “antique”- looking ceramic urn.
floral water tubes ($3 per bag of 100 at floral supply or craft store)
Instructions
1. Place pots with ivy in the urn so that the greens cluster in the center. And the vines trail down in different directions so the centerpiece is equally pretty when viewed from every side
2. Cut stems of dahlias shorter with sharp sheers at an angle, and place in water tubes filled with water.
3. Place dahlias amongst the ivy so that the tubes are hidden and secured between the pots of ivy.
4. If any dahlias left over (you should always buy extra just in case), you can place single stem of dahlia in a small glass vase of nice shape for a great cocktail table centerpiece.
5. Enjoy!
Thank you so much to Natasha of Waterlily Pond! Definitely check out Natasha’s site when you are in need of a little eye candy and inspiration!