What’s Your Floral Centerpiece Arrangement Style?
Picking out flowers for your wedding can be tricky and expensive. On the plus side, however, you have so many options when it comes to the centerpieces at your reception.
Of course, centerpieces that add to your reception decor are key, but one of the most important things to keep in mind when choosing a centerpiece for your wedding is guests’ comfort. Your guests will be spending a lot of time at your reception, especially at the tables. Because of this, you should keep in mind that large and wide centerpieces may make it difficult for them to communicate across the table. If your guests have to move a centerpiece, you may have picked the wrong one for your wedding. If you want to go for something tall and elegant, you can still have the height without the width by selecting a vase that has a long, slim rectangular shape.
There are two basic types of centerpieces, tall and low.
Tall Centerpieces
Photo courtesy of Genevieve Nisly Photography.
Photo courtesy of Cavanaugh Photography.
A tall centerpiece is one that is at least 24 inches high but has no real standard width. Most tall centerpieces use a trumpet vase, wine bottles or candelabra. Tall centerpieces look elegant and work very well with reception venues with high ceilings, and even wedding tents or marquees. The way you fill your tall centerpiece is entirely up to you. You might choose to fill your vases with water, letting the long stems show; you can fill it with petals or other submerged flowers, or leave it empty. A lot of brides use flowers with longer stems and branches to add even more height and drama to their tall centerpieces.
Low Centerpieces
Photo courtesy of Cavanaugh Photography.
Photo courtesy of Cavanaugh Photography.
Low centerpieces vary greatly in sizes and shape, as they range from small to large. Many of the floral arrangements for low centerpieces are short and rounded in shape. Glass cube vases, ceramic containers, pedestals, baskets, small terra-cotta pots and decorative boxes are just some of the many different vases you can use for your low centerpiece. There truly is no limit with what type of flowers you can use for low centerpieces, as you could even use a low-potted plant.
Among using tall and low centerpieces, you can change it up a bit, too! You can use submerged or floating flowers, even adding floating candles for that extra glow. The most common types of flowers that work best for submerging are orchids, calla lilies, Gerber daisies, roses, and tulips. Your best bet is to use a glass vase or container when wanting to have a floating or submerged centerpiece.
This is an example of submerged flowers as a centerpiece. Photo courtesy of Spencer Photography.
Another way to spice up your table with centerpieces is to do small clusters of different arrangements on each table. By using mini clusters, you can add depth to the table. Mini arrangements are typically 2×2 inches or 3×3 inches and are capped off around 5 inches in height. It’s typical to have three to five mini clusters on each table. For these types of arrangements, its common to use a different flower for each holder. The good part about clusters is that you can use just about any type of flower.
This is an example of how you can do a cluster style centerpiece.
Photo courtesy of Genevieve Nisly Photography.
Lastly, another way to mix up your reception venue is to do a combination of tall and low centerpieces. By using a mixture of both, you’re able to add depth to the room and it keeps the tables looking new and different, especially if there are a lot of tables in your set up.
Here’s one way to mix it with different sizes of centerpieces.
Photo courtesy of Genevieve Nisly Photography.
Here is another example of how you can combine sizes of centerpieces at your reception.
Photo courtesy of Genevieve Nisly Photography.
