Centrepieces
Centrepieces are essentially a really unnecessary and potentially expensive part of a wedding, but a piece that makes the whole thing look ‘together’ and an element I was looking forward to creating. Pinterest was of course my starting point but I also wanted to stick to my mantra of cheap and reusable.
We had a huge top table comprised of two 4ft tables and a 6ft table stuck together in a U shape for our huge immediate family and then we had 8 5.5ft round tables which we hired with the chairs and highchairs from our venue. We didn’t bother with chair decor or bows or those seat cover things because I think they’re a bit of a waste of money soz but we did put a bride and groom sign on our chairs which I got from Hobbycraft.
The cutlery and crockery came as part of our catering hire (worth checking with your venue as lots add it on) and we hired wine and water glasses as part of our package with the bar. Table cloths are a surprisingly expensive part of wedding hire but finding huge tablecloths is a mission so we hired them too, drawing the line at linen napkins. Instead, I bought 100 linen look napkins on Ebay and they were plenty fancy enough, baring in mind people are only going to use them to wipe their mouths and hands. Be sure to check out with your venue/hire company if they have a laundry charge after the wedding, we didn’t but I know a few people have been caught out.
I wasn’t bothered about the size of the tables as such, more concerned about making sure families were sat together and the vibe on the tables was right. With our top table being U shaped we obviously had two ends so on the two closest tables to us I had one set of Jos’ aunties, uncles, cousins and grandmothers and on the other side I had my brothers in laws so they could be close to the kids and one set of my uncle, auntie and cousins. Behind them directly was the other sets of uncles, aunties, cousins and Jos’ other grandmother on both our sides, plus Jos’ godfather and our photographer. The final 4 tables were friends which we split into university, blogging and lifelong pals and two tables of school friends and it worked a dream.
Read on to see how I decorated our tables and shop the look for yourself……
The main centrepiece of each round table was a wooden slice which I know a lot of people have at their weddings. The price astonished me so instead of forking out a couple of hundred quid, Jos chopped some logs down with the chainsaw and we dried them out in our downstairs loo for 6 months (the smell of pine was divine). Each log was a different shape and size and Jos sanded them all down to make them flat. Some split, some had knots in, we used a huge one for the wedding cake and some smaller ones for the table plan and since coming home, Jos’ Mum waxed them all for us and we’ve all kept some as decor in our houses.
On top of the log slices we had vases which I’d bought from Tesco (similar more expensive version linked below) for £1 each back in the summer (and only smashed two) which was filled with moss that we got from my Mum’s ex sister in law and her lovely friend and neighbour who went out collecting some for me. Inside each we had a tealight (I bulk bought from Hobbycraft) and can’t recommend enough) and some teeny tiny red wooden toadstools (similar linked below) which I salvaged and saved at home for a memories box frame.
Surrounding the log slices and the vase we had an assortment of plants and pots and bits, all tables being different. I got the tiny terracotta pots from Hobbycraft and the succulents from a seller on Ebay back in Jul and me and my Mum grew them over the year in her greenhouse. The jam jars were given to us by my cousins from their wedding in 2017 and my Mum grew the snowdrops in her garden and dug them up the week before the wedding, adding some more moss on the day. The snowdrops and succulents were lovely little gifts for family after the wedding and we had some snowdrops planted in our garden by Mum when we were away on our mini moon. We also collected pinecones with my niece and I topped up our collection with a bag full from Ebay.
My beautiful blog squad ran into the venue just before we were due to eat and went round every table turning on all the tealights which we had in an assortment of nick nacks like miniature metal buckets, candle holders I got in Matalan in the sale and small kilner style jars I got in Ikea - all of which have been passed on to my colleagues for their houses.
For table numbers we were given little wooden blocks (similar linked below) from our friends who got married last summer which we put on each log, as well as table number cards I got from Hobbycraft (linked below from alternative seller) on stands I bought on Ebay (Hobbycraft version linked below) so the numbers could be seen from the top of the barn when guests were making their way in. We also framed a photo of each of us at the appropriate age which I printed via the Freeprints app and we framed in black Ikea frames which are like 40p (linked below, cheaper in store normally).
We had a bring your own booze allowance for the sit down meal so we bought a bottle of red, white and rosé wine from Aldi for the do which came to a very reasonable £100 for 80 odd guests. On top of the napkins I’d bought I laid a ‘meet the top table’ card which I made myself and printed myself on card. For favours we were given tiny little drawstring bags by Jos’ brother and sister in law and we filled them with Butterkist toffee popcorn which we bought in Poundland - we needed about 6 family sized bags for 90 favours. We then added place cards which were cards from Hobbycraft (similar linked below) that I hand wrote and placed onto little wooden slices we’d been given by our friends from their wedding and have now passed on to a friend for hers.
For the top table we multiplied everything by three to cover the table and also added my bouquet and my nieces bridesmaid posies in Ikea jugs which I already had in the house and have since given half to my Mum.
Shop our centrepieces!
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