Fruit Centerpieces for Flower Friday

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I love the way fruit adds to centerpieces. In the fall it gives a feeling of bountiful harvests and in spring a touch of joyous exuberance.
A couple of these are pretty elaborate, and some are simple enough to do it yourself.
Fruit and Candle Centerpiece

Fruit and Candle Centerpiece

Autumn Centerpiece with FruitI

Autumn Centerpiece with Fruit

Spring Centerpiece with Asparagus and Artichokes
Centerpiece with KumQuats and Dahlias

Centerpiece with KumQuats and Dahlias

In all honesty, not much is easier than a footed bowl filled with a variety of seasonal fruit with a few blooms and a couple of leaves tucked in to hide any hole. Sometimes nature at its simplest is all you need.

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More Candle Centerpieces

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With the long nights of winter rapidly approaching I am longing for the warm glow of candlelight. Candle centerpieces can be a wonderful way to decorate your wedding. If you have read Wedding Dish for very long, however, then you know I am on a personal mission to stamp out bad ones. So let’s look at some great ones and see what sets them apart.

Sparkling Winter Candle Centerpiece
Sparkling Winter Candle Centerpiece
Candle Centerpiece with Orchids

Candle Centerpiece with Orchids

Blue and White Candle Centerpiece

Blue and White Candle Centerpiece

What makes these arrangements special are three factors:

  • Variation in height and shape.
  • Abundance
  • The “sparkle” factor.

These were all done using glass containers and candle holders. The light reflects and twinkles off the shiny glass. One of them has the added shine of iridescent snow, sparkling snow flake and silver balls.

A single floating candle in a low bowl surrounded by rose petals will never have this kind of impact. For that matter neither will a grouping of pillar candle, even if you use a ton of them.

Which leads us to the question of where the heck do you get all that glass and what do you do with it after your wedding? Here is the simple answer: rent it. Check with your florist and your rental company, both should have a nice selection. When your event is over, they take it all back. Easy and usually a lot less expensive than buying. While you are at it, they will most likely have a few bits of silver to add to the mix to bump the shine quotient. How about adding a silver sugar bowl filled with 3 roses cut short? Be creative and think outside the box.

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Doing Your Own Wedding Flowers

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Yes you can do your own wedding flowers. Really. That is assuming you are a bit creative, a bit calm and have some helping hands around.

Orange, yellow and red. Gerber daisies, gladiolas and queen anne's lace

Orange, yellow and red. Gerber daisies, gladiolas and queen anne

I am seeing more and more local florists offer crash courses on the “How To” of doing your own wedding flowers. I’m not saying they will teach you enough to be a florist, but they will show you the skills to put together simple bouquets and centerpieces.

The classes are not too terribly expensive if you look at it in light of what you will save on your wedding floral budget. As an added bonus you do get to spent a few hours in the company of other creative brides surrounded by lovely flowers. That can’t be a bad thing.

There are also books available and videos on YouTube and UBloom if you can’t find a class near you. Nothing however can compete with the hands on training you will get from a seasoned floral professional. Add to that, you have the opportunity to build a relationship with the florist. This will help out a lot when it comes time to tackle your own wedding.

Why? Well because many of them will also sell you the flowers. Will they be as low cost as the local price club or the internet? No, but, they have access to flowers you will never find at Costco and they will be there to make sure you receive fresh flowers in good shape for you big day. That in itself is well worth the small price difference.

If you think this is a DIY you would like to tackle, graze through the websites of your local floral designers or call the local floral wholesaler to see if they know who is teaching in your area.

Filed Under: DIY Weddings, Flower Friday Tagged With: ,

Flower Perfection

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As someone that has made my share of sugar flowers, I have a great respect for the art. That skill has been transformed into a more permanent form: clay. Using ClayCraft Deco Clay, Diane Phillips of DK Designs has brought the beauty of hand sculpted flowers off the cake and into your bouquet, your centerpieces and into your home.


Clay Flower centerpiece of roses and stephanotis
clay roses, stephanoitis and peony buds

Fresh flowers are beautiful, but these stunners will last forever if you take care of them. Even if you don’t want to go the clay route for your actual wedding, why not have a piece made using the clay version of your flowers to treasure forever.

You can see more of Diane’s work at her Etsy store on her blog. To special order you can contact the artist directly through her website.

Hat tip to Wedded Bits for hooking me up with these.

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Mad About Orchids on Flower Friday

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Orchids used to have a really bad image, at least with me.

Beautiful Orchids used various ways

Beautiful Orchids used various ways

If someone would mention orchids, I immediately thought of purple granny corsages. Then came the whole minimalist zen look. Thanks to a friend in the floral industry I have gained a whole new perspective on this versatile flower. They can be bold or airy, used in mass or can make a huge statement with only a single bloom. And the colors!!! Oh my. Last Sunday I ran across a chocolate cymbidium orchid and I am so sorry I did not get a picture of it for you.

Here you see them used in bouquet, boutonnières, centerpieces and even strung to create a curtain. They are airily sprayed from a vase or submerged in one. See what I mean by versatility.

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