Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces – Ideas and Inspiration

Start brainstorming for the types of centerpieces you want your wedding reception.

All brides want to create beautiful wedding centerpieces. It does not matter the budget you start out with; whether you have infinite cash or a small amount to work with, you want your centerpieces to be memorable and gorgeous. So how do you create this look at your wedding reception?

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Here are some tips and ideas for creating beautiful wedding centerpieces:

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Use mirrors

Almost all wedding centerpieces look nicer when placed upon small mirrors. The mirror should be slightly larger than the centerpiece placed upon it, but it should not overtake the centerpiece. Remember, you use a mirror as an accent piece, not the main attraction.

Purple and White Mirror and candle wedding centerpiece

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Use Candles

Incorporating candles into the centerpiece will not only create beauty, but it can bring romance as well. Candlelight has been long associated with romance and romantic occasions. If you are going to use candles yourself, think about the color, the scent (if any), and the size you want before designing your centerpiece.

Red and White Candle and Floral Wreath Christmas wedding centerpieces

You can match the candle's color to your own wedding colors, or you could choose other colors which may either be significant to you or create a general feeling. For instance, you might use pink or red to symbolize love, red or purple for passion or white for purity (a reference to the wedding), or for simple elegance.

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Use Food

For many people, food is an integral part of their life. Food is something people use to celebrate and to drown our sorrows. Everyone loves food. Why not use food as your centerpiece? You can either use food that is not necessarily meant for them to eat or food that doubles as table snacks.

You can use raw vegetables and fruits like gourds, nuts, apples, pumpkins, pears, cherries, and grapes. You can also create fun check bowls that are decorative but that the table can also nibble on throughout the night. You can make health bowls with trail mix, shelled nuts, or fruit. 

Of course, if you are more of a chocolate or candy snacker, your guests may be too! You can feel bowls with hard candy, m&m's, skittles, starburst, caramels, mini candy bars, Hershey kisses, or anything you can think of!

Food Wedding Centerpieces - Sweet Fall Themed Treats For Your Guests

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Consider Lanterns

Candles are great, but if you want to step up your lighting game, use lanterns. Lanterns are more prominent, make more of an impact and come in different styles. You can get lanterns that use candles, battery-operated candles, or modern ones filled with fairy lights for a magical wedding centerpiece.

Halloween Themed Battery Operated Lanterns

Vintage Metal Candle Lantern Centerpieces

Kate Aspen Rustic Distressed Blue Lantern

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Highlight the Holidays or The Season

If your wedding is near a major holiday, you can highlight it with your wedding centerpieces. For instance, Halloween can be pumpkins and gourds, easter can be easter eggs, and Christmas can be ornaments. For small items like Christmas ornaments, you can put them in glass bowls and sprinkle glitter or fake snow on top. Depending on the rules of your wedding reception venue, you might even want to hang some from the ceiling!

Of course, you can also use themed wedding centerpieces for the season you are marrying in. Sometimes the season is about the holidays that happen during that time of the year, but there are other elements you can use. For instance, most seasons have specific colors associated with them. Spring is pastels, summer is bright colors, fall is dark colors in the red, orange, and yellow family, and winter is red, green, silver, gold, and ice blue.

You can also use other elements associated with the season. For instance, snowflakes for winter, falling leaves for fall, blooming flowers for spring, or sand and seashells for summer.

Flameless Lavender Themed Candle Centerpieces	Destination Wedding Beach Centerpiece
Fall Candleholder Wedding Centerpiece	Festive Garland and Winter Berry Candle Holder

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Greenery

You can always decorate with greenery if you do not want to use too many flowers or even none. Greenery can add a lushness and a natural feeling to all your centerpieces and decorations.

Mini Potted Plants For Centerpieces

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Other Elements of Nature

There are many elements of nature you can incorporate into your wedding centerpieces. Besides flowers and greenery, you may want to consider using leaves, acorns, or twigs and branches.

Artificial Christmas Berries and Twigs Centerpiece

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Use Glass

You might want to use glass with your centerpieces. The easiest way to do this is with vases and containers. You can use glass vases, fish bowls, glassware, glass bowls, or mason jars to hold flowers, greenery, nature elements, or food items.

You may use all clear glass, or you can look into colored glass, especially glass that is the same color as your primary wedding aesthetic. You might also want to use crushed glass or glass beads as filler material for your centerpieces.

Glass Vases With Floating Discs Centerpieces

Beautiful Wedding Centerpieces - Be Creative

Even though most centerpieces you see at today's weddings use candles, flowers, or both, you can choose to either use neither of those items in your centerpiece or add another element to make it your own.

If you are having a themed wedding, you may want the centerpieces to match. For instance, if you have a beach theme, you might have seashells or starfish as the centerpiece, or if you are having a sports-themed wedding, perhaps the centerpieces will be made to look like footballs, basketballs, baseballs, and hockey pucks. Be creative and decide what looks right.

Floral photocube wedding centerpiece

If you have had a long relationship or known each other for a long time, you may want to showcase photos and mementos that the two of you have shared throughout the year. This is an especially great idea for couples who have known each other since childhood and the families share many memories.

 There is no reason that you cannot create unique centerpieces that have meaning to you and your fiancé. If you choose to use candles and flowers, that is fine too, but you should know that your options are endless. It is your wedding, after all.