Do It Yourself Wedding Centerpiece Ideas

A great way to save money on your wedding budget is to do your own wedding reception centerpieces. If you keep it simple, you can have elegant centerpieces without breaking the bank.

Here are five do it yourself wedding centerpiece ideas:

• Shimmering Silver -- This is probably the cheapest do it yourself wedding centerpiece of all! Gather up branches, driftwood, leaves or pine cones. Spray them with metallic silver spray paint and arrange in the center of the tables. Add a few tea lights and you have a shimmering centerpiece perfect for a winter wedding. Looks stunning against a black or dark colored tablecloth.

• Tissue Paper Mason Jars -- Here are surprisingly elegant centerpieces that cost under $10. Gather assorted mason jar sizes and wrap them in colored tissue paper, add a few flowers and you have cheap centerpieces.

• Skip the Flowers -- Consider using unusual things for your centerpieces such as peacock feathers, small sculptures, wooden carvings, glass vases full of beach sand or large rocks. By choosing things that can simply be arranged you'll save a ton of time and you'll have do it yourself wedding centerpieces that everyone will remember.

• Think Functional -- A centerpiece of candles gives off romantic light and can easily be set-up ahead of time. Likewise, food can be used as an attractive yet functional wedding centerpiece. Consider an arrangements of tropical fruits including star fruit, pomegranates cut in half, melons and citrus. This would be a lovely summer wedding centerpiece with bright colors.

• Mix and Match -- Scour thrift stores, discount stores and garage sales for interesting looking vases. Mix and match several colorful vases in scattered arrangements for your centerpieces. Even drinking glasses could hold single stems. Add a few colorful flower stems and you'll have a lovely bohemian look for your reception tables.

Always remember to do a mock-up centerpiece a few weeks before the wedding so you are certain that it looks the way you envision. It is also a smart idea to enlist the help of a few friends if your centerpieces are labor intensive at all. With a little creativity and a little effort you'll have unique wedding reception centerpieces in no time!

Amber Dusick is the editor of The Do It Yourself Weddings Guide at http://www.do-it-yourself-weddings.com/ where you can get instructions for wedding crafts, do it yourself favors, centerpieces, make your own invites and programs and more! Learn to do most everything to do with weddings...yourself!