Simple Centerpiece Ideas for a Wedding That Add Beauty to the Table

These unique centerpiece ideas for a wedding will leave a lasting impression on everyone that takes part in your ceremony and reception. Every bride wants her big day to be incredibly special, and creating a unique wedding that everyone remembers fondly is the ultimate goal of most engaged couples.

One of the first decisions that a bride and groom must make together is the season in which they’d like to get married. After all, winter weddings are typically much different than spring and summer weddings, so it’s important to select the time of year that’s right for you. After the season has been narrowed down and an official wedding date has been chosen, it’s time to begin selecting wedding colors!

The wedding color palette is crucial because it must be incorporated into all aspects of the wedding such as the bridesmaid dresses, the floral arrangements, the ceremony and reception decorations, and often times the wedding cake, too! Once a color or group of colors has been chosen, you should begin thinking of ideas for your wedding reception.

wedding centerpiece idea Your wedding is supposed to be a beautiful event, not one that makes you want to rip your hair out, so you should try your best to avoid stressing out! That’s why these simple yet elegant centerpiece ideas for a wedding will come in handy.

Round reception tables are the norm at most wedding receptions, and they typically have some sort of tablecloth or table linens. Tablecloths in a basic, muted shade such as cream or light beige will work best with these centerpiece ideas for a wedding. Depending on the size of the table, six to eight place settings will most likely be present. Set a tall clear glass wine goblet in front of each plate and stuff a cloth napkin inside each so that it puffs out and looks like a flower. Use cloth napkins that are the main color of your wedding – for example, napkins that are the same color as the bridesmaid dresses. The colored napkins will add emphasis to your table, especially since you have such basic-colored tablecloths. These “floral glasses” are simple yet elegant, and they are also completely functional because they are composed of two items that need to be on the table anyway.

Place a round mirror in the middle of the table, and set a glass bowl or vase filled with a floral arrangement that includes flowers which are the same color as your napkins. For an extra bit of “oomph” you can scatter flower petals on the table as well. These simple ideas are stylish, unique, and classy, and your friends and family will be sure to remember your special day!

Pink Wedding Table Centerpiece Ideas

Flowers and candles have always been popular wedding table centerpiece ideas, but if you can’t make up your mind between the two there’s no reason you can’t have both! There are countless ways of combining floral arrangements and candles into stunning wedding centerpieces, and with a little thought and little effort you can create some of the prettiest wedding reception table decorations that you’ve ever seen. In fact, the blushing bride may wind up sharing the spotlight with her reception centerpieces on the big day!

Pink has always been a fashionable wedding color because it’s so romantic. Pastel shades of pink symbolize youthfulness and innocence while bright pinks and hot pinks give off a trendy, up-to-the-minute vibe. Whichever shade of pink you prefer, including pink flowers in your wedding centerpieces shouldn’t be a problem because there are so many pink flowers to choose from! Dahlias, pansies, daisies, gladiolas, lilies, and peonies are just a few… and let’s not forget the all-time wedding favorite, roses!

Your wedding florist should be able to help you choose the perfect combination of flowers and greenery for your centerpieces, and you’re going to need some clear glass vases in which to display the floral arrangements. Square or rectangular-shaped vases are great wedding table centerpiece ideas! Place the pink floral arrangements in the center of your reception tables. wedding centerpiece idea Set them on top of round mirrors in order to create a bit of shine.

Now it’s time to throw some candles into the mix. You can find tea light candles and small glass candleholders at just about any discount store in town, and they’re relatively inexpensive. Place two candles on top of the mirror beside your pink floral arrangement. White candles will add a bit of contrast to all of the pink, but pastel pink candles will work as well – it’s up to you!

Providing guests with wedding favors to take home with them is a tradition that most brides enjoy, and incorporating the color pink into these little gifts can also help you think of wedding table centerpiece ideas. Place small candies, such as mints, Jordan almonds, or M&Ms into individual pink pouches or bags. You can tie them with pink ribbons and attach a small tag that includes the bride and groom’s name and wedding date. Place one of these pink wedding favors in front of each place setting in order to add even more pink to the reception table.

The use of pink floral arrangements, small tea light candles, and pink wedding favors is an easy way to incorporate the color pink into your wedding table centerpieces. Whether you follow these plans exactly or tweak them to make them your own, you’ll be sure to have attractive reception tables!

Outdoor Wedding Reception Centerpiece Ideas

Whether it’s at the beach or in your own backyard, our wedding reception centerpiece ideas will come in handy as you plan your outdoor wedding. Outdoor weddings usually take a bit more planning and effort than indoor weddings because of their location, but your reception centerpieces don’t have to be difficult to make! Even if you decide to hold your reception indoors once the wedding ceremony is over, you can give your wedding centerpieces an outdoorsy feel that goes along with the overall theme of your special day.

Weddings held on white sandy beaches automatically have a tropical feel to them, and using seashells and palm branches as table decorations are wonderful wedding reception centerpiece ideas. Place a few pieces of palm on the center of each table, beach wedding centerpiece and set a large conch shell on top. You can then scatter a variety of smaller seashells around the large shell. Surround your tropical creation with white candles in clear glass jars that have been wrapped with strands of twine. This is an easy centerpiece that can go along with a tropical beach wedding or simply add a tropical vibe to a wedding held in your own backyard.

Speaking of which, backyard weddings are growing in popularity as more and more people decide to scale down and save money by holding inexpensive weddings and receptions at home. Patio tables and picnic tables are a great place to eat dinner and socialize during a wedding reception, and you can easily decorate them with great centerpieces. Small metal buckets full of wild flowers may be all that you need, but if you’d like to skip the flowers altogether you can use food as centerpieces. Red and white checkered tablecloths and homemade apple pies can give your backyard reception tables a “country” appearance, and baskets of fruit can act as both decoration and healthy alternatives to sweet desserts.

Gardens can provide a quaint, romantic setting for outdoor weddings, and many also have adequate space for outdoor receptions. Tables can be set up among gorgeous trees and flowers, and additional floral arrangements are easy outdoor wedding reception centerpiece ideas. Vases of flowers that grew in the garden add charm to the reception, and you can even scatter additional flower petals on each reception table for an extra touch of romance.

Outdoor weddings and receptions may involve a bit of extra work, but coming up with ideas for your wedding reception centerpieces should be a fun process. Save money by creating them yourself, and work together with your fiancé to create special memories together. Be sure to remind your wedding photographer to take a lot of pictures of them!

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Wedding Traditions and Superstitions That You Should Observe

Over the past fifty plus years that I have been alive I have had many occasions to watch friends and loved ones marry. There are more than a few things I have learned about weddings as a result of all this, but adhering to some of the most common traditions and superstitions associated with weddings are the most important. Why? Because it just so happens that many of those who chose to ignore these seemingly nonsensical and sometimes almost comical steps to get to the alter have often paid a high price for their disrespect of these long standing customs.

The Wedding Dress

We have all heard that it is bad luck for the groom to see bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony. The truth is that a longer standing tradition says that it is bad luck for the bride to wear the complete wedding outfit before the day that she takes her wedding vows. That is why you almost never see a bride trying on a wedding dress with her wedding shoes, veil and so on. A female college friend of mine knew a young girl who decided to ignore that tradition and display her complete wedding outfit to her bridal party for the purpose of having “some photos taken with her friends” the night before her wedding. So she said, most of those present think she was just showing off. The dress seemed unusually tight to some who saw the bride all decked out that night and soon gossiping tongues spread the news quickly.

The next day the groom decided not to show up for the ceremony after my college friend said that she called and told him that his bride looked “fat or pregnant” when she saw the bride in her outfit the night before. My friend was not being mean, but she felt sorry for the groom who had gone out of his way to keep his bride pure (she had claimed to be a virgin) by abstaining from sex with her. He had never seen her in the wedding dress, but even his sister said that she noticed an unusually rapid weight gain in the bride who was not one known to fluctuate in her weight or overeat. There could have been a lot more to the story than that, but I have no doubt that the catalyst for the groom’s cancellation was that phone call from my friend and the call would never had been made if the bride had not been showing off and scoffing at a long-standing tradition.

The Wedding Shoes

Both bride and groom should know that the superstitious among us say it is unlucky to wear any shoes for the ceremony that are not to be used specifically and only for the wedding. They claim that it is also bad luck to wear the shoes before the day of the ceremony, or to ever wear them again after the bride and groom take their vows. The shoes should be ripped apart or burned sometime shortly after the ceremony and never given away to anyone else. This tradition began sometime in the late 1800s and probably came from merchants eager to sell shoes. However, there may be some truth to it.

A friend of mine reports that a neighborhood friend of his who got married about twenty years ago had some very bad luck as a result of ignoring this odd superstition. Ben was a thrifty guy who hated wasting money. Sometime in the year before he was married he had purchased an expensive pair of shoes to wear for weddings, funerals and other special occasions. When my friend went out with him to help choose an outfit for his own wedding, he asked Ben about shoes. Ben told him that he was going to wear his best pair of shoes because they had barely been worn and were like new. After all, even back then a new pair of quality shoes could easily cost over one hundred dollars and Ben felt that money would be better spent elsewhere.

My friend told Ben about the wedding tradition regarding shoes that he had heard about from his mother, father and grandparents. My friend took the advice himself, got married without incident and has remained married ever since. Admittedly, he and his family are very superstitious about things like weddings, but there have been few divorces in his family line and many successful weddings and marriages. Ben wore his “best pair of shoes” on the day of the wedding despite the warning he received from my friend. Amazingly, his bride had her own unique plan for wedding footwear. She decided to wear sneakers for the wedding as a kind of joke as to say that she might be a runaway bride. The joke backfired.

Ben and his family were highly insulted by the presence of the sneakers and an argument began during the wedding reception which continued throughout the honeymoon and for weeks afterward. Things really came to a head when relatives on both sides viewed the wedding photos. The photographer became fixated on the bride’s sneakers and kept taking pictures featuring them. Many of the guests were captured displaying a scowl on their face as they spoke to the bride and stared down at the sneakers. The couple broke up and divorced within three months of their wedding. I say that we should add wearing sneakers to a wedding to the bad luck list for wedding footwear, apparel and choices.

Placing a coin (especially a silver dollar) in one of your wedding shoes is considered extremely good luck. Although this applies mainly to the bride, I suppose that the groom has nothing to lose by trying it as well. This tradition goes back to the “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe” wedding superstition from old England. Relatives and close friends would give the bride small tokens of their affection to wear or carry with her on her special day. These items were presented just before the wedding began and were not wedding gifts, just mementos to remind the bride that she has family and friends that care about her and support her decision to marry.

Something Old was usually a token carried by another bride at a previous wedding who has had good luck or a successful and happy marriage. This gift is about sending the previous bride’s good luck and fortune on to the present one. Something New is supposed to impart good luck to the bride giving her hope and confidence for the future. Something Borrowed is said to represent happiness that is imparted to the bride from her family and friends. Any happiness that they have experienced they offer to loan to the bride while she makes her own happy memories. Something Blue is given with the hope that the bride’s marriage will be filled with an honest and pure love, as well as fidelity. A Sixpence (Coin) In Your Shoe is said to impart a financial blessing on the marriage. Few brides dare to ignore this tradition which many consider the most important of all. I know one that did.

She insisted on a marriage ceremony with included just her, the groom and a clergyman. Most of the bride’s family and friends, as well as those of the groom, were against the marriage due to a huge age difference between the bride (who was very young) and the groom (who was thirty five years older). Most of the groom’s family thought she was a gold digger because he had a substantial fortune and his family was well known in the city where they lived. However, the bride also came from money, but it was new money. Sadly, I think her decision to marry this man really had more to do with the fact that she may have wanted to enjoy the status of being married into a family with a major standing in society than real love. Anyway, she decided to punish all the nay sayers who were against the marriage and prove them wrong by insisting that her wedding be held in a public park with no guests. The couple spent the money that a huge wedding would have cost on an elaborate honeymoon.

That bride broke nearly all the rules of tradition and superstition involving weddings. This included the tradition of bringing tokens to her wedding given to her by a friend who thought the age difference thing was no big deal. That friend could not attend the ceremony regardless of whether she was invited or not because she was living in another country at the time, but she hoped that the tokens would bring the couple good luck. And they might have done their job if those items had been brought to the small ceremony by the bride. They were not. Despite what seemed like a marriage filled with bliss during and just after the honeymoon, the couple divorced after just five years citing irreconcilable differences.

The Wedding Rings

It is considered extremely unlucky to go shopping for a wedding ring on a Friday because that is a tradition Sale Day and a highly discounted ring set is considered bad luck overall. It is even more unlucky to wear a wedding ring (other than trying it on) for any length of time before the ceremony. I know of at least a dozen occasions where either the bride or groom wore their ring (for whatever reasons) for hours or days before the wedding and could not for the life of them remove it. This not only caused physical and emotional discomfit, but ultimately ended up in arguments that broke up four of those couples before the day of their weddings. There could have been a million other reasons for those break ups, but why take the chance?

There are other things to watch for when it comes to wedding rings. Too loose and that could mean a husband or wife might stray from the marriage bed because they would forget the full meaning of their wedding vows. Too tight could curse the couple to a marriage full of arguments and fights bringing out the worst in one or both people. Wearing the ring on the left hand is considered very good luck. That tradition goes back centuries to when most work was done with the right hand making it appear more aged or dirty than the left. A plain wedding band is good luck compared to a highly decorated one in some societies, while a ring with religious or cultural icons on it is considered very lucky in nations with people from a Celtic background.

I cannot say that anyone I know has ever broken up over a plain or decorated wedding ring, but more than a few have had major disagreements over the cost and style of wedding bands which may expose a lack of character on the part of the bride, the groom, or both. The biggest superstition surrounding a wedding ring involves dropping it. Superstition says that a bride or groom who drops a wedding ring during the ceremony will be the first to die. This is said to be almost guaranteed if the ring rolls to a stop on a memorial or remembrance stone in the church or chapel. Wow! Be careful not to drop the ring.

The Flowers

Tradition says that the best choice of flowers for the bridal bouquet are either orange blossoms or roses. Orange blossoms are said to represent chastity and fertility, while roses stand for true love. It is also considered extremely good luck for members of the wedding party to wear garlands. This is a very old tradition, but one which has been making a comeback over the past several decades. If the bride tosses her bouquet and it is dropped, the bad luck is not on the bride, but on the person who failed to catch it; so no worries there. It is thought of as good luck to catch the bouquet even if that does not lead to the person catching it being the next to marry. No good or bad stories to share here, but fresh flowers do often help make the wedding and/or reception photos all the more precious when the wedding album is complete. Beware of the presence of wilted flowers which are considered extremely bad luck.

The Wedding Cake and Reception

There are many traditions involving wedding cakes. One of the most popular has been that when a couple agrees to place a statuette of the bride and one of the groom on the cake these should be of equal height. This is said to represent equality in a marriage. However, more often than not, people these days choose not to include likenesses of the bride and groom on their wedding cake. Instead, many are choosing eatable representations of their favorite flowers on the cake presented in various styles and set in all kinds of positions. Another popular trend is for the wedding cake to include the favorite flavors of the bride, while a separate cake is prepared called the Groom’s Cake which is designed to please his taste buds.

It is considered bad luck for anyone except the bride or groom to be the first people to taste the wedding cake. So I guess the tradition of getting a piece of cake shoved into your face will continue for some time to come. The bride usually does that to the groom first, then some grooms reciprocate. Others fear the wrath of ruining that expensive make up job that most brides have professionally applied shortly before most weddings. On multi-tier cakes it is considered very good luck to save the top tier, freeze it and eat it about three months later or after all the wedding photos have been entered into the wedding album. Most couples serve the remainder of the cake to a small circle of family and friends who stop by to view the completed wedding photo album.

Many brides like to include special charms into their bridal shower or wedding cake. This long-standing tradition brings good luck and normally includes gold or silver charms in the shapes of hearts, clover, horseshoes, wedding bells, baby carriages or money purses donated by bridal shower attendees or wedding party members. Sometime in the 1980s it became a new tradition to include one or more French-style Cream Puff Trees (croquembouche) in the bridal shower and wedding reception among with the cake. This amazing creation is made of many individual cream puffs covered in caramel and presented in the shape of a tree. Guests can use a small spoon or fork to remove as many cream puffs as they care to eat and place them on small plates.

Some couples opt to have their wedding cake divided up carefully and plated by serving staff out of sight of the wedding guests after the cake is shown to everyone and the bride and groom take the first piece or pieces. This is a popular way to make sure the cake is carefully and equally divided. However, the bride and groom should always be sure that the first piece or pieces of cake are cut with a silver cake knife and silver server. Those first pieces should be placed on fine china and eaten with silver or high quality forks. This is considered extremely good luck. Having been to a number of wedding receptions, I can tell you that nothing says cheap and nasty like a couple who choose to cut their cake with a regular kitchen knife and serve it with a pie server. The only thing worse is slopping those first pieces of cake on to paper plates. Once the bride and groom are served, cake should always be served to guests on ceramic plates.

Beware of cracked or damaged plates. The presence of cracked or nicked plates is considered extremely bad luck for the bride, groom and wedding guests. I have never personally seen this (or, I should say I am personally unaware of it), but some of my older family members claim that almost anything bad that happens during or after the reception is brought on by the improper presentation of the wedding cake and other food items. I have heard of everything from fist fights to auto accidents and missed flights blamed on bad or improper presentation of the cake and food during the wedding reception. Even bad toasts are extremely unlucky and usually the cause of spats and fights, so never hand a microphone to someone that you know will say something stupid or improper.

The Wedding Vows

People who write their own wedding vows may think this is the best way to express their love, but wait! A newer wedding tradition says that writing your own vows is not the best of ideas and could mean disaster to a newly married couple. This is probably because of all the hippie marriages that took place in the sixties and seventies. People used pet names for each other and authored often long, convoluted and embarrassing vows that made no sense to anyone at the ceremony and sometimes had nothing to do with the couple’s promises to each other. I sat through one of those types of weddings and wished I had not. No one knew what the couple was talking about and they even appeared to confuse each other. This is why people should never do drugs. The couple I spoke of broke up within two years and now hate one another.

A long-standing tradition says that wedding vows should be set by the minister. A more recent tradition states that it is good luck for the vows to be written by the bridesmaid for the bride and best man for the groom when the minister suggests the couple provide their own vows. Superstition says that parents should keep quiet during the ceremony accept for occasions when a father or mother is asked if he or she gives their daughter or son away to marry. Having a stand in for the bride’s father is considered bad luck. I know of at least two weddings where both the parents refused to attend and both marriages later ended in divorce. I am sure there were other causes for those break ups, but why take the chance?

The Parent’s Blessing

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