Author: Hollie Bond
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Hosting a wedding reception that looks beautiful, personalised, and wow-factor, when the guests enter the room, is the dream of most engaged couples. But stand-out wedding decor can be extremely expensive, especially if you’re having a large wedding. After all, the more guests you have the more tables there are to decorate.
If you’re working to a tight budget though, or haven’t got much left in the wedding fund for the pretty details, don’t panic. There are plenty of budget-friendly ways to make your wedding day look spectacular.
The first thing to do on your quest for reception perfection that doesn’t cost the earth is to embrace the idea of a DIY wedding and have some fun making DIY wedding centerpieces together in the run-up to your day. As well as making your reception tables look amazing, the DIY wedding centerpieces ideas below are easy to make, will be a wonderful activity to enjoy together, and are a really inexpensive way to decorate your wedding tables.
For more DIY tips, view our DIY Wedding Invitation Guide here!
Happy crafting…
Top Tips For Making Elegant And Eye Catching DIY Wedding Centerpieces
- Give yourself plenty of time and be realistic about how much you can get done. Crafting takes time so don’t think you can easily sew a table runner for 12 tables in one evening or make 40 rustic flower-filled jam jars in a week alongside your full-time job. Start any craft projects months in advance so that the projects don’t become stressful to complete.
- Be prepared. Make sure you’ve got all the equipment you need before you start crafting to make life easier for you and to ensure the project looks as professional as it can.
- Set a budget. Don’t let DIY wedding projects cost more than they would to simply buy or hire decor. Decide how much you can afford to spend and stick to it.
- Know your DIY limits. Choose projects that you know you have the skills to achieve. Simple is often much chicer than attempting something complicated that doesn’t look as professional.
- Get help. Ask anyone you know who is creative to lend a hand. Many hands make light work so consider hosting a crafternoon with your bridesmaids or anyone else who is happy to get involved.
Top 30 DIY Wedding Centerpiece Ideas
1. Material Table Runner
Choose a material that matches your wedding theme and create a table runner for each wedding table. Sequin runners look particularly stunning, but plain colourful materials or using a fabric like hessian can look fabulous at a rustic countryside affair. Brush off your sewing machine skills or grab a needle and thread to create this simple DIY project.
2. DIY Greenery Table Runner
You don’t have to be a florist to create an incredible centrepiece using foliage. Unlike flowers, greenery is much easier to make look professional and lends itself well to a relaxed, rustic look. Foliage like eucalyptus and ivy are particularly good for creating a living piece of decor for your wedding tables.
3. Lemon Centerpieces
This DIY centrepiece is perfect for a summer or destination wedding and looks so striking. All you need is some lemons, bell jars and cut flowers of your choice and voilà – the perfect summer celebration centrepiece.
4. Lavender Rustic Centerpieces
Bring a little chic Provençal style to your wedding day with DIY centerpieces made using beautifully scented lavender. A simple lace ribbon around a jam jar or a piece of hessian and some fresh sprigs of lavender is all you need.
5. Wooden Crates
Search for wooden crates in antique shops or bric a brac stores and reuse them as lovely shabby chic wedding centerpieces. Fill with flowers, petals, fairy lights or even bottles of beer!
6. Painted Wine Bottles
Save any bottles of wine you have in the run up to your big day, paint them in your chosen wedding palette colours and then top with a taper candle for an easy yet effective centrepiece. It’s a great excuse to open a bottle of wine while you’re knee deep in wedding planning too!
7. Hessian Wrapped Jam Jars
You might not get through quite as much jam as wine so ask friends and family to keep hold of any jam jars they finish to give to you. Then you just need a thick band of hessian with a smaller band of lace or ribbon tied on top for a lovely centrepiece. You can put a candle inside (floating on water can look pretty) or fill the jar with wild flowers.
8. Pile Of Books
Are you a couple of bookworms? Then source your favourite vintage looking or modern books and place them in stylish stacks tied with lace or ribbon to act as centerpieces.
9. Cork Menus
Let your menus do double duty as a wedding centrepiece. Make a thin incision in some wine corks and use them as a fun way to display your menu in the centre of the table.
10. Wicker Baskets With Flowers
Head to your local car boot sales or antique shops and source a variety of wicker baskets that you can line and fill with wild flowers or Oasis to arrange some blooms.
11. Painted Autumn Pumpkins
If you’re having an autumnal wedding pumpkins can be a lovely seasonal addition to your tables and are really versatile. You can use them “Halloween-style” as candle holders and carve your initials or another design that matches your wedding theme into them or have some fun with metallic gold or coloured paints to pretty them up. You could even use them as vases for your flowers.
12. Flowers In Colourful Kilner Jars
This is a really simple DIY wedding centrepiece. Either buy colourful Kilner jars or paint clear ones and fill them with real wild flowers or faux ones if you want to plan ahead.
13. Decorated Tree Branches
You’ll need to head out on a country walk for this one and have your eyes peeled for pretty branches that could be used as decor. Once you’ve found your perfect branches you can decorate them however fits your theme. We love branches wrapped with fairy lights or spray painted in a metallic gold or silver paint. At Easter or Christmas you can even decorate them with pretty painted eggs or baubles.
14. Succulents
Succulents can look really cool as centerpieces and you don’t need your florist to do them for you as they’re an easy DIY project. They look particularly lovely when displayed in terrariums or little rustic log vases.
15. Potted Plants
If you’ve got green fingers, spend some time before your wedding day tending to some of your favourite potted plants and then make a DIY display on each table. You can decorate the pots for extra style points!
16. Foliage Display
Collect some of your favourite foliage or ask your florist to give you some and then simply twine it around some candles in the centre of each table. Use florist’s wire if it helps to keep it in place.
17. Fruit Table Runner
Feeling fruity? Why not create a DIY wedding centrepiece using colourful fruits. This works particularly well with citrus fruits that don’t spoil in the sun (or attract flies) at a summer or destination wedding.
18. Candles Centrepiece
Collect your favourite candles, from tea lights to scented ones, and arrange them artfully in the centre of your tables on a pretty tray or wood slice. The romantic ambience that all these candles will create will be magical.
19. Fairy Lights In Small Glass Vases
Fairy lights are a wedding staple for a reason. They just look so extremely pretty and romantic in a whole variety of venue types. They’re pretty cheap too, so are great for brides and grooms on a budget. Simply wrap the lights into a messy ball and then place inside a small vase or jar and your DIY wedding centrepiece is complete.
20. Lantern Centrepiece
Lanterns are a chic way to display any lights you might want on your wedding tables and it’s an easy DIY project too. Surround them with baby’s breath or another simple cheap bloom for maximum effect.
21. Baby's Breath In A Vase
Talking of baby’s breath or gypsophila as it is also known… this flower is really easy for couples to DIY with as it’s super versatile and looks brilliant on its own with minimal styling.
22. Birdcages
Vintage style birdcages can looks really elegant as table centres and can be filled with all manner of pretty DIY details from faux flowers and candles to draped pearls or edible treats for your guests.
23. Oversized Balloons
Huge balloons + helium + a cool DIY garland tail can look absolutely amazing as wedding centerpieces. Have fun making the tail of the balloon to match your wedding colours or theme.
24. Vintage Tea Cups
If your wedding has a vintage theme why not source pretty mismatched tea cups and saucers from second hand shops and then DIY them into something pretty for your wedding tables. Cut spray roses look lovely inside the cup or you could create a little stack with cute cakes on display to look like a cake stand.
25. Candelabra
This is a classic and very smart option for a wedding centrepiece, but you can give it the DIY treatment by decorating each candelabra with drapes of pearls, foliage, glass beads, or anything else that you can easily wind around the arms.
26. Mason Jars With Pampas Grass
You can fill mason jars with anything you fancy from the flower world, but we love the idea of embracing the trend for dried grasses and in particular pampas grass. You might even have some in your garden that you can cut and use for free.
27. Photo Centerpieces
This one is really simple and a lovely sentimental and romantic option. All you need to do is choose your favourite photos from your relationship and have them printed out and put in pretty frames. Then style them as your centerpieces with a little note to explain to guests why the picture is so speci
28. Cake Stand With Flowers
Hire some cake stands, either vintage or modern, and then deck them out with flowers or sweet treats for your guests in the middle of each table.
29. Christmas Baubles
Brides and grooms having December weddings have a huge advantage when it comes to wedding decor. You can go to town with all sorts of seasonal treats like baubles to add glitz and glamour to your wedding. Try making your own design or baubles to match your theme.
30. Mini Christmas Trees
Another lovely take open the festive season when it comes to DIY wedding centerpieces is to have mini Christmas trees at each table. Decorate to suit your theme for a stunning winter wedding look.
