Hey Red!

I just did the same thing but on a much smaller level for an engagement party. I'm still waiting on pics from them of the arrangements.

This is what I did:

First I gathered all of my mason jars and recruited my co-worker to solicit his grandmothers mason jars.

I bought a few heads of white hydrangea at $5 a head and used 1 head per main jar per table. From my garden and consenting neighbors gardens I cut hydrangea heads that were turning green.

I added Silver King Artemesia and other varied green foliage from my garden (her colors are brown, white and green).

I had the bride to be stamp large manilla packing tags w/ an engagement ring stamp and affix a stick on rhinestone for the diamond. We tied a tag around the mouth of each main mason jar w/ thin brown and green ribbon.

W/ the smaller mason jars I made smaller arrangements w/ more of the varied green foliage and green hydrangea heads and put 2 jars on each table to create a cluster.

From IKEA I got a bag of 100 white tealight candles and they have sleeves of glass tealight holders for crazy low prices and scattered them around the floral arrangements.

Maybe you can catch a glimpse of the mason jar centerpieces David Tutera used in this episode. They put only 1 type of flower in each mason jar and clustered them on the tables. Can't get much easier than that!

Put ads on your local craigslist and freecycle asking for quart or pint canning jars.

Another vote for Costco flowers. Check to see if they will do a special order for you.

If not chair covers, maybe chair sashes?

I've had and been to a lot of weddings, parties, etc., that had both kids and candles and have never seen even the hint of a problem. I'd do candles AND flowers!

What's with the Mason jars? They must be very "in" since so many people suggest them! I don't can so I don't have any to use. Are people buying Mason jars instead of vases nowadays?

Love the Mason jars!

Do check out all of the Dollar stores in your area -- it is AMAZING what you can find! Also check out Big Lots too!

With the Mason jars filled with daisies and mums -- maybe add some rosemary -- and you could add a table topper of burlap to the tables first.

You could fill small jars (maybe jam jars?) with sand or white rice -- and then place a simple white votive candle (find those by the bag at Big Lots or the dollar stores) -- safe and looks incredible!

Another vote for adding some scattered silk fall leaves on the tables.

Add pots of garden mums around the room or area -- effective and can be used again OR given away to special guests. Or popped into your garden!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

I love the idea of using Mason jars. The example you posted is exquisite. I also think you can enlist the help of friends and neighbors (who are invited to the wedding) for the flowers. Tea lights would be so pretty on the tables, too, and not very dangerous unless you expect the kids to be running wildly into the tables! :)

I love Jan's idea of the smaller jars with the candles/sand. That would look great with the ball jar centerpieces! Burlap is very popular right now and if it would work with your decorations/colors/etc., I second that idea.

You can find ball jars at just about any thrift or antique store.

tina

Polly, I love your centerpieces! Beautiful colors, and since they are low guests can see each other across the table.

Love the simplicity of the Mason jars.

Around here a bouquet of flowers at the grocery store or Walmart costs about $5. Even Whole Foods has decent bouquets for $6-$7. Depending on the size one bouquet could fill a couple jars.

Maybe consider those battery-operated tea lights.

I think that's a perfect idea and to save more money, get the mason jars with the narrow tops and put just one or two flowers in it with some Baby's Breath.

Most of the receptions in our town are always at one of the "halls" at the churches where the couple marries. The set-up is exactly like your's.

Simple and pretty.

What about something like this? You don't have to use orchids. There are 4 different views; one should work for what you want to do.

OK, I get it - Mason Jars are hip right now. But, IMHO, not all that elegant, especially if you have to buy them. If you have to pay for them, why not buy a selection of vases? Or, if you don't want to spend any money at all, why not collect all the glass jars that come into the house for a while and use those? Mayo jars, jelly jars, peanut butter jars, pickle jars, etc. That would be cute and whimsical, maybe a little goofy, but free! You'd need fewer flowers, too.

I love the rice or sand candle idea. 'Twould be loverly.

Even if you don't have a source for Ball jars they're not expensive. I think recycled mayo jars (etc.) would be tacky.

You're so right, Natal. Mason jars are so tres chic, don't you think? What was I thinking? Tacky, tacky, tacky; much better to use Ball jars than anything else for that elegant touch.

OP, I apologize. Your arrangement actually is very pretty. For me, though, I'd prefer vases, not whimsy. I do think that filling two dozen mason jars with flowers, filled as full as your picture, might be pretty costly. Somebody here said a bouquet runs about $5.00. Filled as full as yours is, it looks like at least two bunches per jar. Twenty mason jars will run around $25. If you need 40 bunches of flowers, times $5 apiece, that's about $225 for table flowers. Seems like a lot to me.

Big question is where are you located? In an area where there is a Costco?

For DD's wedding we got tons of vases at garage sales/thrift shops for around 25 cents each. They're ubiquitous! Her MIL hot glued them with sheet moss and she put 3 per table with a bunch of flowers in each vase. To make each vase super lush, use lots of filler...greens are super cheap and they actually make the flowers stand out more. The key was to have the arrangements FULL. We also had votives on each table.

She used the white cloths, but had a full colored topper on each, then a runner in a contrasting color. Each table top had the favor box and we used black stones with the name of each guest as a seating note. We tied sashes to each chair. She got 90% of the stuff off ebay and we didn't spend a lot, but it looked gorgeous. It DID take some effort, however.

I'd suggest vases rather than mason jars. Really, if you're going for simple, forgoe the candles. Do your vases of flowers and scatter something on the tables, such as those glass gems, Hersheys kisses or even scrabble tiles, that will fill out the table and gives guests something to touch during those inevitable down times.

At one wedding I attended, they had the clay flower pots as centerpieces, with a potted flowering plant; all the pots had been previously personalized at the shower, where the shower attendees had spent time painting them, it was the theme of that gathering and it made the centerpieces special and whimsical.

I think if you/DD want mason jars then, go for it. Most every household has at least 1 or 2, many people have lots more if they can. The mason jars come by the case where we live. Mason jars can be purchased on the cheap at places like K-Mart. Don't know where you are located, but if you have one of those type of big box stores or even a Sam's, they might have cases of those bigger mason jars. If you don't have a source, would it be possible to "borrow" some?

As far as cost, I hosted a party last summer with only 8 tables which cost me a bit over $250 for table flowers. The florist did beautiful candle rings (more work, more expensive), I chose a subtle gold tone (not shiny) pillars differing heights (50th anniversary party). Used all different height/type hurricanes. I had 4 of my own, borrowed 3, bought 1 from the florist for about $11. Also, the $250 was pretty much the florist's cost. She happens to be a neighbor/friend of my cousin and has done alot of family flowers for us in recent years. Have to say she did a spectacular job using good flowers - no carnations. No two rings matched. I felt that I got what I asked for and my money's worth as well.

So, if you can do 20-25 tables for what sherrman estimates the cost to be - $225?, I say go for it. That cost is about $9 per table. Not bad at all.

Are you trying to achieve the white/green look of your picture or do you want to mix colors too. I like the look of the white/green. Very fresh and "tres chic". If you can find the white/green hydrangea, one of those per mason jar will help to "fill".

To my eye, the mason jar works because it is lush and very, very full. Looks like alot of daisies and baby's breath were used to achieve a fuller look. I don't think I would use the small size jars as you won't get the lush look you are after. Also, using the masons I would want all of the jars to be the same size, call me crazy, but that's JMHO.

Is the wedding reception casual? I already hit the preview button so I can't go back and read if you posted that.

Any event, congrats on both the baby to be and the marriage of your DD! So many blessings, lucky you!!

Red - the other day when I was rinsing out my my glass jars for recyclyng I noticed that one of my spaghetti sauce jars is actually modeled after a mason jar. I just stripped off the label and it was an embossed glass jar. I plan on saving more of these jars. Maybe it was Francesco Rinaldi? Anyway check out the pasta sauce jars next time your grocery shopping.

I live the arrangement in the pic that you showed - my only suggestion is that the proportion of it is off. The stems are too long. The flowers of the babys breath should be closer to the opening.

Polly - your arrangements turned out beautifully!

Do you have a cut-your-own flower farm around you? That's what we did for our wedding, which we held in September in our backyard -- same deal - we had a tent, basic round folding tables with white tablecloths, and white folding chairs.

We went the day before the wedding - my, dh-to-be and one of my bridesmaids who had flown in from out of town. When we explained that we were cutting flowers for our wedding, the farm owners not only gave us a great deal, but recruited some other folks to help us cut. I actually have really great memories of the whole experience - it was a blast! We came home with a couple 5 gallon buckets of sunflowers, zinnias, and some purple poofy flower that I can't remember the name of (veronica, maybe?). My mom brought down a couple cases of her canning jars and we spent an hour or two arranging them, tied a ribbon around each jar, then we stored the arrangements in the basement for the night so they wouldn't get too hot. The total cost was well under $100 (compared to the $600 we spent with the florist for a couple bouquets and boutonieres (I have no clue how to spell that, LOL!) and they looked great. We also put a couple tealight candles and a citronella candle (in a cute holder!) on each table for bug control.

I even found a picture for you!

Good luck with the wedding - I'm sure whatever you do will look great!

How about round glass fish bowls, sitting on greens (leather leaf ferns) that have been sprinkled with rose petals, and with a tea light candle floating in the fish bowl? Don't use more than 1 tea light or the glass gets too hot/cracks.

Or you could 3 float flowers in the fish bowls and skip the tea lights.

Thanks Ttodd and terriks. Those 8 arrangements cost $53. Three $14.99 24 stems of roses from costco, and 8 dollar store fishbowl vases. The hydrangeas were from my neighbors bush. I had a ton of roses left over, and made a bunch of bouquets for my house, so I very well could have made more, but my friend didn't need them. The best part, I did the flowers for her in exchange for using her beach house for 5 days in September.

Red, you said the wedding is in late September. How about sunflowers and mums and mini pumpkins or gourds on the table?

When I got married, I ordered flowers from 2groses. I think they have now changed their name. It was very cheap and worked out very well. You order the flowers you want, they ship them to you a couple of days before the wedding, depending on what you order so that they are open on the day of the wedding. You make the arrangements yourself. When I got married 9 years ago, I think I ordered 400 roses with the filler plants included for $300. Now they have 400 roses for $420. You can order all different types of flowers from them, not just roses and in various quantities My bridal party helped put all the arrangements together. It was shocking to see 400 roses plus filler plants delivered to my home. It was ALOT of flowers for a small wedding!

And, the website is set up in such a way that if you enter the month of your wedding it will tell you which flowers have the best bloom for that month.

Seconding the idea of eclecticme regarding the use of pumpkins. DBIL & DSIL used pumpkins as containers for arrangements of flowers both in the chapel and reception following their wedding. It was absolutely, hands down, the best flower presentation I've ever seen at a wedding, and I've been to soooo many different types of weddings.

It was very earthy and genuine, much like DBIL & DSIL. I fell in love with the look as soon as I entered the chapel. They were married in the fall in Vermont about 10 yrs ago - late afternoon. Just stunning for a fall wedding.

Also, forgot to mention about the candles. Candles lend so much to the atmosphere of an affair. If you can at all work it out, I wouldn't do without. Just does something for the mood, and everyone looks better by candlelight, no?

I think you could use free jars you collect from your kitchen recycling bin and that of friends if you use casual flowers and keep the flower color uniform. The different style jars would add interest if used in groupings.

You could also ad ribbon or something so they would not look like mayo jars.

Or not.

Can I ask what the bridal bouquet will be? I would try to use similar flowers at the reception. You can also use the bridal bouquets on tables.

Not sure if this will help you out; wedding flower design calendar if you click where it says flowers - then flowers/images; it may give you some inspiration.

Growers box - found this online - never used them but they have wedding flowers in a box for DIY

Jello centerpieces - look cheap & easy

Roselvr - I love the jello centerpieces! They look very fresh and hip!

Sorry if this is a reapeat, skimmed and didn't see this mentioned. Your post made me immediately think of Young House Love blog, (one of few I check now & then). Very creative couple, do just about everything on a dime (for which they've gathered a fair share of media attention.) Perhaps their 'wedding' page would offer some inspiration, there are pics of their centerpieces & table settings. (Budget at bottom of page.)

Moonshadow, we hosted Aimee's wedding in our yard and it was very cheap. We designated close friends and family to make food dishes, turned the garage front into a beverage station and had a blast!

Photo booth wedding? Sounds great! This is our kind of wedding!

Those jello centerpieces are wonderful!!!! :)

Great colors and LOTS of possible uses -- maybe orange ones for a Halloween party?? Hmmmmm ... may have to try that ...... :)

Except for the fact that my DH would want to eat them ...... LOL!!! :)

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Red, congratulations on DD's wedding and the arrival of a new grandbaby! You've been given some great suggestions.

I think greenery, especially something frilly and lacy, is always a nice touch. A single plant of Baby's Tears in a clay pot, w/a few live Mums(different fall colors in each pot??)would be fairly easy, re-cycleable, inexpensive, and colorful.

Whatever you do, don't over-extend yourself. It's *your* day to enjoy, too. ;o)

This past week (after I posted here!) was spent running around crazy for the baby shower........(It was yesterday, really amazing decor NOT done by me, and attended by about 70 people) trying to research more wedding ideas, the fitting for her dress, and interviewing for a new job! I am SO GOOD at cramming everything that should be spread out over 6 months into no time.
Not good at doing it all well............just good at managing to have it all hit at once. Will find out this week if I start a NEW job 2 weeks before the wedding.

So, today, I have time to read and am awestruck at the wealth of ideas, help, and advice. I thank each and every one of you who posted, because I am going to check into many of the great tips that were contributed. The links are worthwhile too.

Many asked about resources. Here's what I have...
I live in California, Fresno area, so lots of access to flowers/plants/etc. Love the Farmer's Mkt idea and will try to hit that next weekend to see what's available.
I'm a few minutes away from both Sam's Club and Costco. Will check them out. Only a sporadic Sam's shopper, but plan to get wedding serveware there.
Maybe I will re-think candles. I just don't want anyone to stress over kids/candles.
Work friend got me a great rate for the banquet hall.
Client giving me a deal on hall security.
DJ gave me his "Friends & Family" Rate, so music will be great!
Found a great place in rough area of downtown that has To-the-floor white tablecloths for $5 each. Reserved them. Chair covers with sash for $1.25.
Bride's gown is beautiful and suits her style for $350. She already has gold heels and will wear them.
My florist is Loaning me her white flower stands and told me to buy a trailing pot of flowers or big ferns at the nursery and fill them for the wedding stage itself. How nice is that?
Bride's bouquet is mosty white--lilys, roses, kermits, with some trailing amaranthus in the lime color. (photo is the lime green amaranthus)

I saw a how-to for making your own cake stands, and began today, collecting vintage plates, with candleholders, footed glasses, etc., from the thrift store to make a cake stand for every table. (We may adjust to one large round table filled with individual cakes on stands and just do the floral centerpieces on the dining rounds)
My plan is to put a cake stand with a different cake on every table. Augment with greenery and maybe jars/vases with flowers as we've been discussing here.
Bride refuses to cut the cake so each table can have their own cake.
Bride won't do a First Dance either, so the First Dance is going to be the Hokey Pokey for 2-3 dozen kids and hopefully, the Bride & Groom will join in. Line dances and some slow songs to follow.

That's what I've got thus far.
So, maybe we will be just a little crafty after all and see if we can make this fun? And just so you don't get the wrong idea about The Bride, she is super sweet and easy to get along with.....she also much enjoys dancing and going to all her friend's weddings. She just wants to be low-key and not the Super-Center of everything at her own...

Red

Sounds like you are working out all the details and staying busy. Sounds like it will be lovely.

Our wedding was last night. Everything was turned out beautiful. Our couple did cut the cake (no face smashing) but they didn't do a first dance either. Nothing wrong with them having it "their" way. That's what it's all about. We kept telling event coordinator at the club that we were not the usual high maintenance crew and were not going to follow "rules." The reception musician (guitar/singer) unplugged for the wedding ceremony and pulled a chair up next to us all to play - was not the "wedding march."

The flowers were amazing and my house (and DD2's) are overflowing. They were not extremely expensive since we purchased from floral wholesale downtown.

Hope to see at least one photo, Allison........:)

So many of the graduation parties, anniversary parties, weddings we attend, feature a lot of heavy music with loud speakers and the pulsing beat. The Bride loves to dance and can tear up the floor with the best of them. But she feels bad when some of the older ones, or people who just want to talk, complain about the volume or the "circle dancing" rather than couples dancing. She particularly enjoys going to the Spanish style weddings here locally, where some of the hip hop stuff gets shoved in favor of salsa, swing, meringue. So, I have her convinced to begin with a nod to all the many children, a couple of kid-oriented dances, perhaps the Chicken Dance along with Hokey Pokey, adding in some couples moves to Dino and Frank, mixing in the Caspar Cha-Cha and Electric Slide. She wants to dance, she just doesn't want to be the focus. And I want my DJ to get to relax and enjoy the evening too.

Red

I bet the jello centerpieces would work nice with the flowers she's using in the bouquets. You could color it with a lime jello; do the Kermitt's; possibly some babies breath, even some of the amaranthus (either in or trailing from the top) and/or gerbers. You can then do a few candles on each side. I can see it in my head; wish I was good at photoshop.

Red, all I have right now are pictures taken with my iPhone before everyone arrived... and a few of the flowers once I got them home (did leave many at DD2s house also). Photographer's disc won't arrive for 10 weeks.

Two used during ceremony, then moved to buffet tables (taken when first brought to the club). His boutonniere was the freesia and DH was the green (hard) berries - don't know their name, but can look on ticket. Also come in two colors:

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Bride's bouquet - 1 large green hydrangea, and a few blue and purple:

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She pinned a vintage brooch on the bouquet "handle."

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Had 5 tables of the taller - DD2 wanted some height on a few tables. One large green hydrangea, then used either purple or lavender stock along with curly willow branches. Anastasia roses in the front vase.

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9 other tables had three vases each in three different sizes. Each was holding a different flower. There were three different combinations. Each table had one vase with roses, one hydrangea (either blue or green) and a stock (either lavender or purple). I also didn't repeat more than three times (ex: 3 large, 3 medium and 3 small vases of roses.) Hope that makes sense.... ;D

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Not saying these flowers were cheap because I don't know but I loved the fall colors my niece used at her wedding.

I don't think you're planning on the jello thing but I'm curious, so for anyone else who had done it - wouldn't it be very time consuming to get the petals to sit so nice in the jello? I can't imagine stuffing a flower in partially gelled jello and the petals not bunching up & getting caught in the goo.
I have no interest in making the jello thing because, for me, jello is something that I associate with eating only when sick so it wouldn't be a happy, festive look.

Both the wedding flower pictures above are really lovely.

Congrats Allison on your daughter's lovely wedding.

You've got some wonderful idea's above and hydrangeas were on my mind too and votice candles.

Any wedding can be beautiful, even in a barn. All you need is a happy bride and groom and wine, lots of it.

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I've never done the jello ones; I guess it would depend on what flowers were used & how set the jello was.

It says - Chill the mix in your choice of vase for approximately 30 minutes - I don't think the jello would be that firm in 30 mins.

rose, I think they said the jello was semi firm, so you could easily push in the flowers; and you only use half the water so the color is more intense. I'm going to try this one of these days.

Allison, your flowers were amazing; golddust, those fall colors are so striking.

I think hhireno brings up a great point. Shoving daisies or asters or anything with those petals into even soft jello is going to take some arranging - the petals will need to be flattened out, I am betting. So not just a simple push them into the jello". The other thing that occurs to me is that jello sitting at room temp or warmer for a number of hours tends to melt - so what will happen to those flowers as the jello softens - are they going to start sliding down to the bottom?

It is an intriguing idea, but not sure that it is quite as simple as the directions make it sound! Somebody give it a try- hmmm, maybe I can this weekend.

So has it happened yet?

Saw a barn wedding thread (very bare bones) on the CF and thought of this thread.

I think that jello centerpiece thing is taking DIY a bit far even for wedding enthusiasts.

Someone told me that Costco has wedding flowers and that they are great but you have to have a lot of cold storage for them.

Allison, all the pictures you posted of the wedding are no longer available on this site! Can you repost them? Inquiring minds :-) Congratulations to your DD2 !

Topping for Allison to repost pics

I had to LOL at this thread - it is OLD!! DD2 had a lovely "event" in 2010 as she refers to it now. Too bad the groom became verbally and emotionally abusive during the first year of marriage, so he is no more. I only have a few pictures available, so hope they help. Not sure you can tell from the pictures, but large leaves were used to wrap/hide the florist foam.

*edited to add: just read the Houzz info on pictures posted. Not sure I'm comfortable with that so removing them for now.

.... I just read Houzz info on pictures posted. Not sure I'm comfortable with that so removing.

What about those electric/battery powered candles? Costco has them every now and then.

I find the cheapest flowers are available at your local Trader Joe's

Don't apologize! fwiw, the dress had no issues, and it along with the bride was gorgeous.

I noticed the dates this morning, but not yesterday. Wondered if I just missed or if they added today. Not sure I'm liking this new board!

Best low cost solution - tell the guests to bring their own arrangement, you will give a nice prize for the best one. I'm only "half" kidding!

I think wedding centerpieces are a great way to add a personal touch to your special day. I recently came across this article about wedding flower wall ideas that I think are really unique and beautiful https://mrspinch.com/wedding-flower-wall-ideas-that-youll-love/ . I think it's a great way to add a special touch to your wedding decor.