Easy & Elegant: 12 DIY Wedding Centerpieces That All Your Guests Will Love

Photo by Anita Austvika on Unsplash

When it comes to wedding reception décor, few things are as critical or as unifying as the centerpieces. They set the stage and (quite literally) the table for your entire theme, and they’re the first thing people see when they walk into the space. 

Because of this, centerpieces can seriously eat into your wedding day funds, especially if you go the all-fresh-flower route. But the resourcefully engaged can get all the charm with much less dough if they’re comfortable wielding a glue gun and bedazzling found objects. It’s all about rethinking the standard and flexing your creative muscle!

1. Effortlessly Literary: Antique Books — If you and your spouse-to-be bond over the undeniably appealing smell of old books, then you’ll love this sweet centerpiece. All it requires is a stack of old books and maybe a small vase with one or two blossoms. You can weave the literary theme throughout your wedding by naming each table after one of your favorite books or by sending out library-themed invitations.

Photo by Crystal Liepa

2. Classic and Glowing: Candles with Pearls — Nothing says elegant, chic and sophisticated quite like a string of pearls. Start with some enchanting freshwater pearls that offer a lovely, pearlescent luster in a combination of smooth spheres and baroque shapes. Fill translucent vases of differing heights with loose pearls in pure white or your wedding color and you’ve got an instant hit with minimal effort.

3. Fresh Femininity: Glitzy, Beaded Flowers — All we can say is pile on the gemstone beads, because you can never have too much! This crafty centerpiece is about as affordable and custom as you can get. Start with a set of high-quality silk flowers and then bedazzle to your heart’s content with rhinestones, crystals, aquamarine or whatever gets you excited. You can also dot the center of each bloom with vintage brooches, but this can be challenging if you prefer a uniform look, as you’ll need one for every stem.

Photo by Sarah Bradshaw via The Knot

4. Soft and Simple: Floating Rose Petals — Classic yet underrated! Take a set of hurricanes, fill them up with water and adorn them with candles and rose petals in your wedding color. The beauty of this DIY centerpiece is twofold: It’s extremely simple (you could actually make all your centerpieces in under a half hour if you wanted to) and extremely customizable. There’s no wedding palette or theme it wouldn’t serve.

5. Going Green: Earthy All-Greens Boxes — What do you do when you’re not into the idea of faux flora but you’re also not feeling the massive price tags on those massive peonies and big-bloom garden roses? Go green! An all-green centerpiece costs significantly less than your typical floral variety but is equally as fresh and expressive. Go textured with different types of greens— ivy, lamb’s ear, ferns, dusty miller, ruscus, ornamental cabbage, Billy balls! It’s all fair game!

Photo by Heather Mount on Unsplash

6. Kitschy-Chic: Old Tin Vases — In budget-friendly wedding décor, anything can serve as a receptacle — rusty watering cans, old tea kettles, salvaged birdcages and dollar-store drinking glasses, for example). If you’re going for a super-antique or subtly country vibe, start where all good vintage centerpieces start: in grandma’s basement. Create exceptional wildflower bouquets with old-fashioned spice tins for a style that tells a story. Be sure to pick the most colorful, rusty and weathered canisters you can find.

7. Bold Gold: All Golden Everything — What is it about gold spray paint that just makes everything look flawless? This approach requires no expensive florals — unless you want them — and can be achieved with things you already have around the house plus a can of gold spray paint. You can quite literally achieve this high-class look for just a few bucks!

Photo by Basic Bash

8. Buckets of Love: Pales Filled with Flowers — If you’re looking for a way to add a rustic-but-not-too-rustic feel to your big day, consider filling a garden pale with fresh blossoms. Keep it simple and affordable with all hydrangeas or get crafty with silk blooms. If your wedding is beach-themed, consider transforming kids’ beach buckets into custom beach centerpieces for a little extra personality.

9. Perfectly Handmade: Adorned Vases — The next time you’re shopping second-hand at antique stores, yard sales and thrift shops, take stock of the vase situation. You can usually find a ton of just-okay vases that don’t suit your exact style but still have plenty of personality. Learn to see the vase for what it could be, not what it is right now! Some hand-wrapped chain, ribbon or twine can transform any vessel.

10. Garden Delights: Miniature Herb Gardens — They’re functional, aromatic and right on budget. Herb garden centerpieces are utterly ideal for the earthy, eclectic or woodsy wedding. You can even plant several small receptacles or jars with individual herbs and then hand them out as favors after all is said and done. This is another great way to keep things fresh without help from a high-cost florist.

Photo via One Wed

11. Casual Yet Pretty: Candles and Fresh Petals — This entirely effortless candle centerpiece doesn’t require much — just a few wax pillars, candle spheres and rose petals — but it sure doesn’t skimp on the charm and style. The best part about this type of centerpiece is that you can tailor it to your specific tastes, whether your wedding motif is coastal, traditional, country, eclectic, fairytale or rustic.

12. Easy-Peezy: Pinwheels in Mason Jars — Wedding centerpieces need not be all pomp and circumstance. Sometimes the thrown-together look says more than the perfectly arranged white roses and meticulously placed floral sprays. If you and your spouse-to-be tend to take things not too seriously, and if you’re all about having fun, you can’t go wrong with some cute patterned or solid-colored pinwheels standing in jars.

Designing and making your own wedding centerpieces serves you in so many ways, from helping save money so you can funnel your funds elsewhere (hello, honeymoon) to helping break the wedding mold and add something amazingly original to your wedding style. Take the same approach throughout your venue with do-it-yourself favors, decorations and more!