The Evolution of a Centerpiece

When I first became engaged, I started doing some research and looking for inspiration everywhere. I decided early on, since I'm not hugely into flowers, that I didn't want HUGE floral displays on the tables, but that I also wanted something more than just candles.

The first centerpiece idea I coveted was, none other than, the Crystal Tree:

It's outdoorsy, it's different, it's bling-y-- and really, what's not to love?

I realized these could get a little costly to make with the branches and crystals, and I wasn't completly sold on it, it was missing something, and I don't know what it was missing, but something. Maybe it was a little too much for me.

So I continued to search for centerpiece ideas that were different. I'm not your run of the mill typical girl, so I needed something that wasn't run of the mill for my wedding.

Elegance at it's finest--The Ostrich Feather:

I came across these and thought they would be stunning and so unexpected and fun.

Anyone know how expensive ostrich feathers are? Yeah-so- I do now, and as pretty as I think these are these were not in the budget or anywhere even close to being in the budget! I even looked into crafting them myself, and buying ostrich feathers in bulk was not that much cheaper... so they were out, and I moved onto the next idea.

The next centerpiece idea I coveted was the submerged flower:

So Pretty!

oh la la!

and there is nothing better than seeing it all put together:

And really, I LOVED the submerged flower idea. REALLY thought it was georgeous, but the vases... the vases were boring me. They were just so plain. Obviously you need a clear vase for this to work, but there was just something about the straightness of the vases that was not doing it for me.

Then I came across the perfect centerpiece picture on Flickr. It was in someone's "photostream" and I came across it by accident when I was looking at her cakes. The photo is copywrited and non-copyable or postable or printable. I wrote to her asking if she would mind if I printed it and used to to show my florist, and she said sure, but didn't change any of the settings, and so, it wouldn't print. A picture can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glassslippergourmet/2272433272/

I love that vase. It is elegant and feminine and just oh so beautiful. That is the centerpiece I wanted that no one could give me. AND because I couldn't print the picture out, I had a hard time explaining the vase to Both my florists. Price Chopper had NOTHING even remotely similar, and Cindy kind of knew what I was talking about, but didn't have the vase.

I had been on my own hunt for the vase as well. I came across something very sililar at Pier 1 (yay), but they only had 2 left in store (and it was slightly more than I wanted to spend). Nonetheless, I was going to buy them from every store in the northeast if they had them. Sadly, the only other Pier 1 in the northeast that had any of these vases, only had 3- making a total of 5 non-doable.

While I was looking through Cindy's books with her, I found something else. Something different. Something stunning. Something so simple and yet so pretty. Something very US.

Cindy is going to craft the boxes herself and they are going to be hot pink. She will set up the centerpieces the day of wedding and glue the orchids onto the branches. The orchids are going to be hot pink as well. (i'm lusting over the Chivari chairs in the background)

How many centerpiece ideas were in your centerpiece evolution?