One of the questions I’m always asked about the wedding, “how did you create your centerpieces?” We wanted centerpieces that would be “green” and also double as wedding favors. (The flowers are potted and guests could take them home with them)

Believe it or not they are really simple, quick and inexpensive to make…Here’s how we did it:

(Pssst…the following How to is a reenactment…)

1) You’ll need a smaller winebox, 4 small pots of flowers (for this I used Lucia dark blue), a foil baking pan, 1 large can of tomatos (yes, I know this sounds weird so far), crinkle paper filler, ribbon pieces of your choice, a medium sized candle and holder. (Recommendation: water the flowers the evening before and outside of the arrangement. Don’t try to water them once the centerpieces are made)

2) Bend and fit the aluminum baking pan into the wine box upside down.

(Its ok if it looks ugly, the purpose is for it to give your plants a little lift)

3) Place your tomato can in the middle and surround it by the plants (1 plant in each corner is a good rule of thumb)

4) Once all the plants are in place, add the candle and glass holder on top of the can. Then add the crinkle paper filler and ribbon pieces along the top of each pot. (For the sake of this how to, I used some left over materials from a recent gift. Craft stores have a variety of crinkle paper colors, the ones used for our wedding were a natural brown color.) Then hide the top of the pots with the paper filler, you want them to look as if you just opened a box full of flowers

5) Here are some variations to the idea…Don’t like the crinkle paper filler? Then use pieces of sheet moss instead…Don’t like the ribbon?  What about burlap instead? You can easily attach burlap ribbon to the outside of the box by using a hand held staple gun.

6) Don’t need a centerpiece? Then use them as pretty garden or porch decor…

Best piece of advice for brides and to save money…Start collecting the supplies a little at a time if you have enough time. (Every time we had a Michael’s coupon we were off buying ribbon or paper filler) We also spread out the cost of the materials over a year and stockpiled them until use. We asked ahead from the local home depot which flowers would be on sale and available in September which was why we used mums and daisies. You can also save money by growing your own flowers, but beware this would take a lot of planning, care and a green thumb.