Centerpieces that don't use flowers or candles

Does Your Wedding Have A theme? You could do book centerpieces.

You could use eucalyptus. Unless you consider that a flower, it is a plant but very easy to use

I've seen vases with balls of moss. sparkly branches. fancy bowls full of fruit. succulents. a stack of old books. Feathers...

I was going to DIY my flowers until I considered proper storage and transportation. I decided to go with a florist because I really want flowers for my centerpieces. Consider using a florist for just the bouquets and boutineers. For centerpieces, consider lanterns (though they can look funny without candles inside), books, wine bottles, or sand. Do you have a theme or vision in mind?

Second @Swin's question: do you mean flowers-flowers or any type of floral? Mine will be mostly greenery, it will save a lot of money but still look nice. I've seen greenery as table runners; which would be very easy to do.

I don't have a super specific theme. I'm getting married in the gardens outside of a historic building, and I'm using a mix of the gardens and the inside of the building for the cocktail hour and reception. So I'm going for some vintage elements because of the house, and Springy, outdoorsy elements because of the gardens. I'm also trying to give it a very personal, romantic vibe.

@Swin and @MrsBBR, I'm completely open to plants if I can afford them and they're not too much of a hassle. I just know how expensive professional florists are.

You could do succulents or lanterns or greenry.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I'm doing eucalyptus and my florist charged me about $32 per centerpiece. I think you could even find them cheaper. The great thing is that I don't have to do ANYTHING for it, and that makes my stress level go wayyyyy down. It was worth the couple extra bucks to me.

Go with your theme on this one. I have seen some amazing, non flower, centerpieces that use themes.

-A friend of mine hates flowers, so she used pin wheels and simply made them out of scrapbook paper and fancy paper straws and displayed them in bunches in mason jars. They were a hit! and SUPER CHEAP.

-Another friend has a harry potter theme to her wedding and used stacked books, magic wands, sorting hats and such (not cheap, but very cute).

-I have a librarian friend who stacked books and had teacups set on top as her centerpieces. Free- just used what she had already.

-its really popular right now to decorate mason jars and put candles in them, this can be cheap if you already have the jars (or are willing to use odd shaped jars like those for salsa, pasta sauce, ect... instead of the 'name brand' mason jars- and just save them and have friends save theirs for you).

I am not having flowers either, I have been collecting fun bottles and jars for a few months and I will be making my centerpieces with those. I am getting married in a brewery, so I feel that I can go super non traditional. We are geeky and collect pop figures, I will have 1-2 pop figures on each table and then the jars and bottles that will be painted/glittered gold and copper with lights inside to make them sparkle. Its cheap because I already own the figures, and I am using bottles I get for free from friends and family, so the only thing I am buying is the paint/glitter (which has totaled $10 thus far).

I just got on pinterest and looked at unique wedding centerpieces, they had books, cacti, mason jars, picture frames and so much more.

Teapots!!!

Or vintage china, empty vases if they're still pretty, books, vintage cake stands with snacks/treats on them, vintage briefcases or purses, wooden crates.

Potted plants. Cheap, and easily dressed up.

Some kind of wine bottles with string lights inside?

I'm spray painting gnarled branches that I'm foraging gold and pairing them with mason jars I've been collecting from people. The only real cost is the spray paint. The rest is crafting time that can be done WAY ahead

One of my bits collected for non floral arrangements!

I am doing wine bottles with branches in them, like JessRSJ has pictured (except my bottles will likely be spray painted). I am also using tall willow branches in a tall vase with river rock at the bottom. My third centerpiece is a wide mouth bowl with small river rock and floating candles (which in bulk can be reasonable).

ETA: changed the picture!

I'm making paper flowers and using honeycomb balls with some succulents as a "runner" if you will.

(Not this large though...)

@BoozyBaker love that!!

There are a ton of non-floral options! Lanterns, books, birdcages, wine bottles, shells, fruit, greenery, ornaments, etc. etc.!

I made these kusudama origami flowers with used maps and blue paper. Between the vases, blue paper, glue and wire, we spent less than $10 per centrepiece. I didn't have much time to work on them so I started well before the wedding. I probably put about 40 hours of work over 4 months.