DIY Centerpieces? Please share PICS!

I am making my trees and I must tell you it is pain the the butt. Plus the size I ended up loving are HUGE and now they wont fit in any car I or anyone else owns so now I have to rent a moving truck to get them there. I am going to do only 12 simple centerpieces for the reception and I am nervous about them too, the last two days are so busy and that is when you get your flowers, it is just so much of an added stress that I dont want but have to do. I say just suck it up and pay the fee and let someone else deal with the stress, that way you can relax and worry about something else

Our wedding is about 150 guests and what we are paying for florals is 4x as much as your quote, so I'd say you are getting a heck of a deal.

That said, flowers are super important to me. I want them unique, and fun and lots of them. I also, very much like Centerpiece - whose story makes me :-( - think that with a wedding that size that you really should have a vendor handle making the centerpieces. Unless you are going with something relatively basic, I just couldn't imagine all that work for a wedding that large. You want to be able to relax and enjoy the day.

I do also know that many brides here prefer not to spend money on something that is basically perishable, and I totally respect those opionions as well. I love what everyone has put together on this thread though. Stunning!!!!

I'm doing my own floral but I'm also having a small wedding of 60 and I'm keeping it simple. The chapel will be nothing but baby's breath and I will have BB and flowers for the centerpieces. Here is a mock up of what I'm doing. The silver creamers will be with flowers I purchase from the grocery store along with a couple types of red eucalyptus, the baby's breath in milk glass I will do a couple days before. I will have simple flowers in small vases scattered about as in the example. I wouldn't even consider doing flowers with the size of your guest list even with simple. Centerpiece is a professional and must have been considerable stress and as she said, it robbed her of really enjoying just be MOB.

@Centerpiece....thank you very much for your kind words!

We had very simple nonfloral centerpieces. Easy to make, not very expensive.

I am planning to do simple centerpieces that I can do easily the day before my wedding. I'm actually looking forward to that act of creativity to calm and center me. =) My mom may help prepare the flowers a few days before, and she and my sister (MOH) may also help with the arrangements, but I'm leaving how much they choose to help up to them. I will have a DOC who will pick up the centerpieces the morning of and set them up at the venue.

i'll be doing about 15-16 pieces, as well as my bouquet, my MOH bouquet, and two bouts. i'm buying in a combination of online bulk (Costco, 50 Flowers) and local - Chicagoland has great flower market called Steve's Market that specializes in DIY weddings - they can help with everything from selection and arranging lessons to full service.

the foundation of all the centerpieces will be naked wine bottles (though I will also try a version with gold-painted bottles) with a single large-headed hydrangea in each. (Labels haven't been removed yet in these pics.) dried lavender buds will be sprinkled around the base and a few votives as well. Simple! I've also toyed with some filler - the 2nd picture includes seeded eucalyptus and stems of lavender, but I haven't committed to this version yet. larger tables will have a trio of these, and smaller tables (cocktail tables, lounge area) will have just one. might also do a different bottle with lavender only. FH and I are big wine drinkers, so not only is the decor definitely "us," we have had no problem building our supply.

i plan to be flexible with flowers that will be readily available at the market for my bouquet, which could be as simple as 2 dozen white tulips if I need it to be (which i know i can get from Trader Joe's for $5 a dozen). ideally I would love white peonies, dusty miller, and fresh lavender. MOH bouquet would be single flower bunch - either tulips or lavender.

my most helpful sources so far have been the DIY flower articles from A Practical Wedding (http://apracticalwedding.com/wedding-flowers/) - I really think it can be done!

[edited for clarity]

More pics:

1) another view of centerpiece with filler

2) first draft of bouquet: 3 hydrangeas, lavender and seeded eucalyptus. i think it needs more color/flowers tho. it was great to start getting the feel of how it might be done, tho!

3) simple bout of a hydrangea clip and 2 dried lavender heads.

neither bouquet nor bout had been taped or tied yet - just getting a feel of things!

I should also mention that my wedding is a small one of around 65 guests, and there are only 2 attendants (MOH and BM).

I did my own flowers for my wedding (which is today!), but it's relatively small--67 guests. It took most of a day (started around 9, finished just before dinner) with the help of one of my bridesmaids. We made 4 bouquets (including mine) and 18 small flower arrangements for the tables (2-3 per table). Flowers were delivered on Wednesday, we did the arrangements Thursday, and wedding is Saturday. I'm really happy with how they turned out, and I enjoyed doing it, but it's definitely a time commitment. I wouldn't want to have taken on any more than what I did--so for a wedding of 300+ guests, definitely not. I don't have a picture of the finished table arrangements yet, but here's my bouquet (similar flowers):

This is really pretty... I love it!

This is a neat idea and very cute!