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We had sandcastle centerpieces at our wedding this past July. They were really cute, sitting on their piles of sand on blue overlays with miniature shells, light flickering through the windows from the candles inside (guess it's pretty obvious how much I loved them).
I had arranged to sell the sandcastles after our wedding to another bride, keeping just one for myself. Didn't turn out that way though - after the wedding, there were only 3 sandcastles left over, as guests had taken them home! Given my own love for them, I didn't mind - I was flattered that people had liked them that much. I felt pretty lousy having to tell the other bride though that the centerpieces were gone.
Did anyone else have guests who took the centerpieces home with them?
I've heard of this happening a lot; it just amazes me that people assume weddings are up-for-grab type events. Boo. Your sandcastles do sound cute though =]
This surprises me! I've never seen this happen - why on earth would people think that it's okay to just bring centerpieces home? Weird.
We were going to put a note out telling people to feel free to take ours home - we made recycled wine glass vases - but maybe people will just assume that anyway, haha!
It's actually tradition in a lot of families for someone at each table to take the centerpiece. Maybe they assumed this was the case at your wedding? I hope no one tries to take my rented candleabras!
and the sand castles do sound really cute :)
Oh my goodness that is madness! I can't imagine someone thinking it would be a good idea to walk out of the wedding with your centerpiece, they must have really loved them! Isn't that what we spend all this time making favors for?
... that really stinks! It's a pretty common thing to tell guests to take home FLOWER centerpieces, but non-floral centerpieces? Thats when you send out a mass email telling everyone that you need them BACK so another bride can use them.
We had tall centerpieces with vases rented by our florist...so the height alone made them pretty impossible to take (or I'm sure I would be in the same situation as you!). However, at the rehearsal dinner, we had silver cube place card holders at each setting which I wanted to use the next day to hold the table numbers at the wedding. Of course everyone left them on the table at the rehearsal dinner with the exception of my MIL, FIL and SIL.
We now affectionately refer to them as 'the thieves'.
And yes, I realize that many people use those as favors at weddings, so I shouldn't really be surprised. And it would have been embarassing to ask for them back...luckily we had plenty left even with the thievery. :)
my gosh! I am borrowing vases from a friend that had a wedding this past July.. then her other friend is using them next summer. I sure hope no one takes borrowed centerpieces!
I cannot believe that people do this. I will so say something to people if they try to do that at mine, I think it is really rude.
Ugh, my MIL was hording all of our centerpiece buckets at the end of the night. We had explain to her that we just rented those buckets and they had to be returned to our florist. I think she was kinda embarrassed when we pulled them out of her car, but they weren't ours! Never mind her explanation on how she planned on getting ten giant metal buckets into her suitcase for the plane ride home.
For real?
Dress or no, I'm afraid I've have to body check anyone I see carrying off a centerpiece...
That really stinks. I think it's weird that people would take something when there's not a cute little note telling them they can take one or raffle it off.
Floral centerpieces are almostly always taken home. Before the budget-friendly bride came into full force, people assumed you paid for your 15 or so glass vases and they were free to take the centerpiece. I'd assign 2 important wedding members (FMIL & Mom, maybe a cousin or a bridesmaid?) to make sure to keep an eye out for you! You might even want to put a sticker on the bottom of each one (if they're opaque) saying "This is rented, if found please return...."
Good luck!
Actually, that's pretty standard at every bar/bat mitzvah and wedding I've ever been too...I took the centerpiece of the wedding I went to a few weeks ago! I think if you DON'T want people to take them, make your bridesmaids and groomsmen and parents get the word out to guests to make sure they're still around after your wedding....Conversely, my centerpieces are very low-key, so I'm going to encourage guests to TAKE them home!
I've said this on other similar threads, but I HATE it when people try to get me to take centerpieces home! It happens at almost every single wedding I go to and it's usually the MOB trying to pawn them off. I've usually just traveled very far and am staying in a hotel - what the heck am I going to do with a centerpiece?? Plus, I'm also on my way out to the 'after party'. I mean, just because I'm a girl people assume I want nothing more than to take home some leftover flowers!
Wow... some of these stories are crazy! Like a lot of other people who have commented, I am using vases/jars that are rented from my florist. I would be so irritated if I saw people trying to take them! Guess I'll have to mention to family and friends to be on the lookout for centerpiece thieves lol.
I've definitely seen people go home with centerpieces, but I think it's crazy that people take them without anyone announcing that they are available to take home. I'm planning to sell mine after the wedding (hurricane vases with candles), so I'm just hoping that they look like they belong to the venue so no one walks off with them. ;)
At the weddings I've been too people are always taking home the centerpieces!! One wedding I went to even made it a game...the table would pass something around the table (ex. salt shaker) and the dj would play a song and whoever had the salt shaker when the song stopped got to take the centerpiece home! Haha...thats filipinos for you (no offense to anyone, as I am one too!)
I've never been to a wedding where they give out the centerpieces!!! Maybe not a southern thing? I don't know.
Eeek! I can't believe people take them when they are not specifically directed to do so! What if someone planned to give them to a hospital or care home afterward? What if the bride spent months collecting the milk glass vases at antique shops? They should at least ask before taking them if no one has announced anything!
If you want to keep them, I would put a label on the bottom saying they are the property of the venue or florist, even if they're not. Or, just make sure your MOH, Mom and FMIL keep their eyes open. OR you could have your venue collect them at the end of the night just before guests start leaving.
The only time its acceptable to leave with a centerpiece is when
1) The wedding is over (DJ has stopped playing music, etc)
2) The guests are instructed to take home the centerpieces
Seriously - who does that with out asking if its okay? If you had table assignments, I'd call/email the tables with the missing centerpieces and ask for them back.
@Texasmeredith - I completely agree.
Our centerpieces actually belong to the venue, so anyone trying to leave with one will walk away with a red face!
My MOH said this happened at her sisters bridal shower. Some of her family left EARLY and took the centerpieces along with them! They were these oversized teacup flower pots. She was so upset and thought it was so rude. I agree. They weren't meant to be taken but they were also taken way before the event was over.
Yup we had friends and family take some of our centerpieces home. They didn't really ask, they just took 'em! One guest left with a lantern that a big "B" on it. I'm thinking, his name doesn't start with a B, nor end with a B, or have anything to do with B, so what the heck is he going to do with it? But oh well.
I am sincerely hoping that they will all be gone by the end of the night. I even made little cards to stick under random favors as the "lucky person" to take them home. We bought everything, though. If they were rented...we'd definitely have a different card.
But I think it's one of those things where it's halfway normal to take them home if you're a guest. I've never done, but I've seen it a lot.
It's funny, I've been to weddings where the bride has been like "oh you want another centerpiece? take it, take three!" These were always floral centerpieces though...I was in a wedding last year and asked the bride if I could take a centerpiece (a basket filled with 6 african violets, really pretty). She said "Of course!" so I took one, only to be b*tched out by another bridesmaid (there were 13 of us, ugh too many! too many differences of opinin!) that "Maybe the parents of the bride would like some of the centerpieces they paid for and made." Later the bride called and said "I really wish you all had taken more centerpieces, my parents have 48 african violets in our brownstone, and we totally don't have the room..." At the wedding I went to this past weekend, the first thing the DJ did was play a game determining who at the table would get the centerpiece. Got it out of the way right away, no fighting at the end of the night. LOL. I think it's scrappy to take them without asking/being told, but people love free stuff I guess. Ha ha wonder if my mason jars will disappear...
It's interesting to hear all these different stories - I had never seen this happen before at other weddings I've been to, or maybe I just didn't notice, lol...I was surprised that anyone other than me would actually want to keep a sandcastle.
For the other bride's sake, I thought about contacting the people sitting at each of the tables to try to track them down, but it would have been too awkward. They would have had to be sent to us (can you imagine the phone conversation?), and after we got home from the honeymoon, my husband's grandmother told me on the phone that she loved her little sandcastle that reminds her of our wedding. How could I ask for it back?
Anyway, the idea about a sticker asking people not to take them is a great idea.
I've been to weddings where the centerpieces were taken...but only after there was an announcement saying they could be! I can't understand why people would think any kind of decoration is just up for grabs without being told so >_<
That happened to us but our reception coordinator warned me ahead of time. He asked me if there was anything I wanted to keep because he was sure people would take the cute vases. I told him I wanted all the fabric runners and as long as I have a few pieces, they could take the rest. The first thing he did was grab the pieces I wanted, then me made announcement that the bride and groom would love for people to take the vases home as an additional gift but requests that the fabric be left as it would be part of a wedding quilt. We got al the fabric back.
I had my counsins and their moms take my centerpieces. I was outraged but my sister was more than outraged and yelled at one of them. They were supposed to go to a retirement home for their tables the next day.
People are very crass, imho these days and they think a wedding is a free for all. I'm so glad honestly I'm having an intimate wedding and that I don't have to invite some of these people when I have my encore wedding next year.
Some people will take whatever isn't nailed down ya know?
Wow, I'm just stunned. I can understand if some announcement is made offering them up, but to just take something without asking? How do guests know that you didn't rent the vases? It's very presumptuous and I would be pissed.
It's pretty standard with weddings I've been to where the centerpieces were given away (or told to be taken). I don't think I've been to any weddings where the centerpieces were left. I'm trying to figure out a way to do a non-floral centerpiece, and I'm taking into consideration that some might be taken. I think it's kind of a chain reaction, end of the night thing. People start walking away with stuff and before you know it, the whole room is cleared! ;)
Around here it is a pretty common thing for people to take the centerpieces home and some people do even if the DJ announces for people not to. I actually didnt have too many people take mine home, probably because half of them were 24" cylinder vases filled with water, seaglass, orchids and a little light at the bottom. I do wish I wouldve told the DJ to make an announcement for people to take them home. My SIL just had her wedding last weekend and the DJ announced for the guests to take the flowers but not the vase they were sitting on top of and they still had about 5 or so left over out of about 20 tables.
i remember nephew #2 21st birthday and seeing some woman who came to collect her daughter take off with 3 centerpieces - very strange behaviour and the party was still going.
my eldest nephews weddding had rented vases and some of us were on vase patrol because some of his fathers family will steal anything thats not nailed down and the vases were rented
My Dad use to own 3 banquet facilities here in Houston when I was growing up and I remember them always having a problem with people taking home the hurricane globes that were on the tables. The brides rented them from us.
At my brother's wedding we had people take home the diamond paperweights that were scattered on the tables. We wanted to re-use them for other parties plus we spent lots of money on them.
You just never know with people!
At my cousin's wedding, someone walked off with her bouquet! She was really upset. We think it was the (married) woman who caught the bouquet when my cousin threw it. She must have been the only person there who didn't know that tradition. You have to wonder sometimes...
@Happyjen - some people have bouquets specifically for tossing, maybe she thought that's what was up? Although only single ladies are supposed to catch the bouquet...
It seems that people get "centerpiece" confused with favor. I saw people hoarding starfish in their purses this past weekend at a beach themed reception. I guess they probably expected it, but there was no announcement that they could be taken, and they were not the favor.
The longer this thread gets, the more annoyed I get. I'm more than likely having non-floral centerpieces and the thought of people taking them home gets me so mad! I like the idea of the lable on the bottom... although I might even put it on the side at the bottom, cause people won't look at the bottom til after they throw the flowers away.
Yikes! These stories are crazy!
At FI's cousin's wedding we stayed to help clean up at the end and we were offered a vase to take home. I would have never taken one if it had not been offered to me. I was also at a good friend's wedding this summer and she offered a floral centerpiece to me so we took one.
At our wedding, I am buying vases and placing peaches in them. We will have a little sign on each table that asks people to take a few peaches home. I hope no one picks up an entire vase of peaches and walks off!!
If that happens I will be annoyed because I want to try to sell them after the wedding, but it won't be a total end of the world since I am going to buy them from thrift stores and old time pottery.
I read about this kind of stuff and the RSVP nightmares and have to wonder why are people so rude?!
we are having centerpieces with water in them and I would assume that no one would take them home (I know I wouldn't want to deal with the whole water issue), but my mom said that I should plan on most of them not being there at the end of the night! haha!
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