Weddingbee boards

What about something like this (the pink tulip arrangement--sorry, I couldn't figure out how to send the detail shot)? It is tall and elegant, but not super packed with flowers, so it may be more affordable.

http://www.brides.com/weddingstyle/receptions/gallery/7409?offset=1 

I agree with using some kind of brandches- You see that a lot in magazines and whatnot, and it always looks beautiful!  We had tall centerpieces and ended up spending a little more than we wanted to (but we also had 38 tables!).  The thing we did to save money (and a lot was saved, according to our florist)-- we ended up shopping at a discount store (I don't know if you have Marc's where you are?) and bought all of our vases.  It would have cost at least $15-$20 to rent each vase from our florist, but we ended up buying them for only $3-$7 each!  What a steal!  Even my florist was amazed at our find. And the best thing- our florist loved them so much that she bought some of them for us, and then our DOC convinced our venue to buy the rest! My husband and I kept one set (three different heights) as momentos, but we made our money back on the rest.  If you could do anything like this, it may end up saving some money in the long run.