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What about paper flowers to make your tall arrangements?
Or... this might sound weird, but much like the moss covered foam letters, how about giant moss covered foam table numbers.. you could get some flowers to go on it in your color scheme!
You could do submerged flowers with floating candles on top!
I am doing tall glass vases, filled with water, with 2 orchid stems floating in each vase. They are topped off by a floating candle and the centerpiece will sit on a round mirror, surrounded by a few votives. This was my inspiration pic, although my vases are tall and I'm using white flowers :) I was going to use silks, but my florist gave me a deal on the fresh stems. 
floatingweddingcandles.jpg (62.2 KB, 362 downloads) 2 years old 
Here's what I'm planning to try: Tall skinny clear vase, filled with clear, irridescent (sp?) pebbles. With an LED light dropped into the middle of it.
Surrounded by votive candles.
All on top of a round mirror.
Maybe with some rose petals scattered about -- I'm undecided on that part.
Those orchids are so beautiful!!
I'm thinking of doing mums from the farmer's market -- they're pretty, they've got some height and are environmentally friendly if the guests take them home and plant them. Maybe you could scout out a FM and see what they've got? Good inspiration anyhow!
We're using feathers in our centerpieces. It cuts down on flower costs, you can re-sell them when your done, and gives you the hight and drama without breaking your budget. I bought some from www.Ostrich.com - don't let the name fool ya - they have MANY different kinds of feathers!
Good luck!
Have you seen the centerpieces where they take branches and put them in a tall vase with rocks and hang votive candles from them?
I actually do something similar to this as a christmas arrangment every year and spray paint branches i just cut out of some of our trees in the back yard white and silver and add some glitter to them. Pinecones as look good in a bowl doing the same concept
HAHA i should have read the post fully before writing mine because you said you didnt like branches lol
I am doing some type of submerged flower in clear vases with floating candles as well. I just did a mockup the other night to see if I would like them. I used the laytex type flowers from Michaels. I bought white orchids and then I added a little red food coloring to the water. I like the mockup but I actually think I'm going to do tulips instead and get taller vases and maybe just do one tall vase with other candles all around. Here's a pic of the mockup.
CenterpieceMockup1.jpg (35.5 KB, 215 downloads) 2 years old 
FISH BOWLS!! :)
You can find inexpensive glass bowls, and fill them with goldfish/other little fishies... maybe also surrounded by little candles? I think it would look really unique, modern & pretty.
There is the problem of what to do with the fishies afterwards... maybe you could find a place to donate them? Maybe some retirement home with a fish tank, etc?
I'm doing a bunch of floating candles in different sized vases all on top of a mirror. Have you thought of using carnations for floral centerpieces? You could still make them tall but the flowers are like 40 cents a stem, and they look goregous in a bunch.
6a00e00988db8b88330120a5c761f5970c-800.jpg (71.1 KB, 243 downloads) 2 years old northeast-baptist-reunion.jpg (124.3 KB, 215 downloads) 2 years old
Im doing submerged centerpieces on half my tables, and the other half will be similar to this...
http://elseachelsea.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451c0f869e2010536341f08970c-400wi
Im not on my home computer right now, but I have a link saved where you can buy those exact candle holders for under $3 a piece.
Send me a PM to remind me to give you the link if you like this idea.
@goosegg- I'm pretty sure those candlehlders are from CB2 (Crate and Barrel's cheaper sister co.) I've been looking at those too.
What about fake florals??? We did nice tall centerpieces for ours, three different kinds, and each one was under $10. The one I liked the most was actually $6.50 a piece (the blue discs with branches).
Tall, glass vases filled with apples and pinecones or wheat or something fallish!
Sorry, photo didn't post...
tallcenterpieces.jpg (60 KB, 155 downloads) 2 years old 
I ordered bronze lanterns from Pottery Barn and am going to put candles in them w/flowers petals around those. You can order taller lanterns too!
I ordered a ton of candles from www.candles4less.com and did this:
wed_374.jpg (146 KB, 152 downloads) 2 years old 
I saw this on brides.com awhile back:
Fruit centerpieces are a nice alternative and would be cheaper than flowers (I think).
It also seems like the vases with floating candles (with/without flowers) is a popular idea among the hive!
I don't know if you have answered this yet but what colors are you using and what feel are you going for or where is your wedding taking places? That might help us help you with ideas!
@arizonabride, Thanks, youre correct, they are from cb2. (you saved me sooo much time from having to search through my millions of bookmarked favorites!)
Heres the link for those who need it,
Thanks, guys, for all the ideas so far - keep them coming!
@SandDollar - my centerpieces will actually be the deciding factor on wedding colors. So far, we are drawn toward a black and silver motif (for invitations). We aren't doing a BP, so I don't need to worry about dresses. And, I'm considering not carrying a bouquet - but if i do, it can be all white (I'm not tied to any particular color scheme).
It's an indoor reception in a hall - I'm not sure what color the table linens will be. (Trying to post a picture of a set up for another wedding). The chairs will be as shown. That tiger against the far wall won't be there - that's actually where the sweetheart table will go and I need some height decor for that space, too! and the tables will be all rounds. The room is pretty basic, so the centerpiece will need to be the highlight of the decor.
I'd love to create a warm, romantic type feel - but on a budget, It seems like it's the impossible task!
photo-1.jpg (134.9 KB, 162 downloads) 2 years old photo.jpg (146.7 KB, 123 downloads) 2 years old
@oracle: That's how my SIL did it. She kept everything simple and the only real color came from the florals. She didn't have/want a BP (didn't want the drama) there was no need to worry about colors for the dresses and such. Their invitations were very simple...white with black text and a heart graphic. Her space was also similar to yours and would go with anything.
The first thing that comes to mind when you say romantic (and on a budget) is candles and lots of candles. I think lots of little tealights all over the tables would go with anything else you decide to do. I got these little glass tealights holders at Micheals - they were in the $1 stuff, came two per package with tealights (which were colored so we are using them in the OOT bags and getting white candles) and sometimes that stuff is on sale for $0.50!
I'll think and see what else I can come up!
I agree with what someone else posted above. You can make beautiful paper flowers to use with taller arrangements. You can make easy carnation-looking flowers with tissue papers (similar to Martha Stewart's Pom-Poms, but with several smaller ones) and make pomander-type arrangments like in the picture above.
The wedding that was set up in those photos did a paper flower centerpiece and FI hated it. I think I may be able to get away with paper pom's - but I'd be too worried that the flame from the candles would catch it on fire (could you imagine?!!!).
I'm planning on keeping things pretty simple, too. The venue has hurricanes, so I need 3x3 candles and then I'm going to line the runners with votives wrapped in damask tape for some additional 'texture'.
Black tables/hot pink runners.
Not sure if I'll buy round mirrors to go under the hurricane or not. I do like that look a lot tho.
Hey- just throwing it out there- cheap flower idea is to find a local farmers market. They can put together something GORGEOUS for you for very inexpensive.
Question on fake flowers in water, under a floating candle. Do you think any kind of fake flower will work? I think that's super cute too so may look into that also.
What about using rose petals? They are cheaper than stems and you could really stretch them out, not to mention would be easy to work with. What about something like this one the upper right corner? I think that is super romantic with all the petals and candles. It would look great with black/white. Here are some other variations on that idea:
If your able to have open flames (and your candles don't have to be in glassware) that would really help cut down your budget because glassware can add up fast.
I also found this. I'm not sure how I feel about it tho and your SO may not like it since he didn't like the paper flowers idea, but it could be made romantic with the right paper and ribbons. It would also be super inexpensive and easy to do.
@SandDollar - you have such wonderful ideas!! I really like the rose petal look w/ the candles! I'd be a little afraid of using candles without any sort of holders, though (I'd think the linens would get destroyed from wax melting - don't you?) ... I wonder what could go underneath....
@oracle, those candles are in a holder, it's just clear glass. They sell those exact candles at Walmart, you can get a pack of 12 for $5 (last time I looked).
@oracle: I was thinking the same thing! I love the look but I agree...I wonder if you could place something under the petals that wouldn't ruin the linens and matter if it got wax on. I'm just trying to think of what that wouldn't be flammable :/
You know what if you look really closely that that image in the link there are little dishes under the pillar candles...similar to these but white. You can see it just barely in that very first candle. The white of the candle and the plate don't exactly match. Do you see it? lol
I'm also looking for creative, non-floral centerpieces. I came across these, made by Etsy seller possiblyandperhaps, and I LOVE the idea! So simple and sweet :)
flags.jpg (61.2 KB, 104 downloads) 2 years old 
I am going to do something like this ... it will be around $12 per table!
centerpieces,_small.png (91 KB, 393 downloads) 2 years old
@arizonabride: Just saw your centerpiece! I'm actually doing the same thing! The Pink orchids from Michaels look real and are cheap and food coloring in water adds a nice glow. I did find it cheaper to do one single tall vase with votives and fresh bright pink petals to give it more of a fresh flower look.
I have no idea if you would be able to find it in October in LA, but what about Ferns? You can buy them cheap, but even better is if you could pick them and arrange them in a vase. For a pop of color, you could do a few cheaper flowers or just the ferns and spray a few ferns with a light glitter so there is a little sparkle.
Or you could place some lemons or oranges in the bottom of the vase for a splash of color.
I find this site has good prices on in season items and you may be able to find other fillers or flowers that work well.
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I'm really struggling when it comes to centerpieces.
*I love, love tall, floral arrangements - but I refuse to spend the cash (nor do I have it!)
*I can use candles/have open flames - which I LOVE!
*I'll have about 20-22 tables to do.
*The room has very high ceilings (20+ feet) - so some sort of height would be good.
*I'm not really liking a branch type thing - only because I did something like this for an event and the branches were SUCH a pain to transport. And, since I wouldn't be the one doing the final assembly, it makes me a bit worried that it would be so cumbersome.
I'm drawing blanks. Does anyone have any unusual, inexpensive centerpiece ideas? It can be completely random, outside the box - I'm ALL ears!!