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Mrs. Espresso, Corona/Big Bear Age and Occupation: 23, Community Services Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Maintenance Technician Engagement Date: December 21, 2007 Wedding Date: October, 2008 Blogging Since: June 25, 2008 Venue: Outside a rustic b&b in Big Bear Lake About Me: I'm a lover of all things good: coffee, music, travel, rain, and of course- my handsome fiance! I'm a full believer in the "Life is Short," mantra - and therefore, eat lots of dark chocolate. I'm a Geographer by degree and nerd by choice. I cook to the sound of French and Portuguese music even though I speak neither. I love road trips, camping, hiking, and capturing life through the lens of my camera. Take me to Anthropologie and I may never leave. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, bargain finds, and old movies. Mr. Espresso and I are high school sweethearts and I am so blessed to be this amazing man's future wife.
About Mrs. Espresso

Are you ready to see the centerpieces we chose?

Well, where we last left off, Mama Espresso was out trying to find visuals of the descriptions I gave her, and I was at the house trying to calm and organize my crazy mind. I started looking through the magazine pictures I’d torn out over the past nine months and the millions of blog pictures I’d saved on my little hard drive. By the time I had made it through half of them, my mom had come back with the treasures she’d found at various stops.

Here is a look at the first round of potential centerpiece vessels:

Below we have various types of small candle holders, and even some stemless wine glasses she found on sale at Pier 1. They were cheap and the candles looked great in them.

The Centerpiece Saga Gets Checked Off the To Do List :  wedding big bear decor reception Img 085


Here are some bigger vases and mason jars:

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I stared at all the glassware for what seemed like forever, and then we made a decision (thank goodness everything can all be returned). We’re going for the mason jars, flowers, and candles! Watch out!

The candles we bought are already in jars (they burn for five hours, which is perfect).

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We also have different sizes of mason jars.  A three pint jar in the middle, and quarts on the side.

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We’ll add a mix of green and white flowers in each of them. All of the flowers are from Trader Joe’s. For the wedding, we’ll be getting them from the Los Angeles flower market, but this mix is pretty much what we’re going with. It’s simple and they’re pretty. They’ll go perfectly with the white linens and espresso napkins… and we’re done!

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The Centerpiece Saga Gets Checked Off the To Do List :  wedding big bear decor reception Img 083

The Centerpiece Saga Gets Checked Off the To Do List :  wedding big bear decor reception Img 08301

The Centerpiece Saga Gets Checked Off the To Do List :  wedding big bear decor reception Img 08405

The Centerpiece Saga Gets Checked Off the To Do List :  wedding big bear decor reception Img 08302

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The Centerpiece Saga Gets Checked Off the To Do List :  wedding big bear decor reception Img 08303

Purchasing and assembling the flowers ourselves will significantly reduce our floral costs.

How’s your floral budget looking?

Tags: big bear, decor, reception |
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18 Responses to “The Centerpiece Saga Gets Checked Off the “To Do” List”

1.
elle1009
Member
elle1009 (message)  120 posts, Blushing bee

I love the floral arrangement. Very organic…I have seen what some people spend on florals and holy moly, if I couldn’t buy a house with it!!! I opted to only use the florist for the bouquets and the groomsmen’s flowers. I am creating the centerpieces myself with curly willow and using candles on the tables. I will also be creating a candle “tree” on the table where my escort cards will be.

 
2.
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Guest
lindsayk

your wedding seriously sounds soo much like mine! I love the mason jar idea– just a hodge podge of clear glass and white flowers.

Where did you purchase those candles already in jars? I am in need of those!

I was also thinking about wrapping some lace around the candles for a little vintagey pattern.

Lindsay

 
3.
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Guest
Candice

It is a bit overwhelming, isn’t it? I think you made a great choice though and I love the simple elegance that the flowers and the mason jars provide. Doing your centerpieces yourself is a lot of work and not for everyone, but its good that you have a support system to help you! I love the flower combination’s too, so pretty. My only advice would be to chop down the stems a bit so they don’t have that “vaulting” effect, specially on the smaller mason jars. You know, you could save some of the candle holders that you bought and float some single flowers in them to fill up the tables if you need to!

 
4.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Sweet Tea (message)  461 posts, Helper bee

I love flowers in mason jars! If we were DIYing the flowers, I would def go this route.

One suggestion: less is more! I did the flowers for a recent end-of-year celebration in mason jars, and one of the interns helping me actually worked for a florist for years. I was freaking out because I thought I didn’t have enough flowers for ten centerpieces, thought it looked weird, etc. She showed me that less in the jar actually looked cleaner, prettier, and will help with the proportion. She said that for mason jars you don’t really want to have them very packed in, unless the stems are cut much shorter and it’s basically a ’round’ shape just above the lip. If you are having longer stems, it looks better with less. Sorry for my unsolicited advice, but hey… it might be a money-saver in the end ;)

 
5.
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Guest
Andria

These look great! I really love the clean lines and simplicity of it.

If you don’t mind me asking, how much would you say you’re spending on each centerpiece? Are you going to use one jar per table?

 
6.
MissCamera
Member
MissCamera (message)  770 posts, Busy bee

I would also suggest cutting them down a bit. They’re too tall for the size jar you’re using, IMO. But I love the colors and flowers you chose.. too cute.

 
7.
Mrs. Tiramisu
Bee
Mrs. Tiramisu (message)  1,098 posts, Bumble bee

simple and perfect! I love the wildflower-y flowers, and they’ll go great with the brown!

 
8.
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Guest
kenzie

I like the flowers in mason jars, we’re using POM glasses and flowers from costco…

Just a tip: if you trim the length of the stems down a bit, you can make less look like more.

I think with mason jars, 8″ stems would be ideal!

 
9.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Espresso (message)  1,310 posts, Bumble bee

@elle1009: oooh a candle tree!
@lindsayk: My mom found the candles at Smart & Final. I think they were about $14 for a pack of 24
@Candice:, @Miss Sweet Tea: , @MissCamera: , and @kenzie: great idea! I’m going to start operating on my current specimens :)
@Andria: No I don’t mind at all! That’s why I’m here :) So far we’re putting 3 mason jars on each table. The large ones are just under $3 a piece and the other ones (quart)were $9.49 for a pack of 12. I don’t know the price of the florals yet but they’ll be a lot cheaper than a florist or grocery store… hope that helps :)

 
10.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Avocado (message)  1,543 posts, Bumble bee

I’m not doing any flowers! Yay! I can’t wait to post about it. If I was, I would do EXACTLY what you are doing though.

 
11.
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Guest
mrslilja

Love it! My budget was almost blown by flower centerpieces until I took the diy mason jar route!! I got it down to $5.75 a table (two mason jars with candles; one wheat sheaf with ribbon) My florist is only doing bouquets and bouts.

 
12.
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Guest
Mason jars: Versatile and on sale! « Crowdsourced Wedding Dress

[...] Miss Espresso is filling mason jars with flowers to use as centerpieces. [...]

 
13.
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Guest
Sugarplum

Where did you find the jars for such a good price?

 
14.
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Bee
Mrs. Espresso (message)  1,310 posts, Bumble bee

We found the smaller ones at Smart & Final and the larger ones I bought at Michael’s… and in increments so I could use the 40% off coupons ;)

 
15.
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Guest
Sugarplum

Busy with the holidays and planning and such.
A belated thank you for your answer. I’m sure your wedding was absolutely lovely! You both sound darling, congratulations!

 
16.
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Member
hikergirl08 (message)  50 posts, Worker bee

any tips for buying flowers at the LA flower market. I am doing the same. did you buy them 1 or days before? thanks!

 
17.
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Bee
Mrs. Espresso (message)  1,310 posts, Bumble bee

@hikergirl08: we bought our flowers 2 days before the wedding and they held up pretty good. I would suggest taking lots of coolers and buckets with water to put all your flowers in for the drive home… and then storing them in a cool place once your home. I did a post about the flowers and money we spent on them here: http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/11/03/wholesale-wedding-flowers/
Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions!

 
18.
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Member
dmgravestx (message)  1 posts, Wannabee

Doing it myself! I went to Cosco and tried to talk to the Floral Manager. She was out, so they gave me her cell number. SCORE! I talked her in to doing it on the side. My entire wedding is going to be less than $500! She’s taking me to the wholesale distributor warehouse on Friday! So excited!!!! Oh, btw she is a contractor. So there is no conflict of interest.

 

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Mrs. Espresso
Mrs. Espresso

Mrs. Espresso, Corona/Big Bear Age and Occupation: 23, Community Services Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Maintenance Technician Engagement Date: December 21, 2007 Wedding Date: October, 2008 Blogging Since: June 25, 2008 Venue: Outside a rustic b&b in Big Bear Lake About Me: I'm a lover of all things good: coffee, music, travel, rain, and of course- my handsome fiance! I'm a full believer in the "Life is Short," mantra - and therefore, eat lots of dark chocolate. I'm a Geographer by degree and nerd by choice. I cook to the sound of French and Portuguese music even though I speak neither. I love road trips, camping, hiking, and capturing life through the lens of my camera. Take me to Anthropologie and I may never leave. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, bargain finds, and old movies. Mr. Espresso and I are high school sweethearts and I am so blessed to be this amazing man's future wife.

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