Wedding Blog
Forgive me. I’ve strayed from wedding planning for a bit because I made the mistake of reading the first chapter of the book Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. This book isn’t for your average rocket scientist, but talk about a guilty pleasure! For the next few days, I was so engrossed in the book and anything Vampire related, that I forgot I was getting married. Planning halted to an erupt stop and even my conversations with Mr. Martini changed.
Mr. Martini: I love you!
Me: I guess you’re okay, for a human.
There are three more books after Twilight, and although a friend (who has also read the books) suggested that I postpone wedding planning for another week to finish off the series, I realize how dangerous it would be to do that, and decided I’m better off not going anywhere near the rest of those books until after the wedding. Luckily, Mr. Martini humored my Vampire obsession and patiently waited for me to snap back into reality. In fact, he welcomed it because I was no longer stressing about wedding things that needed to be done.
Now that I’m back to my normal, stressful self, I have a new challenge – flowers. Mr. Martini and I are meeting with a florist today, and as involved Mr. Martini has been with the whole wedding process, it has been pretty much understood that flowers will be my task to take on alone. He is only coming with me for moral support, and also to make sure that I don’t sign with a florist who is about three times our budget. 
We long ago decided we would not be spending a lot of money on flowers. As gorgeous some of those centerpieces can be, we thought that the money would be better spent on entertainment and other things. So early on, I decided that I wanted to go with the classic submerged-flower-in-a-tall-vase-with-tons-and-tons-of-candles look for the centerpieces, for a few reasons:
1. It is simple, but pretty.
2. It is more cost efficient, depending on what flower you use.
3. Korean parents (who are notorious for running away with the centerpieces before the wedding is over) will find it a challenge to steal large cylinder vases filled to the brim with water, and the thought of watching them try anyway makes me laugh.
When I saw the below centerpieces from this site I squealed, because this was exactly what I was picturing in my head:
I described this to the florist on the phone, and she quoted me an average 75 dollars per table. Eeek! Still a little too expensive. What if I bought my own vases? I asked. She gets the vases for 15 dollars each. The last time I checked, Michaels sold them for about 20 dollars each. So, the cost was in the type of flower. I started looking for alternatives and came across this picture:
I thought the tulips looked adorable, and I didn’t think it would be hard to find purple tulips to match our wedding colors. At least I know that it doesn’t have to be an orchid. All of a sudden, the possibilities were endless!
Earlier today, a friend sent me a list of a few purple colored flowers. I’ve never even heard of some of these, so I googled them immediately. I liked these the best:
I also adored Mrs Lemon’s amazing DIY candle centerpieces and even considered going without flowers altogether, especially when I saw how genius a little food coloring can be:
I am looking forward to today’s meeting with the florist because I would like to hear her suggestions on lower cost alternatives for the centerpeices, and from there decide which direction to go. I also have no clue what I want in terms of the bouquet, so it will be nice to speak to someone who has the experience to suggest a perfect fit for me. To be honest I don’t have much of a preference - as long as it looks nice, I will be happy. Wish me luck!
How are you saving money when it comes to your centerpieces?
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Share this post: Centerpiece Brainstorming
ooo i love the submerged flowers they are so pretty. the candles will look lovely reflecting off all the glass and water
I read all 4 books in one weekend of guilty pleasure! It was such a good break from wedding planning!
my boss’ wife gave me the book as a christmas present, and i reluctantly started reading it (just to really tell him i’d read it, and not make him feel bad for what was in his opinion a lousy gift), and I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. I literally stayed up til 3am, 4am, etc. just to finish it. It was SUCH the guilty pleasure. I’ve read the series a while back (with the exception of the last book), so now I’ve moved on to True Blood (not as good as Twilight - it’s more violent, I think - but the similarities are there). It’s actually strikingly similar to Twilight, which annoys me a bit, but I eat it up all the same. Thankfully my wedding planning was in between my finishing the first three books and the premiere of True Blood, so I’m glad for that!
Yeahhhhh, I bought the first 2 books of Twilight to read on the honeymoon on Tuesday 3 weeks before the wedding. By Thursday I’d read them both and by Tuesday of the next week I’d plowed through all four. Whoops! So much for honeymoon reading!!
I also am making my own centerpieces because they are outrageous in price if you go to a florist. I am using tall clear vases as you are, but I am using curly willow with colored glass to hold it inside the vase and will hang crytals from the willow. I will also be using candlelight around the vase. Candlelight can transform ANYTHING!!!!
that sounds like a great honeymoon guilty pleasure. altho you may end up ignoring mr martini and reading instead! 
I am totally hooked on the Twilight series also! My friend mailed me the first book, because I said I wasn’t interested, but now I’m super into it! It’s great! I don’t think I could wait until the honeymoon to finish the series!
haha, I just borrowed Twilight from my 17 year old sister but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet! Looks like I better wait til I have some free time!
Ummmmmm I LOVE Twilight! I even got my fiance to read them and he loved them too. I live in Seattle, WA so in the morning when the weatherman is telling me that it is 75 degrees and sunny in Forks I like to text the fiance and tell him that Edward is camping today. haha yes Forks is a real place and my friends and I plan on driving over there to see the movie in December.
I was going to make a comment about the flowers but now I feel compelled to run to Borders and pick up the Twilight series! Haha, but we’re acutally ordering our flowers wholesale online and arranging them ourselves. We’ve been collecting silver tea pots/coffee pots/pitchers and putting the flowers (red roses and blue hydrangeas). And by doing it ourselves we’re saving a bundle…oh ps I’m also a Jersey bride so yay for Jersey!
i’m still boycotting that book. i refuse to read it… although i’m sure one day i’ll probably give in and read the whole thing… like harry potter. oh my god, i love harry potter.
Haha, you funny. Those colored water centerpieces are very fresh looking! I was picturing a blue and yellow combo, perhaps for a future picnic, but then realized it would look like pee.
Ahhhh, I loooove Twilight! Real men are no longer the same to me! Unfortunately I didn’t really like the last book in the series, but then I read The Host, which is another Stephenie Meyer book and she redeemed herself there for me
I love the submerged flowers for centerpieces. I’m sure you could DIY for cheaper too, even if you spend a little more on the vases themselves.
Do let me know what you and your florist come up with! We’re doing purple too, so I am in desperate need of ideas.
I just started to read the twilight series too! I’m on number 2 and i love it!
The second pic u have is my inspiration too! I love the whole flower submerged in water decor!
I am doing purple as well and my florist suggested sugmerged hydrandeas and quoted us at $25 per table with a 6 in vase that is shorter with floating candles. Since we are have 40ish some tables I was thinking there was no way I could have flowers at the tables but now I am. But look into hydrangeas.
I’m picturing korean parents trying to steal water filled centerpieces in my head…HILARIOUS!! I love your choice of flowers. Orchids are beautiful, but so expensive…and I think I like your choices even better than orchids. Good luck with the florist! Can’t wait to hear what you choose.
If you leave plenty of space in your suitcase, you could always read the books on your honeymoon!
Flowers is one part of the budget that will be minimal. I will have some flowers that I love, but no huge centerpieces at the tables. I love the idea of bud vases with candles, or one large flower floating in a bowl.
Purple was one of my main colours (along with blue). We had centerpieces with hydrangeas, stock, cornflower, freshia. Some of those may work…
We’re doing the whole submerged orchid in tall vase thing too. So simple and pretty! Bought the vase from the local Flower District ($7 for 20″x4″, $11 for 20″x6″ and $5.50 for 12″x5″). They had a ton of vase choices for $10 or under. The orchids were $15/stem for cymbidiums and $6/bunch for the smaller dendrobiums. Our centerpieces will come out to about $20/table including vases, flowers and candles. I never thought about using tulips but they look great!
The first picture you have of all of the glasses with the plumeria (? i think) flowers has a cheaper alternative online. If you google “ikea hacker centerpiece” you will find a woman who used the exact same concept. Instead of buying expensive vases, she went to Ikea and used large drinking glasses filled with water with floating candles. Then she sprinkled the table with plumeria to add some color. Her centerpieces came to be like $25 a piece! The best part is after you are done you can stock you kitchen with new glasses. I hope this helps.
I suggested the same exact submerged flower idea to our florist, thinking it would cut on cost, but I was quoted the same or higher for these than for regular full centerpieces! Our florist explained that because these are more labor intensive they would have to charge more, plus the additional cost of each small vase ultimately ends up costing more than one vase per table. Crazy, no? I would so totally do this if we were doing our own flowers though!
I love the idea of the food coloring candlholders. Talk about unique and cheap!
I about died laughing when I saw you were reading Twilight. I picked up the first book when I was at the bookstore the week that the last book was supposed to come out. They were making such a big deal about it, I got curious. I ended up reading the entire series that week (one book a day) and went to buy the last one on midnight the day it came out. I finished it before I had to go to work that Saturday! Needless to say, I am hitting up the movie with a coworker when it comes out!
i was looking at the same options you are because flowers for every table will be so expensive! i’m having a hard time though especially if she quoted 75! i might as well use flowers! the search continues…
I love Stephanie Meyer and I LOVE the candles + colored water…
I had people take the centerpieces 12 yo when I got married (I’m single now & been for 5 yrs, and getting engaged very soon..) and they were BIIIG
I about flipped out when I saw some of my cousins walking out of the hotel ballroom with them in their hands.. .what in the world???
If I wanted them to take the centerpieces, I’d have asked them to. Very poor taste imho.
But if it’s a normal custom in another country then cool. But carrying out a heavy water filled cylinder might be a bit hard. (giggle).
Btw, the ambiance of the colored water with the candle was amazing! You’re so right..nothing that a little candlelight can’t fix!
I love the idea of submurged flowers + candles. Ever thought of putting a mirrored base below the arrangement? Might reflect even more light! Freesia is also a lovely light purple-ish color btw. I’d also look for a flower with maybe a whitish or pink color and a purple throat to it for some added drama.
We are doing potted plants and I might grow some wheat grass for centerpieces. I know that doing potted plants is CHEEEAP and will go great with my garden theme wedding. Keeping my fingers crossed on the wheatgrass but I have about 8 months to experiment with my growing skills.
Speaking of twilight… i really am curious [if they do all of the series into movies] how the wedding will turn out. 
now there is a style i would like to emulate!
Im saving a ton doing candles only!
Another purple bride here so thanks for the suggestions! I’d love to know which florist you interviewed too…thanks!
Has anyone tried submerging silk flowers or some other form of fake flowers? Maybe it’ll still look real and it’s gotta be cheaper.
I just finished “Twilight” this weekend! Moving on to “New Moon” now.
I loved the first book…but I was very dissapointed with the final one!! Guilty pleasure alright…it was ridiculous!
Submerged flowers are awesome!
Our centerpieces will be a combination of votive candles in these adorable stemmed votive holders we got from yankee candle at 25% off, some river rocks to go along with our mountain wedding theme, and, my favorite part, all of the bouquets (bridesmaids & mine) will be doing double duty as centerpieces for each of the tables. We bought the vases they will be set in at a thrift store for all of $2 each (and yes, they all match). I love this idea because I’ve found myself wondering what the heck to do with my BM bouquet after the ceremony - for my MOH’s wedding, it ended up being thrown back in the fridge where it came from.
i have the first book, but i haven’t gotten past the first chapter yet. *gasp* i know. i’ve been so busy with work and wedding that there’s not time for it??? we’re gonna hit that “waiting period” of wedding planning in a bit, so hopefully then i can read it.
flowers submersed in water are so simple and chic! we’re gonna do fruit submersed in water!
Miss Martini, I have loved reading your wedding planning adventures, but I have to say, I cringed when I read this entry. Not because of Twillight (I am running out to buy the books today, I can’t wait any longer!!), but because of the astronomical price that your florist may charge you. You are being robbed! There are so many sites out there that offer vases for submerging flowers at such a lower cost than $15-$20. Try googling them, or visiting: jamaligarden.com, save-on-crafts.com, or accentdecor.com. Ikea is also fantastic! I did all the flowers for my wedding myself, and found gorgeous Mercury glass vases at Jamali Garden, and only paid about $7 a vase. Also, silk flowers hold up pretty well in water, as long as they are not sitting like that for days….
I hope this helps, and I cannot wait to hear more about your new meeting with the florist!
I’m glad you posted about the Twilight trilogy. I did the EXACT same thing . I started reading and read the first two with only a month to go before the wedding. I felt bad not doing the wedding stuff, but it was great to not be thinking about it and instead be reading those terribly guilty pleasure books.
I tried not to buy the third, but I just did with only 12 days to the wedding!
We’re doing a large vase w/ curly willow on 13 tables and then 3 vases of varying sizes w/ candles in them on the other 13 tables. I bought all of the vases myself b/c I too was trying to avoid the expense of floral centerpieces and luckily I get a discount where I work, so I was able to get half of the vases there and they are great quality.
I know someone mentioned this above, but I am planning on doing latex orchids, they look better than silk and will hold up in water. The latex looks amazing and they are more expensive but WAY less than $75 per arrangement!!
Since they are in water no one will notice…unless they stick their hands in the vase….
@toots:
Please read Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire novels!! They are the books on which “True Blood” is based, and maybe I’m a bit biased, but I think they’re WAY better than the TV show.
Anyway…
Love the centerpiece idea!
You will soon see my friend……:P B/c of you btw I too am becoming engrossed in True Blood…thanx a lot buddy…and with only 17 more days to go!!!!!!!
Our wedding was in late November last year so we were limited with the purple flower options (that werent ridiculous in price!). Our florist suggested using a flower called stock which is usually a filler flower and comes in many shades of purple. The best part was the price! I used lilac, violet, and raspberry in my bouquet and loved it.
i tried to PM you with this link to make sure that you got it, but i’m not sure how to do it! my FSIL used the tall cylinders for her wedding centerpieces and we found this website: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/cylindervases.html. They are WAY cheaper than $20 a pop - more like $2 or $3! Hope this helps!
[...] be honest, I wasn’t too happy with my appointment with the florist. It actually wasn’t her fault, it was mine – I was unprepared for the meeting and really [...]
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Mrs. Martini, New Jersey
Age and Occupation: 30, Telecom by day, Superhero by night
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Investments & Finance by day, Hip hop dancer by night
Engagement Date: May 24, 2008
Wedding Date: March, 2009
Blogging Since: August 18, 2008
Venue: The Venetian
About Me: Things that make me happy: Haribo Happy Cola gummies, TV shows on DVD, buying books although I never read them, 80’s rock ballads, ramen, and of course Mr. Martini! He is the calm, logical and number crunching finance guy. I can’t even multiply double digit numbers in my head and I am so indecisive that trying to choose between light green or slightly lighter green paper stresses me out (Wedding planning is going to be soooo much fun). We both find great joy in nabbing great seats at the movie theater for a blockbuster movie on opening weekend, and we are both absolutely crazy about snowboarding. And he loves to cook, I love to eat!
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