Weddingbee Blog

I attended 7 weddings last year. Prior to last year, I was gaga over weddings. I would get bridal magazines in the airport on business trips so no one would know. I would chat with Ewe Mom and rip out ads to save in a folder she kept. It was clandestine, pre-ring wedding planning. More on this topic later, but for now, just know that I loved long tables since I was clandestine wedding planning. Also know that I have yet to be at a reception featuring any other table shape than round.

These are the reasons why I fell in love with long tables:

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So I know that I love the long tables, but how do you execute them without going to the poor farm??? That, my dear Watson, is precisely the question. Of course, towering candelabras and to-the-ceiling flowers would be exquisite.

Side note: Where in the world are there venues that let you have open flames? Because, seriously, every venue that we looked into had a hurricane policy where you had to cover up your lovely tapers with glass. End side note.

However, the costs associated with these gigantic statements would be a glass too tall for me to drink.

I could care less about real flowers, which is going to save me a lot of dough on the bouquets and bouts. My penny-pinching-self loved this idea so much that I decided I didn’t want or need real flowers on the tables, either.

Instead, Miss Lamb Planner (my coordinator) and I are working on a tablescape that includes lots of candles and cake. Yes! lots of cake! Now that’s my kind of centerpiece.

The working idea, at the moment, is to feature small cakes on the tables as centerpieces. Something along the lines of this:

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Before buying a lot of cake stands, I wanted to experiment making my own with candlesticks and plates. I had seen these around other places like Etsy and could see them working out. I went to the thrift store and picked up 6 pressed glass candlesticks for $5.23 (yay!).

For your viewing pleasure, I did a mock arrangement on my short table:

I just lined these bad boys up, and then added my clear everyday dishes.

The idea is to buy some pressed glass plates/platters from thrift stores to use at the tops. I haven’t figured out yet if I should glue them together, or just balance them so that you can easily remove them to cut the cake and make them easier to transport in general. Can you imagine these a little further apart with lots of candles? Oh, the sparkle!

I’m liking where this is going. I have another element that I want to introduce to the tables for even more height! I’m starting to feel a little Sandra Lee coming on - I just love me some tablescapes.

Have you thought about having tables in shapes other than round? What ways have you considered decorating your tables outside of the flower realm?