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In case you don’t know, I am a hot tea fiend. As in I drink four to five cups a day. Well, the way I jones for a cup of tea is the same way Mr. Meerkat feels about his coffee. We get up in the morning, we make a cup of coffee and tea. We finish dinner, we make more coffee and tea. Before we even start a movie we make coffee and tea. Our coffee and tea addiction is so prominent that it was even mentioned during our wedding ceremony.
So as I am going Google search crazy trying to find cost effective ideas for our decor, a thread on our very own Weddingbee boards pops up with this image (thanks to mamasita2004).
Oh yea my friends, those are coffee beans. The root of Mr. Meerkat’s addiction. So of course this image sent me out to do a Google image search for coffee bean centerpieces and did I ever strike inspiration gold.
But I found one example that stood out above all the rest.
Serious swooning is going on over here. The lovely blogger who made these even did a price breakdown and each table only cost her $18 (minus the coffee beans which she got as a gift).
My only worry now is how to find some cheap, bulk coffee beans because let me tell you—now that I have this idea I am totally going to play up the coffee beans everywhere. What do you think? Cost effective and classy or completely lame?
LOVE it! My husband and I love coffee and he especially loves the smell of coffee!
Coffee beans can be VERY expensive. Even generic brands. The cheapest I have found thus far is in bulk at Sams Club/BJs. How about bulk restaurant supply stores???
Hey! How about putting the ends of the branches in a plastic sleeve of sorts so that the branches do not contaminate the beans in the vases. Then setting little brown bags (think coffee bean self ground aisle) at each seat and the beans can serve dual purpose as favors??? That will help offset the cost of the coffee beans!
http://www.creativegiftpackaging.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=S77249
Ooooh, I like it! I love the beans with the branches. I have also seen coffee beans done in a low box for the escort cards. Sorry, I can’t find a pic right now.
And, this wedding did little jars of coffee beans as favors! http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/10/16/traditional-wedding-by-erin-heart%e2%80%99s-court-ii/
The possibilities are endless 
Dang it! I forgot to say. What if the bags are actually your escort cards instead of putting them at the table?
Do you have favors/escort cards all figured out already?
I am also using coffee beans as part of our decor. My centerpieces will be a metal lantern filled with coffee beans and a candle inside. I also ran across the fisrt pic you posted and that’s what started my coffee bean obsession!
LOVE! If you wanted to do little favors, too, you could do chocolate covered coffee beans! 
(Though maybe I’m biased cause I could eat a truckload in a sitting, they’re just so addictive!)
That’s a great idea! I love that you’re thinking of adding personal touches into the wedding with your drink loves. Check out Mrs. Sewing’s (I think it was her…) posts…she and her hubby added tea to their wedding in various ways. Maybe you could do coffee decorations and tea favors!
Oh wow… I’m picturing how awesome your reception is going to smell with all of those coffee beans everywhere!
Oh I loveeee the last set of photos you posted! Its such a pretty centerpiece, lol but I was totally expecting a tea-bag to be hanging in the branches somewhere. Then it would be perfect for you guys!
Great idea! That last photos is gorgeous!
My only concern is the smell? Coffee centerpieces might overwhelm the room with coffee smell, and while a lot of people love the smell of coffee, it actually makes me nauseous and gives me a headache.
Just a thought! 
They look really pretty, but I hope all your guests like the smell of coffee. My husband can’t stand it - walking into Starbucks or even down the coffee aisle in the grocery store is torture for him.
I love this idea! If you’re concerned about the possibility of the smell overwhelming your guests, you could always use the beans a little more sparingly as accents or search online for fake coffee beans. Sounds crazy, but might work!
Love the coffee inspiration shots! Hopefully you can find some cheap bulk coffee.
I love it!! If I didn’t already have my centerpieces, this is what I’d be doing!
We’re doing coffee for our centerpieces too! We’re going to lay out the beans on trays a few days beforehand so it’s not OMG COFFEE SMELL. Here’s our mock-up (ignore the stuff in the background):
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/8898/cp1p.png
I think it’s a great idea! Plus, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t LOVE the smell of coffee. The coffee aisle at the grocery store is my favorite one to pass by!!
I couldn’t find the post, but I know one of the ‘bees was just talking about paper flowers, and one of their inspiration images was a bunch of paper daisies in a french press “vase”. It looked gorgeous and would be a subtle way to bring in coffee “flavor” without the smell!
(Here’s the image from another blog: http://www.trendsettingwedding.com/2009/04/inspiration-of-the-week-unique-centerpieces.html)
I love this idea, Meerkat! It’s usually the ground/brewed coffee that smells the strongest to me, and I bet if you leave the coffee beans out in the open for a while they’ll lose quite a bit of their fragrance. Plus, these will be outdoors (?), so that will dilute the smell even more.
I have to agree with the smell. I did a large centerpiece with coffee beans and candles for a dinner party, and was asked by a guest if I could move it to another room, as they were nauseated by the smell. I was so embarrassed that I didn’t consider how pungent coffee beans are, and I had it set out for a week before! The scent never dissipated, so maybe fake ones is a better idea.
I am in love with this idea. FI and I had our first date at this awesome indie coffee shop and we go back every year for our anniversary. I never thought of incorporating coffee beans into the decor!!
Good call on the smell though Rainbow, that’s deff something to think about.
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Mrs. Meerkat, Kalamazoo, MI/Riviera Maya Age and Occupation: 30, Application Engineer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, IT Consultant Engagement Date: July 26, 2008 Wedding Date: December 2010 Venue: Al Cielo / La Laguna About Me: I’m a tech-savvy tomboy with an affinity for hot tea and good sushi. Us Meerkats are just a couple fun lovin’ geeks from Michigan. We love anything having to do with movies, books, video games or technology and we hold a special place in our hearts for our two very spoiled shih-tzus, Wicket and Bravo. We also LOVE to travel. We love it so much it only took us 12 hours after we got engaged to decide to have a destination wedding. We are working our little Meerkat tails off planning a rustic-chic, travel themed destination wedding in the Riviera Maya with a semi-formal, vintage-turned-modern, outdoor at home reception back here in Michigan.
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