Weddingbee Blog

Included in our rental fee for our venue is a plethora of tables, both rectangular and circular. When I discovered this I immediately knew I wanted to do long banquet-type tables. But I don’t like the word banquet, so I’m just going to stick with referring to them as long tables. 

Image via The Blogworthy Bride / Photo by Mark Brook Photography & Joy de Vivre

Our venue is more rectangular in shape and kind of narrow, so the long tables fit the flow of the building better. Using all 15 long tables, it provides seating for right around 130 people. Depending on where our final guest count comes in, we have the space and option to add a few round tables as well. I can be obsessive about things, and in my head I don’t see round tables—I only see long tables…but a back-up plan is always good, right? Our venue was very affordable; affordable is good, but because it was affordable the tables and chairs are very generic. Read: no Chiavari chairs for Miss Honey. As much as I’d like to whine about this reality, there’s just no other option, so I’ve accepted it and moved on.

Fortunately, it’s easy to make generic tables look good; chairs, not so much, but we are talking tables. I didn’t really know what I wanted for table coverings until I found it. And what I want are white linens and burlap runners. Mama Honey was having a very hard time envisioning this combination, and so I bombarded her email with loads of inspiration pictures to prove that it’s the perfect touch of rustic, creating a pretty tablescape.

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Carrie Patterson

Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / Photo by Leigh Miller Photography

Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Two Pair Photography

When I went for my first dress fitting a while back, Mama Honey and I hit up the Joann Fabric store and bought a whole package of burlap (I’m not a sewer, so my terminology is just short of thimble) for $50, thanks to a 20%-off coupon. I have left this project to my mom, but I’m making this very easy on her because we are leaving the edges unfinished, so all she has to do is cut the runners to fit the tables. Sure, it’s easy for her, but I would still somehow manage to cut the burlap into triangles or something. Seriously, my lack of skill around fabric is frightening.

I’m confident in my choice of what will cover the tables, but what I’m struggling with is the centerpieces. I want something simple. I think I need to add a little splash of color; that last picture above really makes me smile. We aren’t doing assigned seating so I can’t go that route. Our floral budget is next to nothing, so our centerpieces won’t be focused around florals, either. I absolutely love the look of these candle holders and matching candles:

Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

I just don’t know if this is the most functional centerpiece. Wax dripping on burlap and white linen? Not so pretty. I also think that really high centerpieces can be conversation killers. I’m sure we have all swooned over these to-die-for flowers by EmersonMade:

Image via ElementsOfStyle / Photo from EmersonMade

But, let’s be honest, there is no way in hell I’m going to bust out that many perfect, pretty paper flowers. What do they say, no need to reinvent the wheel? That took me to what I’ve already got stock piled: I’ve acquired, by accident, quite the collection of Mason jars, which I love, but I feel like the tables need a statement. The Mason jars are pretty standard; some were actually used for a friend’s wedding so were handed down already wrapped in twine. That’s what threw me off, the Mason jars with twine on burlap. Too much rustic, not enough whimsy. Sometimes I swear blogging has superpowers. As I wrote this last paragraph, wishing for a cure for my lack of whimsy, this image fell from the wedding heavens also known as Pinterest:

Image via TheGlitterGuide

Glitter-covered jars. I’m dying over these! This is such a new discovery that Mama Honey doesn’t even know such a purty picture is sitting in her inbox yet. I think I may have just figured out my perfect balance between rustic and whimsy: a few twine jars here and few glitter jars there, sitting on a runner of burlap with the soft glow of tea light candles. And I think this weekend will be perfect to test out my vision.

Have you had any “blogging is a superpower” moments? How are your centerpieces coming together? Anyone else like me and have the majority all figured out, but just missing that one piece?