Centerpieces, Take 52

Last weekend when I was up in St. Louis, Ryan really wanted to do a centerpiece mock-up. Here are the past posts on our centerpiece saga.

Here's the closest picture I could find for what Ryan was going for:

Source

He had the idea to use carnations, because they're cheap and they actually look pretty cool tightly packed. So, we headed off to Dierburg's and picked up 6 carnations. They didn't have red, so we went with pink!


While I stripped the flowers of their leaves, Ryan headed out to the back yard to spray paint a branch white.



Mad spray painting skills!

After the branches were dry, Ryan and I started to arrange them into one of our milk glass vases. Earlier in the day, way make a stop by Joanne's a picked up half yard of this aqua material to make table overlays with. We cut it to the size we wanted it and stuck it under the vase.

The beads on the overlay are from Ryan's sister's wedding a few years ago.

And here's the finished product!

It won't block any guests from each other, which is a good thing! That's Ryan's parent's cat Casey, by the way. He's really nice but I'm allergic :(.


And here is it with some candles we got at Michael's...with the 40% off coupon, they cost $5.14/dozen.

I am thrilled with the results. I think they are really modern and cool, and very different. But Ryan and I can't agree on if we need the beads sprinkled on the overlay or not! What do you all think? I am also thrilled that I have an involved groom...because I was 100% tapped out on ideas for this! He definitely saved the day.

Ryan wrote a guest post about the centerpieces, so here he is. Keep in mind that he is incredibly sarcastic!

"So Stacy asked me to write a section in this post as a “guest blogger.” I guess since the centerpiece was my design, I can oblige and write a little bit. I have heard many people talk about how I just need to sit back and let Stacy do all the planning and decision make all on her own. However, I am not the type of person who is able to sit back and keep my opinions to myself. This includes EVERYTHING in the wedding planning process. I am glad she lets me have an opinion, I think it will make it much more enjoyable for both of us and I actually want to be involved. I know this sometimes drives Stacy crazy, but I like to think that most of the time I actually help matters and make her life easier. God knows I am better with rational thinking, numbers, money, and keeping calm…….while she is busy freaking out, I am busy being a baller." (quick note...see what I told you about the sarcasm? He lays it on thick ladies! Back to Ryan) "It works nicely for us. So when she started trying to design the centerpiece, I let her run with her ideas and gave her my opinions and ideas on how to better the original pieces. To me much of the design is an elaborate process, not a single trial (Stacy would rather have immediate satisfaction. Except the whole while I was devising what I thought to be a symmetrical, architecturally sound centerpiece." (Another quick note...who does that. Seriously, an architecturally sound centerpiece? What can I say, he considered architecture school....) "Some might say I am too practical and calculated, however, in this instance I knew I had a good idea. Stacy was actually a bit hesitant and was fairly sure she was not going to like my idea for a while. Reluctantly she said we could try it, and low and behold it was, as far as we are concerned, a masterpiece. I’m a regular Martha F-ing Stewart over here! I am thinking about quitting my career and becoming hellaz full time wedding-centerpiece designer extraordinaire. All in all it was a great experience developing this with Stacy and I am glad it worked out because it is one more thing off our plate and we are both (I think) very happy with the way it turned out.

P.S. - I welcome all comments that tell me how awesome I am. "

So, ladies and gentlemen, that is how we ended up with our centerpieces! Ryan has reminded me numerous times now that he is "Martha F-ing Stewart"....and it's only Tuesday.

Anyway, in terms of cost, these will be cheap. The vases we're getting for $1.50 or less, and we already have about 28. We're planning for 36 tables, so we're almost there! The branches will be free, spray paint to cover them is cheap and the carnations are $0.50/stem from Costco if you order online. We're buying the fabric for the overlay with coupons, so it will be cheap as well.

So what you do you all think? Beads or not beads? Any other thoughts? Comments on how awesome Ryan is (hehehehe, there's his sarcasm again!)?