Wedding Centrepieces?

Hi All. What are your thoughts for wedding reception centrepieces for our wedding next May? Our colour theme is ivory %26amp; fucshia (with Calla Lillies).





My first idea was a nice shallow glass bowl with 3 or 4 floating candles, and also some rose petals floating in the bowl too.





Then I thought it would be cool to have betta fish (or any fish for that matter, as long as they match the colour scheme) in a bowl with some of that "plastic ice" stuff in the bottom of the bowl. The only problem with this is a) what if a fish dies while people are eating? and b) i was planning on giving them to who ever wanted them but it would be difficult for people to take them home.


Then I thought that butterflies in cute little cages might be nice, but then do butterflies go to sleep at night time? what if they die? Could I have any further complications with this idea?





I want something a little more interesting then just candles in a bowl, or a flower underwater.





Any suggestions would be great!

Wedding Centrepieces?
Your idea sounds good, but I'm also thinking the same thing about "what if they die?". Surely that wouldn't look pretty. So I would go with a floating candle, or you can get a short square vase, and put some green rocks at the bottom, with some green grassy looking stems (forgot what they're called), and with a lilli or two in it. That would look awesome. Fake lillies that is so it will stay upright and pretty. :-) There's one idea for you. Hope this helps. The color theme is just beautiful. Best wishes to you and your new hubby! :-)
Reply:I would go with the fish that sounds so cool
Reply:No idea's other than to be careful of the beta fish idea. The live to be 5 years old, so it's a commitment, and they aren't real hardy fish, they don't do well when stressed and need a pretty specific Ph balance.





Caged butterflies just seem mean to me.
Reply:First, beta fish centerpieces have been out for a few years now. What's "in" is lots of soft light (candles) and color. To magnify the light use mirrors underneath the centerpieces. They aren't expensive if you buy them from Hobby Lobby - not in the wedding aisle but the craft aisle. You can buy them in any shape or size. I believe even Wal-Mart carries them.





Use hurricanes in the center of the table or smaller votives in the color you've chosen for your wedding. Use colored glass pebbles or ribbon of the same color. If you don't want to use mirrors with the centerpiece use tuelle the color of your wedding and bunch it up around the candle centerpiece so that it flows sloftly around the candle.





An idea: I did a wedding once where we used angels on the main table with the cake. I bought the statues at Hobby Lobby in the garden department.and painted them soft white tipped in gold. On the main table you don't want everything the same height so I used sturdy boxes painted white and turned upside down and draped them in white tuelle so you couldn't tell they were boxes. 3 different heights on the main table is a good look. Then I placed the angels on each level with votives at the base of each statue.





Just wander through Hobby Lobby. You might find smaller angels or even cupids from Valentine's day.





Go through these pages. I found some really cute heart coasters .


http://www.weddingwows.net/favors.htm





other interesting things here:


http://www.usabride.com/centerpieces/a_u...





The usabride.com site is wonderful. Be sure you read Advice from Real Life Brides


http://www.usabride.com/best_thing/index...
Reply:My sister in law had fish in bowls as her centre piece. They actually found a pet store that "lent" them the fish for a fee and they paid extra for any that died. If you can find somewhere that does this, you wont have to worry about what to do with them after your big day.





The fish were fed beer and mint lollies at some tables and they handled it pretty well!
Reply:I like the fish idea, why not just buy a big aquarium for your house for after the wedding - or maybe you have a niece or nephew you could get an aquarium for? I doubt the fish would die during the meal, have somebody check shortly before the wedding to make sure all the fishies are okay! Please just dont have random ppl take them home, make sure they have somewhere to go!
Reply:We got married in the tropics and had a tropical themed reception back home afterwards. We bought clear glass bowls, little plastic jewels (clear but in all sorts of different colors), seashells and orchids. The shells and jewels we put in the bottom of the bowls and filled them with water. Then we had blue, white and magenta orchids floating on top. It was really pretty and looked great! I would steer clear of the fish and butterflies as it is always possible one could die, which really wouldn't be good!!!
Reply:Fish are cute if somebody will take care of them after ward. Remeber it's a living thing!





...Perhaps hurricanes in your colors?
Reply:I would definitely make sure that the bettas would have good homes before you decide to put them in the centerpieces!!





My first job was working at the local community center, I was a set up person for weddings and events. One day, we went in to clean up and found that dozens of bettas had been left in their bowls in the banquet room overnight.. My boss had us flush them, and I felt terrible!!





Also, if you decide to do bettas don't plant a flower in the top of the vase as many people do, if there are objects blocking off the top of the vase then the bettas don't receive enough oxygen and suffer.





I would nix the butterfly idea, they are expensive and are indeed fragile as others have mentioned. I had wanted to do a butterfly release for my wedding but I couldn't fully justify it, I would never want to harm innocent creatures! :(





Good luck!
Reply:Transformers G1 Devastator statue.
Reply:Don't use fish. No one wants to look at fish poop while the eat and they really don't want to look at a dead fish. Most people will not want to take home a fish and some might be offended by fish as centerpieces.





Butterflies at weddings are considered unhumane, just don't.





Anything that is living could offend your guests if used as a centerpiece.





What about wrapping the favors in bright paper, stacking them on a cake stand and using that as a centerpiece?





You could also do mini cakes for each table and use them as centerpieces.





Or you could get antique looking bird cages and use those as centerpieces (minus the birds).





You could use hot pink and white potted orchids (people will want to take them home).





You could get some white shells and arrange them.





Martha Stewart has a cute idea for arranging flowers in a heart: http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site...





What about a cluster of ivory and fushia candles on a mirror, maybe with some feathers?
Reply:Ok so im not too creative..lol but..ABOUT THE FISH!..they're cute and all..but hunny THEY WILL DIE! its not a what if thing..@ my cuzns wedding..ALL THE FISH HAD DIED..AND IT LOOKED SO HORRIBLE OH MY GOODNESS! AVOID THE FISH ! :)
Reply:Well. Congrats on getting married. Hope you guys are happy together, I really like fish idea. As long as you dont go and buy them from walmart... frfom a reputable store.. they should make it through the night. Though I love the idea, and think It would be something people would talk about for a long long time... heres another idea. Take Cake plates with intresting glass on the bottom, such as interesting texture and put candles on top.. Though not very unique, I think it is elegeant and pretty. I also really really like the butterflies. I think as long as you get them that day, and it is not like super hot or cold in their you should be fine.. and if it dies.... people will have memories. lol but again great Ideas!! and I love the color scheme
Reply:my friend did the beta fish thing. It was cute! At first I thought it was cruel, but it wasn't any crueler than seeing them in little plastic cups in the Wal-mart aisle.





I think the floating candles in bowls would be very pretty. You could set the bowls on a mirror that would reflect the light and water. The petals could be spread on the table around the bowl. Very romantic...
Reply:Just a few thoughts I have on these ideas.


1. (it may be just me) I cant eat when something is staring at me(goldfish) especially if fish is on the menu





2. If you go with using the "plastic ice" make sure you wash these well first because there is something on them that kills the fish.





3. You can put perfectly healthy looking fish in the bowls but you cant guarantee they wont die (also if you have kids coming you cant be sure they wont feed them something and kill them) --we are having kids in and at our wedding/reception so i am not saying dont have kids





4. same goes with butterflies. they are really fragile and you have to make sure they dont get to hot, too cold etc..





Here is an idea for you.





get one of those big wine glasses (martini glass-$9.97 @micheals) put a flower arrangement that fits in it and add the glass rocks in (no water) I will try to find a picture of what I'm talking about. Micheals had them on display and they looked really pretty.








Added Info: ok cant find what I'm looking for but came across this website that has lots of ideas;


http://boards.weddingbells.ca/showflat.p...
Reply:Candles go out, fish die, people might even get offended by having live animals used as decoration. Find a great florist that will make something interesting and save yourself the stress of the variable situations that will happen during your wedding. I actually used herbs instead of flowers, so there was a nice wafting smell through the entire night. Maybe calla lilies and lavender or lilacs? Or another fragrant fuschia flower?
Reply:The fish are a novel idea but I tend to agree with those that say they could offend some people. And as for the fish getting fed beer %26amp; mint lollies ~ yes, some people WILL go that far!!





My girlfriend had beautiful floral centrepieces made up with lovely little dedication %26amp; thank you notes attached to each one so that a particular guest got to take the centrepiece home.





Other than that, floating candles in small bowls but nothing too high as they will get in the way.





Good luck!
Reply:betas are easy to care for.


you just need to change their water and feed them.





you can even get flat glass marbles to fill the bottom with.





they are hearty fish and won't die during the ceremony.
Reply:I did the beta fish and people went crazy for them. I planted a peace lily in the top of the bowl, and put natural stones in the bottom. I had little scrolls with care instuctions and little baggies of fish food for people to take with the fish.





Beta fish are very hearty and do not die easily like a gold fish. But you cannot float a candle on top of the water; that will kill the fish.