Wedding Centerpiece DIY

As many of you know, I'm getting married this summer (in 47 days - ahh!), and I've been sharing bits and pieces of my wedding planning along the way! Weekend before last my sister visited for a little DIY Day and we knocked out nearly all of our wedding decorations (with the help of Trey's mom and aunt) in one afternoon. 

I am not at all a crafter!! Seriously...not at all. I don't even remember the last time I tried to DIY or craft something. So, I will readily admit it was pretty insane of me to plan to DIY nearly all of my wedding decor with just over a month to spare. Fortunately, everything has turned out even better than imagined so far (cue the "Hallelujah Chorus"), and it's been a huge weight off of my shoulders (and something big to cross off of my to-do list)!

My wedding colors are lavender/lilac, gray and silver. We'll have a few dark purple accents, but those are my primary colors. I wanted centerpieces that were chic and glamorous, but inexpensive. And these proved to be the perfect fit.

Going into wedding planning, I knew I would be picky about centerpieces, but also knew there wasn't a lot of room in our budget for them. Where centerpieces get pricey are flowers and buying vases, etc., so I knew this was something to avoid. The pictures above show a bigger grouping than what will actually be on each guest table, but I just wanted to show off some of the different things we did.

Step One: Collecting Bottles & Jars

As soon as I came up with this idea back in February or so, I asked several people to start saving wine bottles, mason jars, and other pretty bottles and jars for me. Fortunately, both my dad and I love drinking wine, so this helped speed up the process ;) We needed A LOT of bottles though, so everyone's help was so appreciated. The best part? These supplies were 100% free to me!

Step Two: Supplies

  I ended up using 3-4 different silver spray paints because I wanted there to be a bit of variety. Rust-oleum spray paints are great, and are pretty inexpensive at Lowe's and Wal-mart. Here were my two favorites:

 The one on the left was purchased at Hobby Lobby and was over $8. Despite the slightly heftier price, this one was my favorite and had a slightly translucent, shimmery finish. The one on the right was purchased at Lowe's for $3-something, and had a high-shine almost-chrome look that I loved. All in all I spent about $20 on spray paint.

Other supplies:

Modge Podge - $5-$7

A paint brush (to paint on the Modge Podge) - already owned

Silver glitter (purchased at both Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby) - $6 x 2

Thin painter's tape (to make a straight line for glittering) - already owned

Clear spray lacquer to seal/protect the spray-painted bottles - $3-$4

An extra case of mason jars purchased at Wal-Mart - $9

Total cost for centerpieces = right at $50!

Step Three: DIY Time

We set up a couple of folding tables and covered them with plastic (newspaper would work too - just make sure everything is covered that you want covered). Spray painting is pretty self-explanatory, but just make sure you don't put on too thick of a coat as the paint can run. I learned it was much better to go over a bottle with a light second coat than to worry about trying to perfect it and then over-painting. As for the glittering... It was messy but fabulous! I just love the glamour and drama the glittered bottles and jars added, especially with a tea candle inside. For the jars and bottles that went halfway up with glitter, we used the thin painter's tape to make a straight line, and then painted below with modge podge. I found an empty shoe box to pour glitter over, and this made it easy to pour the excess glitter back into the glitter jar (and to keep it in one place).

What's left?

Our florist will be ordering some loose stems at wholesale to put in some of the bottles. This will probably cost us between $100-$150, but that cost is so much lower than doing floral arrangements or having to buy a bunch of decor items. We will have just 2-3 loose stems per table to stick in the bottles, and then the mason jars will have tea candles inside (I still need to buy those as well).

What do you think?? I'm so incredibly pleased with how these turned out, and can't wait to walk into my reception with everything set up and glowing! 

xo,

Jacy