Sunday 9 December 2012

Centre pieces continued - keeping it cheap

OK so once you have picked your centrepiece of choice or maybe even before you have finalised your idea, you will be thinking about costs.

Depending on the amount of guests you have coming and therefore how many tables you will have will depend on the amount of centrepieces you will need. I had five tables and a top table. I opted for round tables so I needed one per table, and then the top table was rectangular and we had 3 centrepieces on that. So in total I needed 8. If you have the budget to be able to afford to pay someone to do it for you then why not? It's that little bit less hassle for you nearer the time.

However, I decided that although I probably could have paid someone else to put together a centrepiece for me, I would instead save myself some money and do it myself. E-bay was my friend! I bought 10 goldfish bowls for £29.99, I bought a 4kg bucket of pebbles for £6.99, although if you wanted to be cheaper again you could always go to your nearest beach and collect the pebbles yourself. The Red and Ivory butterfly confetti was £6.00 for three bags which decorated all the tables, top table, cake table & guestbook table. The mirror plates & tealights were thrown in by the hotel for free (don't be afraid to ask for freebies, it will save you a fortune!) and the LED lights were £5.99 for 6. I bought 4 packs to do all my tables. I could have done it cheaper with floating candles, but didn't want to risk it!

So how else can you do it cheaper yourself?


  • Pebbles, shells or stones: To save time buy them cheap on ebay or from a gardening supply store. To save money further, go to the beach for the day and collect them youself.
  • Confetti: Save time & money purchasing them on ebay or at a craft store. If you are already rather arty, then purchase a paper cutter and some coloured card and then make it yourself.
  • Bowls or Vases: Cheaper to buy online or from a wholesalers. But if you don't mind having mismatched vases or bowls then get raiding your cupboards and family/friends cupboards and borrow them instead.
  • Instead of paying a company to make sweet trees or buckets, purchase some oasis from a florist or wholesaler, go on ebay, amazon or to a wholesaler for cheaper sweets and then make your own. Chocolate lollies or covered strawberries will be cheaper to make your self. 
  • Personalised sweets are very cute, albeit a little over the top. But the price tag that comes with them can be 2 or 3 times that of non personalised items. Save yourself the money, and either make your own personalised labels, or forgo the personalisation.

If you can do it yourself in advance and it will save you money then go for it. Find out in advance from your venue how much they are willing to do for you. If you have to go there the morning of the wedding and do it yourself then you need items you can put together well in advance and give to a trusted person to take down and set up. If they are willing to assemble some of it for you then give them your specific instructions and save money with purchasing as much of the stuff yourself as you can. If it needs a bit more putting together on the day, it won't matter so much as the venue can help. 

TOP TIP: Don't be worried about spending £30 on glass bowls or vases etc if you can't get them off other people. Keep the packaging it comes in and after your big day give it a wash and sell it back on to make back some of your money. Anything you can't sell on, such as confetti, don't spend more than £10 on. You don't want to spend money on things you can't sell on and have no use for yourself.

That's my tips for keeping it cheap - ebay, DIY & getting the facts from your venue. Know where you stand before you purchase anything!

Thanks for reading :) x

No comments:

Post a Comment