Tips & Tricks - Submerged Centerpieces

Hello everyone! Recently, I realized that it has been about a month since I posted so I had to update this little ol' blog of mine. Phew - it is hard to be a wife, mom and small business entrepreneur; so thank you all for your patience and understanding!

Today I want to share some tricks of the trade. After all, not everyone can afford to have a florist do their centerpieces. The easiest way to have a centerpiece look expensive is by doing a submerged floral arrangement. They don't use a lot of flowers and the beauty of the ones you do use is magnified by the water. I had a client that needed to stretch her floral budget. Since I've done wedding centerpieces before, I offered to do them for her. Now, I'm sharing my knowledge with you! :)

Of course, I prefer that centerpieces be done by a florist because it makes my job a million times easier and, quite frankly, they do a better job. That being said, if you are absolutely unable to budget for centerpieces done by a professional  florist then DIY submerged centerpieces are the way to go.

Start out by purchasing cylinder vases from a garage sale or the dollar store. Then choose glass beads that coordinate with your color scheme. Next, order hardy flowers with full blooms. Great flowers for submerged centerpieces are Roses, Dendrobium Orchids, Spider Mums, and Gerber Daisies. I like to use wholesalers like Sam's Club or  Bunches Direct.

Make sure that you cut your flowers so that they are an inch or two below the top of the vase. You must fill the vase with the glass beads first, then place the flower. This is so they are centered.

Also, there is a trick to getting the flowers to stay in place under water. (Otherwise they will float to the top even if they are surrounded by rocks.) You must use fish weights! You can get these for $2 a bag at your local hardware store in the fishing section.

Use floral wire to secure the fish weights to the stem of the flower and then stick them into the beads. Then fill the vases with water. It is important to note that these centerpieces take a long time to put together. Therefore, if you decide to assemble them before the wedding day then you should not submerge the flowers until you put the centerpieces out on the tables. Instead, only fill the vases about a 1/4 way full so that the flowers are getting water but are not submerged.

Once they are out on the tables, use a pitcher to gently fill the vases up. Put a floating candle on top and, wallah, you have a beautiful centerpiece that didn't break the bank! Because they are so simple, I suggest using mirrors, candle votives and petals to punch it up notch. This will definitely give all of your tables the "wow factor" you're striving to achieve.

I truly hope that I've inspired! If you use this tutorial, let me know how it goes. Or better yet, send me some pictures! :)



Happy planning!