Do you like the look of rustic centerpieces and want to recreate a popular centerpiece look? What you may not have considered is you can do that without making EVERYTHING yourself. Artisans and crafters sell the individual components. You can pick and choose the piece you find too challenging or time-consuming. Plus, you can buy your own supplies online when your needs go beyond what you can find at the local stores. With that approach in mind, here is how you can create five popular looks for a wedding or other event. Look for the buy links for each component.
Note: As with most links on MyOnlineWeddingHelp.com, some of the links in this post go to this site’s shop section or directly to another website. My Online Wedding Help will receive a small commission from the merchant if you click and buy a product.
1. Wood Planter Box Centerpiece with Table Number. Cube planter boxes are a way to combine a low-profile centerpiece and table number. This is a favorite. Design by Petal Pushers and photography by Eureka Photography for a country wedding.
2. Rustic Tub or Bucket Centerpiece. Galvanized steel is showing up as an accent element in rustic weddings. This popular centerpiece uses a weathered tub. It is actually a table-top lettuce garden by Garden Studio Design. I’ve adjusted the contents so you can get a similar look with more traditional greenery.
3. Tree Slice Centerpiece. Another way to bring natural wood into the table decor is to use a cross section of a tree’s trunk as a centerpiece base. This one features another popular centerpiece element–the lantern.
4. Rustic Elegant Centerpiece with painted mason jar, wine bottle, and beer bottle. This centerpiece includes several hallmarks of country-style decor. Tree slice, mason jar, wine & beer bottles, and metallic paint combine for an impactful centerpiece.
5. Baby’s breath and Candles Centerpiece. Baby’s breath makes a wonderful statement on it’s own. Feature lavender, another frequent component of country-style decor, and you cannot go wrong. Floating candles and votives complete the look.
1. Wood Planter Box Centerpiece with Table Number
Cube planter boxes are an efficient way to combine a low-profile centerpiece and table number. This is a favorite, designed by Petal Pushers. (Contact them about wedding flowers design or rentals if you are near Dripping Springs, Texas). Centerpiece photography by Eureka Photography. (They do Texas Hill Country photography, but love to travel.)
Creating your own look is straightforward in one sense, but will require some skill if you want to use a variety of flowers. (Non-expert tip: Use hydrangeas instead of a variety as your floral base.)
Here’s what you need and where to get it…
- The planter box: Ania makes these wooden cube planters in several sizes, ranging from 3″ to 7″. I like them because they are lined and you do not need to worry about moisture. Ask her to make a listing for you with the amount of boxes you need and she will give you a discount.
- Foam cubes: Using foam as a base can make completing your arrangement easier and quicker. Soak these 5″ cubes made from Oasis Floral Foam Maxlife in water until they are fully saturated and they will be ready to secure flower stems.
- Table numbers: The hardest part of creating wooden table number picks is outlining and cutting the numbers. Jamie has you covered. She’ll make these 5″ wide table numbers with 8″ tall sticks in your choice of two fonts. You’ll receive them unfinished; just spray paint whatever color you’d like.
The Flowers and Greenery:
The centerpiece looks to be designed with lisianthus and, perhaps, dahlia blooms. You could use myrtle and/or euonymus as greenery filler to create a similar look.
- Lisianthus: There are several varieties and colors here. Take a look at the designer hybrids to get the look in the photo. Also, note there are different listings depending on the month of delivery.
- Dahlias: These dahlia style cremons are 2″-4″ across and can add impact while decreasing cost.
- Myrtle: Because myrtle leaves are relatively long and narrow and densely cover the entire stem, these are convenient to add as much or little green as you want to your arrangement.
- Euonymus: These leaves, variegated in creams to soft greens, can add more variation and texture to your centerpieces.
2. Rustic Tub or Bucket Centerpiece
Galvanized steel is showing up as an accent element in rustic weddings. This popular centerpiece, using a weathered tub, is actually a table-top lettuce garden by Garden Studio. (They are a full service landscape design company in Southern California, which specializes in making outdoor spaces come alive.) I’ve adjusted the contents so you can get a similar look with more traditional greenery.
- Metal Bucket: This metal container from Aimee is 10.25″ at the rusty-look rim, 5.25″ high, and 8.5″ around across at the base.
- Floral Foam: Oasis foam to the rescue again. This cake-shaped piece is 5.75″ in diameter, large enough to both secure the greenery stems and hold the pillar candle.
- Spanish Moss: This fresh spanish moss comes in sheets, making it convenient to place at the base of your greenery.
- Pillar Candles: Choose these pillar candles in ivory or white and four heights. The price is right as well.
The Greenery
You could grow your own lettuce but it seems like more foresight than almost everyone planning a wedding would have. Fortunately, a mix of greenery will serve your purposes just as well. Here are two to consider:
- Tropical Mix (top left in the image): The Tropical Wedding Greenery Combo Box includes a variety of six species of greenery: Cocculus, Aralia, Viburnum Greens, Cordyline, Pittosporum, and Safari Sunset Leucadendron.
- Rustic Mix (bottom right in the image): The The Rustic Wedding Flower Combo Box includes a broader range of texture. If you like a red variety as accent, choose red hanging Amaranthus rather than green. The box includes: Dusty Miller, Silver Brunia, Scabiosa Pods, Bear Grass, and Hanging Amaranthus.
3. Tree Slice Centerpiece
Tree slices–round, wood slabs cut from the trunk or large branch of a tree–are a natural-looking way to add a rustic look to any decor. This centerpiece and the final two all feature a “tree cookie” base. Here, Justin sets two other iconic country elements on his: a lantern and baby’s breathe.
He sells the the ones pictured here. They are professionally cut without a chain saw, so are always level. These are pre-dried and are a bestseller. And customers love them.
Here is where you can find the lantern and baby’s breathe in the pictures:
- Lantern: I couldn’t find one exactly like Justin used, but this one comes close. Rena sells it in black or ivory.
- Baby’s Breathe: Notice how the baby’s breathe has more bright green in the centerpiece than in the picture under Create the Look? That’s the difference between artificial in the centerpiece photo and the real flowers. You can also get the real flowers tinted colors and/or with glitter. (Watch out, glitter sheds!)
4. Rustic Elegant Centerpiece with painted mason jar, wine bottle, and beer bottle
Paint on bottles makes for an inexpensive, yet elegant look. The problem is it can be a little tricky and messy. A friend of mine spray painted centerpieces with her daughter and they ended up getting paint on the car. The repair work far outweighed what they saved by spray painting the jars themselves. Not to mention the time it took.
The good news is you do not have to actually do the painting yourself. Ashley will do it for you. You can find the painted mason jar, beer bottle, and wine bottle (as well as the wood slice) in her Etsy store for a few dollars each. Here’s where you can find each listing:
- Mason Jar. You can get it any color. If yours is not in the dropdown list, write a request in the note to seller when you order.
- Wine Bottle. Order in whatever color you want.
- Beer Bottle. Ditto on colors.
- Wood Slice. Please put your preferred thickness and diameter in the note to seller.
Here is where you can find flowers and greenery, similar to those she used, at a good price (the real thing, not artificial):
- Naked, Seeded Eucalyptus (top left in the Create the Look part of the image). Add much texture and dimension to your rustic centerpiece with this greenery.
- White Roses. These are a nice 2-3 inches across when bloomed. To avoid surprise when you open the box, and to get the full beauty in your centerpiece, make sure to read the care instructions.
- Eucalyptus (second row, right). Notice how different looking this variety is compared to the first? The tall, leaf-lined stems of this baby eucalyptus are perfect for narrow-neck vases like the beer and wine bottles.
- Italian Ruscus (just below beer bottle). I like the glossy, oblong leaves.
- Dried Larkspur (bottom right). These come in white, pink, purple, or a mix.
5. Baby’s breath and Candles Centerpiece
I adore this decoration. It is a guest table centerpiece from Tanya Carpio and Cody Lounsberry’s wedding in Morrison, Colorado. Unfortunately, the designer is not listed or I’d share. I do know the photo was taken by Jenae Lopez Photography. She does family, wedding, or engagement photos in Colorado and will also travel. Take a look.
Baby’s breath makes a wonderful, budget-friendly statement on it’s own; this centerpiece also features lavender, another frequent component of country-style decor. If that were not enough, they managed to nicely incorporate burlap and a chalkboard. Finally, floating candles and votives complete the look.
Here’s where to find the components for you to create a similar look:
- Vases and Floating Candles. These are 7.5″ tall, 3.25″ round cylinder vases, but you can get other heights as well. The candles come in your choice of white, ivory, or any of 13 colors. Surprising Tip: As of this writing, you can actually buy the candles and vases separately for a better price. Choose “No thank you, I do not want candles” when adding the vases to your cart. Then click over to this listing for 3″ floating candles and add that item. It’s $8 less per dozen when you buy them separately! I don’t understand why.
- Tree Slices. See two options in #3 and #4 above.
- Decorated Mason Jar. Ash sells these in both pint and quart sizes, and you can choose from several different ties.
- Dried Lavender. If you are going to use lavender elsewhere in your wedding (like as bridesmaids’ bouquets), this is a good deal. But it’s a lot if you only want to accent the centerpieces, so you may want to go with the purple/blue larkspur previously mentioned in #4.
- Baby’s Breath. The New Love variety most closely matches that in the picture.
- Votive Candles. These are conveniently pre-poured and unscented, so all you have to do is take them out of the box and set them on the wood when decorating the tables.
- Chalkboard Table Numbers. I couldn’t find any exactly like those in the centerpiece, but these from Tom and Jennifer have the right character. They have a few other styles as well.
More DIY Wedding Decoration Tutorials
Top 5 Ideas for Decorating Wine Glasses
Top 3 DIY Wedding Flowers Ideas – Photos and Inspiration
How to Make a Burlap Bow the Secret, 6-Step Way
How to Make a Rope Heart in 5 Steps
How to Make Burlap Flowers the Unique, 3-Layer Way
DIY Personalized Glitter Wine Glasses. 5 Steps!
DIY Giant Paper Flowers with Template. 5 Steps!
Easy DIY Burlap Flowers
How to Sort of DIY Five Favorite Rustic Wedding Centerpieces
DIY Fabric Flowers with Lace and Burlap. Tutorial with Video.
5 Favorite Gold and Glitter DIY Wedding Tutorials
Michelle
Friday 19th of May 2023
Is this a book with how to do budget planner
Bobette Kyle
Friday 19th of May 2023
Hi Michelle, No, it isn’t. This post is about ideas for DIY centerpieces. There is an interactive budget planner in this post, though: https://www.myonlineweddinghelp.com/wedding-guides/wedding-budget-calculator/
If it doesn’t work right for you, please let me know. Sometimes a tech update will cause it to glitch in some browsers.
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