As I mentioned, I am going to start regularly posting REAL DIY projects from my REAL brides and grooms, friends, life, etc. I love the uniqueness and ingenuity of DIY projects and I can’t wait to see what you all can do.

First up – Nick and Cora’s centerpieces (2 varieties)

(All text supplied by Cora not long after her wedding last December)

The Wedding Trees

• Tall vase about 3′ tall (wholesale florist)
• Black Sand (actually from a janitor supply store)
• 3′ manzanita branches – about 4 branches per tree. (Wholesale Florist)
• Metallic silver spray paint (Walmart, Michael’s or similar)
• Strands of crystal (crystalier.com)
• Fake flickering candles (real candles eventually set the tree on fire). (Michaels)
• Square mirrors (save-on-crafts.com)
• Super Glue
• Candles for around all the centerpieces (wholesale florist)

The Process For the Trees

1. I removed all excess leaves from the dried manzanita branches, then spray painted them with the Metallic spray paint. They didn’t need to be sanded or primed.

2. I glued the mirrors to the vases with hot glue because the trees were top heavy.

3. I put a few rocks in the bottom of the vases to weight them down then fill them with the black sand (about 3/4 full)with a long funnel I bought at Home Depot.

4. Then came the more difficult task, because the branches were real they don’t fit perfectly into the vases so it was just a matter of mixing and matching until the branches fit and the tree looked full.

5. Once the branches were in, I placed the fake candles (about 8 candles) in the desired location followed by the 12” long strands of crystals (about 15 strands per tree)

6. The final touches are at the reception location where I put about 10 real candles around the base of the trees. This was beautiful they reflected of the crystals in the trees which was stunning

The Glass Bowls

• Boxes to go under the bowls (Michaels)
• Black spray paint for the boxes (Walmart, Michaels or similar)
• Glass pedestal bowl (world Market)
• Floating candles (Wholesale florist)
• Rose Petals (I used real ones but fake ones would work just fine)

The Process For the Glass Bowls

1. I started by painting the boxes with the black spray paint. They are upside down to make a stand for the bowls.

2. The final steps really are done at the wedding location.

3. Place the bowls on the boxes and fill the bowls with water and place the candles in the water.

4. I put rose petals on and around the boxes as well as about 10 real candles scattered around

If you use either of these centerpieces for your event, or even as a starting point please send me photos and your story!