Looking for ways to cut costs without looking cheap?

In today's tough economy there is a trend toward scaling back on wedding expenses. One trend that I love is the indie-gone-mainstream trend of using antique and thrift store vases for centerpieces. You can  lend a sweet vintage look to your wedding, go with a rustic vibe, or create a casual backyard wedding vibe. You can even make little centerpieces look ultra modern (see the last image in this post). The best part: they can help slash your flower bill. 

Here's a a few tiny centerpieces that inspired me this month: 

Flowers don't need to be in each vase. Some vases can have a few sprigs of filler. Here the filler that has delicate flower-like qualities, which look just as elegant as the other flowers in the arrangement.

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Save big at post-holiday sales

After-holiday sale shopping is a prime-time to find inexpensive wedding decorations. So early in my planning process, I hit up Michael's post-Christmas sales for centerpiece decor. I was going for a woodland-themed wedding and wanted twigs, rustic looking things, and elements with sparkle. I found plenty of not-so-Christmasy Christmas decorations on sale for a fraction of the price. Pine cone holiday mixes, and twiggy garland. I also saw lots of silver and gold globe ornaments that could be put into a vase for a pretty center piece.

My biggest piece of advice is this: While this is a great opportunity for winter brides getting married next year, you can also find a lot of your are a spring bride or a woodland bride, or your are looking for a pop of color such as purple, or teal or green. Summer brides can certainly put green, or silver, or purple, or whatever color globe ornament onto her centerpiece vases. But now is the time to buy.

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Update 28 Dec 2009: The Etsy storefront for this piece has been removed.

Consider this charming origami organizer as a centerpiece, especially if you're a budget bride having a small wedding. I imagine it would look lovely with a few colorful short-stemmed mums or daisies.

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