Centerpiece Trial

When we first started thinking about our budget, I was thinking about $20 per centerpiece.  Then I did some research and found that people regularly spent $100+ per centerpiece.  Egad!  With 25 tables, that would quickly eat up a large part of our budget.  We decided to try and see if we could DIY our centerpieces and save some money.  Here are some of the inspiration pictures I found:

After shopping around a bit and experimenting with some orchid sprays, we decided to go with a simple tall vase with a submerged orchid stem.  We added black river rocks to the bottom and a submersible tea light to illuminate the flowers.  It looks really cool when we turn down the lights.

The budget breakdown for this centerpiece:
Vase - $7 (Ross)
River Rocks - $1.50 ($5/5 lbs at Target)
Submersible Tea Light - $2.50 ($25/10-pack at Floradec)
Orchid Stem - $1.50 (University Flowers)
Water - Free! (I'm just using plain ol' tap water)

What are some DIY projects you are taking on to save money?