Karma Flowers Event Design and Trunk Vintage Rentals: The Deconstructed Centerpiece and Your Wedding Budget are now BFF's by Karma Flowers

The average cost of a wedding centerpiece in the NY/NJ area is $175. I am not kidding.

Most of the time, that will get you the pretty typical tall centerpiece where the *arrangement* of flowers sits atop a stanchion or candelabra, or clear glass trumpet vase of some sort. You may even get a submerged flower in the vase if you ask nicely. You know the one I am talking about, and if you don't. . .Google "tall wedding centerpiece" and click on the Images tab. They are everywhere. Literally. {not our stilo, but very popular nonetheless}

If you want anything BUT that infamous centerpiece, then $175, especially in NYC by some of the hippest floral designers, will get you a low-lying arrangement of flowers that are more en-vogue {poppies, peonies, tweedia, ranunculus, succulents, and air plants}. Don't believe me? Pick up a New York Wedding Magazine, flip to the directories in the back and look under floral designers. Most say their centerpieces START AT $175. Bridesmaids bouquets at $200. And they only go up from there.

{I would include images of both, but then I have to credit the creator and then I am making an assumption that the exact arrangement of flowers in the picture is $175, and it may be more or less and that's a whole host of trouble I am not looking to get in, so if you need visual examples let me know. phew.}

Is it highway robbery? Not at all! Those designers {including us!} have reputations and aesthetics they need to maintain and if you want posh flowers, you have to pay posh prices. However, you can be better informed of other options you may have to lessen the costs of your wedding day centerpieces.

May I introduce you to the deconstructed centerpiece. . .

Karma Flowers

The deconstructed centerpiece is a collection of smaller pieces or arrangements on each table. The containers and vessels can be repetitive or completely different depending on your preference. The same is true for the stems you chose to use. You can stick to a monochromatic color scheme using different varieties of flowers, or use all of the same flowers. It works with round tables just fine, but it works particularly well with rectangular tables where the arrangement needs to be thin and long.

So how is this a budget conscious option? For one, it requires less stems {whether you choose to use flowers, greens, herbs...}. It also requires less labor for the floral designer. Additionally, you can save at least some money on the vases and vessels if you choose wisely. Some of the old vintage bottles can be rather costly, especially when you are talking about several per table, but there are inexpensive options. We do not allow clients to provide their own containers or vessels because logistically it just does not work out, but we do offer a rental program that can help keep costs down as well.

Maybe this isn't an option for every table, but you could certainly stick to the more traditional centerpiece on half of the tables and try this fun twist on all of the rest!