It is amazing how many minute details you have to consider when planning a wedding and reception.  Consider, for example, the hundreds of possible wedding reception centerpiece ideas available on wedding sites across the internet today.  As you consider the décor at your reception, you will find that there are centerpieces to fit any budget, from the extravagant professionally arranged flower pieces to some very tasteful and inexpensive balloon creations that you can do yourself.  Read on for some great wedding reception centerpiece ideas.

The most obvious and common choice for wedding reception centerpiece ideas is something floral.  Flowers symbolize rebirth, spring, new beginnings, and the promise of a great future.  So, obviously they are a very common and popular them for weddings.  The first thing to consider if you want to include flowers as part of your table decoration theme, is whether to use live or silk.  There are a number of pros and cons to each.

Live flowers are spectacular.  They smell great, they look great, and they bring a certain elegance to a centerpiece.  With live flowers you have the option of designing a simple arrangement yourself, or with a larger budget you can go with a professionally designed bouquet or arrangement that will dazzle the senses (and sometimes the wallet!)  There is no doubt that live flowers can be an expensive option.  Many people cannot afford to pay a professional florist to create large flower arrangements, and others bemoan that the beautiful and delicate works of art will only be appreciated for one day before they are discarded with the rest of the trash.

If you prefer to create beautiful floral centerpieces that will withstand the test of time, consider using silk flowers instead of live.  Today’s artificial flowers are nearly impossible to tell apart from their live counterparts, and there will never be any worry about the quality of each individual bloom.  Silk flowers will last forever and after the reception the centerpieces can be donated to a variety of charities where people will be able to enjoy them for a long time.  Artificial flowers are typically much less expensive than live as well, so they are a great option if you are working within a tight budget.

One major consideration for wedding reception centerpiece ideas arises when you are planning an outdoor reception.  When dealing with unpredictable factors such as the wind, it is very important that you choose a centerpiece with a good amount of weight.  Consider potted plants, or arrangements with a solid base.  One of the very popular wedding reception centerpiece ideas that works well in wind is a decorative crystal or glass dish or bowl, filled with water or colored liquid and topped with floating candles and flower petals.

If you prefer live centerpieces but want them to last, you may consider a potted plant centerpiece rather than flowers.  This can be a fantastic do it yourself option that saves a huge amount of money.  You can find good deals on potted plants at nurseries, home improvement centers, and sometimes even grocery stores.  Periodically, particularly around the changes in seasons, these stores will drastically mark down the price of their potted plants to make room for incoming stock.  Doing it yourself is one of the best wedding reception centerpieces ideas for brides on a tight budget.  Shop around and take advantage of these deals.  For decorations, you can find beautiful and inexpensive pots at your local arts and crafts or hobby stores.  The possibilities for dressing these up are endless and limited only to your imagination and artistic skill.

Whether you decide to go with an expensive, professionally crafted live flower arrangement or a beautifully hand-painted terra cotta pot filled with desert cacti for a Western themed wedding, you will find that using these wedding reception centerpiece ideas will have a major impact on the overall look of your dinner tables.  Use your imagination!  You may even skip the plant motif altogether and opt for something non-traditional such as a pastel display of colored candles or a tasteful arrangement of translucent helium balloons.  Whatever you choose, be sure that your guests know that they are welcome to take home a centerpiece to remember your special event.  It would be a shame for them to go to waste after just one day.