Welcome to our very brief rundown of current tablecentre styles and choices
Your choice of tablecentre, as everything else involved in your special day, should be as a result of your own personal style and preferences rather than dictated to by current trends. However it is worth thinking about some practical considerations. For example, do you have a low ceiling in your venue that might be “swamped” by tall arrangements or conversely will you be dressing a room with a very tall ceiling that will make lower and smaller arrangements look a little “lost”. The main consideration for me is that guests can see each other and see you at the top table, hence providing arrangements that sit at the guests’ eyeline should be avoided wherever possible.
For taller arrangements, we ensure guests' comfort by providing tall narrow vases or candelabra that guests can see through with the flowers above or below them. We often add flowers in the stem of the vase to add a little interest for guests other than the stem of the vase. Or you can go the whole hog and have flowers at both the top and the bottom to ensure there is always something for guests to look at.
Even where lower arrangements, such as jugs are chosen, we can add height by using willow or branches or placing vases at different heights on woodblocks for example. Placing them off-centre means we won't impede views.
The shape of your table has to be taken into account as well. Trestle or rectangular tables don't have as much room in the middle as large circular tables, so spreading the flowers out along the tables to give equal interest and not impeding guests' comfort has to be considered.
Oftentimes these days we advise on a mix of higher and
lower arrangements. Perhaps taller
arrangements are best used in the corners to frame the room with the lower ones
in the middle to allow a full view through to the top table. This tends to give some texture and interest to
the room and allows a less uniform /
formal look.
Your overall style will be the key concern, but your choice of venue may also have a bearing on your choice of tablecentre, e.g a rustic barn wedding may look better with softer styles, wooden blocks, jugs and tall floral "trees" whereas an historic castle might be better suited to elegant candelabras. There are no hard and fast rules though.
Whatever you choose remember that your guests will spend the larger part of the day looking at your chosen flowers and they do tend to get mentioned more than any other aspect of your venue décor. Enjoy designing them, use your florist's advice and above all, choose something you will love yourself.
