D.I.Y Centerpieces!!!

Sweet Peas Floral - highly recommended!!
http://www.sweetpeasfloral.com/

This cutie 'lil place was the preferred floral company that our hotel works with for weddings in their "reception packages". So I brought Katelyn with me that day for my appt. We went on August 8th.

Look at Katelyn's pretty hairdo that day :)

Katelyn & I were seated in a room at a large wooden table surrounded by different glass bowls and vases. While we waited, we flipped through books to get some ideas for the centerpieces. We met with employee Tara. Tara was super sweet and very nice. She was just as excited and creative as we were!!! She listened to my ideas, sketched things out, and quoted me for what the options would cost.



Here were the pictures for my inspiration:

These photos are from one of many Martha Stewart inspired wedding "themed receptions" that you can choose to have at our resort. But it was out of Erik & I's budget. That, and we are having our reception back home in MN anyway. At the bahamas, our themed wedding CEREMONY was included with our stay, and free to us. So, we wanted to stick with free :)

But I loved, loved, loved this idea sooooo much, that I wanted to re-create it back home in MN. Our hotel reception package gives you a certain amount of money towards your "cost per table" for centerpieces. So with Tara's help, we agreed to basically create this look together, and we could keep it within our budget if I provided the branches, shells, and sand. Sweet Pea Floral would set up, provide all glasswear, and some tropical flowers, etc.

So, what do I do? Head straight to Michael's and buy crazy amounts of shells!!! I also found a wholesale website where I was able to find the other - more specific kinds of shells (like in the above photos).
The only trouble I am STILL HAVING is finding GREY sand! Nearly impossible, unless you want to pay big time for smaller bags. So, it looks like it will be Home Depot that supplies regular bags of sand! But hey - I can't complain at $3 a bag.

http://www.etsy.com/ is one of my top favorite websites, and I was able to find the exact kind of branches I needed....but they weren't red of course! So with Erik's help + Home Depot spray paint =