Centerpiece Ideas

For the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s gala, held in Miami in December, Shiraz Events designed miniature terrariums in fishbowls, that were placed on highboy tables during cocktail hour.

The Mint Agency used sand, shells, and bowls holding live fish as centerpieces at the September premiere dinner for Spring Breakers during the Toronto International Film Festival.

For the Clean the World gala, held at the Peabody Orlando in 2011, Special Event Floral filled fishbowls with blue marbles, then added battery-operated lights. The Peabody Orlando's duck soap appeared to float on top of each centerpiece.

David Monn decorated the Park Avenue Armory in New York for the 2012 holiday season. Monn used candles housed inside glass fishbowls to line the baseboards inside the ornate space.

Held on March 9, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science’s annual Galaxy Gala had an aquatic theme inspired by the museum’s new facility now under construction, which includes a 500,000-gallon aquarium. Produced by Jose Dans and held at the JW Marriott Marquis, the various centerpiece designs by Wow Factor included stacked fishbowls filled with sand, lichen, pincushion proteas, and red branches.

Dinner at the California Science Center’s Discovery Ball, held in Los Angeles in March, took place underneath the wings of the Endeavour space shuttle. Reflecting the space theme, illuminated tables were topped with mini solar systems and tropical flowers in glass bowls.

At the 2009 awards reception for Commercial Real Estate Women, a national association representing women in the industry, fishbowls holding live goldfish were embedded into the bars, adding to the evening's aquatic theme.

For New York Design Center's table at Diffa’s Dining by Design in New York in 2011, Coffinier Ku Design folded red napkins into flower shapes and topped each one with a flower- and water-filled glass bowl.

At Diffa’s Dining by Design in Chicago in 2011, Erg International’s table, designed by Weetu, was topped with filmstrip-filled glass bowls.

Similar to branches, stumps are creative replacements for expensive vessels and leave more funds for flowers. Showorks dresses up the humble tree trunk with vibrant roses and gerbera daises.

Collect reclaimed rocks, wood, and seashells to fill apothecary jars of varying sizes, shapes, and heights for displays such as the underwater-inspired design from Blueprint Studios.

Liz Page Associates, along with designer Max Ultimate Food, wove gold-wire ribbon throughout short glass vases, using reusable LED pillar candles as accents. The look brought to life the theme of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation fund-raiser—“The Golden Thread”—in an affordable way in October 2013.

As a budget-friendly alternative to lush fall flowers, fill vases with affordable tree branches sprouting colorful autumn foliage, like the bountiful, statement-making maple leaf arrangement by Van Wyck & Van Wyck.

Showorks creates cheerful centerpieces by filling Mason jars of varying sizes with wildflowers, which are reasonably priced per bunch. Repurposed wine and liquor bottles also work as makeshift vases.

Use unique structural containers to show off a few impactful blooms for a modern, artistic look, like the creation by Blueprint Studios that features butter yellow calla lilies and Billy Ball flowers.

Found objects don’t always have to be from nature. For this year’s AMC upfront after-party, Empire Entertainment used classic ’80s artifacts—floppy disks and cassette tapes—to construct lighted lamps in lieu of high-end floral centerpieces.

Lanterns, whether simple or ornate, offer a theatrical alternative to traditional tabletop decor. Style the lighting items to suit any event theme or atmosphere, such as the Moroccan-inspired ones used by Showorks.

Blueprint Studios lines up basic votive candles in a mirrored box for a dramatic, low-cost solution.