Four Ideas for Non-Floral Wedding Centerpieces

There are so many decisions to be made before your wedding day. And just one of the many is how to decorate the tables at your reception.

The traditional answer is to use flowers, but perhaps you can't, or don't want to go the standard route. Maybe a close friend or family member is allergic to floral arrangements. Or maybe you just want something really different from what everyone else does. With a little creativity and forethought, it's a snap.

There are some options for those who think outside the box on this issue. Flowers aren't the only way to go when it comes to wedding centerpieces.

Here are some ideas for non-floral centerpieces:

• A very attractive and simple idea is to cut tree boughs and to arrange them in the center of each table. (It's free, too, if you or a friend has legal access to these trees.)

For a winter wedding, use small branches from pine and holly trees; also consider any tree with red berries, including cotoneaster and yew. The combination of pine and red berries is very striking, set against a snowy white tablecloth. Ribbon or raffia could be loosely tied around the boughs if you like.

For a spring wedding, cut branches from pussy willows; for fall, use branches from any tree that turns brilliant colors in autumn, such as Japanese maple.

You might want to assign a friend or family member to this task. All they will need is a good pair of garden shears and a cardboard box in which to put the boughs. Cut a number of lengths, from 1 foot to 3 feet, and then have someone with a good eye arrange them on the tables.

After the reception is done, these boughs can be taken home by guests or put on the compost pile.

• What could be more romantic than candles? Consider an arrangement of beautiful candles to coordinate with the colors of your wedding. These could be lighted or not during the reception, as you see fit.