01

Rustic Wedding Centerpiece Idea: Mason Jars of Posies

A beautiful yet simple rustic wedding centerpiece can be created using a mason jar filled with flowers. This could be a simple bunch of posies, gypsophila for a white theme, or you could add some other flowers like roses and lisianthus to reflect your wedding theme colors.

To add height, add a log slice as a base. These are a great choice for rustic wedding centerpieces and easily found online for just a few dollars (see our list below!). They’re made by slicing rounds from a tree trunk, leaving the bark on for a lovely rustic effect. You can find them in all different sizes and thicknesses and layer them if you need to add height to an arrangement.

You could decorate the mason jars with jute twine, natural raffia, lace or ribbon and add some pretty tea lights around the base. Make sure your candles will burn for several hours. On long tables, space your centerpieces out, or if your tables are numbered, add a little wood slice with the number.

02

Rustic Wedding Centerpiece Idea: Foliage

This is a great idea for rustic wedding centerpieces on a budget – you can gather foliage yourself just before the wedding (and save on expensive flowers!) or order them from a florist. Make sure you have a design in mind and plan which types of foliage you’re going to use and where to get them well ahead of time, if you plan to cut them yourself. Choose foliage that isn’t going to wilt too quickly once it’s cut – it’s a great idea to do a test run early in your planning.

As a centerpiece for smaller tables, group three different height pillar candles together and surround them with a circle of foliage. You could add a few simple flowers, too, if you like. On a long table, run the foliage the length of the table down with groups of candles at regular intervals. Get trailing foliage such as ivy or vines for the edge of the table to hang down to the floor. 

A white table cloth is best to give an effect that is fresh, bright and airy, and you can have your candles in glass holders for a fairytale look. You could use foliage such as ivy, eucalyptus, oleander and ferns, any shrubs and even trees in your garden that may give the right effect.

03

Simple Rustic Wedding Centerpiece Idea: Lanterns

For an easy DIY rustic wedding centerpiece, lanterns have everything! They come in many styles, sizes and colors, so it’s easy for you to choose your own style. When daylight is fading they create a beautiful atmosphere, and you can tie the indoor and outdoor together with lanterns outside your venue, too. 

Use a log slice with one large lantern or a group of three in different sizes on top as a centerpiece. You could surround them with moss or leaves or add a tiny vase of flowers. Use candles or long-burning tealights inside.

For a slightly different effect, you could put a string of battery-powered string lights inside, maybe tying in with other string lights around the venue. It may cost a bit more to buy all the lanterns, but on the day they will be so easy to set up, you’ll be happy you did! Plus, they look great in your backyard and your family will be happy to take one home, too.

04

DIY Rustic Wedding Centerpiece Idea: Rustic Chic Vases

For a simple, stylish rustic wedding centerpiece, find tall, slim, glass vases with a heavy base and fill them with strong twigs. You can leave the twigs natural or spray them white or silver for a different effect. Add a simple ring of ball-shaped flowers such as small chrysanthemums to fill the neck of the vase (white looks best) and hang small tea light holders from some of the twigs. You may need to use LED candles in these. Alternatively, add some smaller twigs with white flowers around the base of the arrangement.

Stand the vases on a square of burlap with a square of lace on top and arrange some tea lights in glass holders around the vases. This can work well on long tables, too, with a burlap runner edged with lace.

05

DIY Rustic Wedding Centerpiece Idea: Wooden Boxes

Use wooden boxes or crates for a rustic wedding centerpiece that’s soeasy to transport and arrange on the day. You could look for boxes in stores or online, but if you know someone handy, making them will ensure they’re exactly what you want and on budget. The boxes need to be natural wood finish or weathered-look paint for a rustic feel. You can paint boxes yourself with something like chalk paint and then rub parts of it back to the bare wood with sandpaper in places to give a distressed effect.

Fill the boxes with flowers and put them in the center of your tables for a simple rustic table centerpiece that is also beautiful and can be individual to each table. You could also use foliage for the arrangement, so you don’t spend a ton on flowers.

If you’re using long tables, rather than circular tables, consider doing long and thin boxes instead of small squares to take up the most “space” without actually taking up the table’s real estate. If you use small planks of wood for this, wrap tiny string lights around the boxes – it looks great once the sun’s gone down!

06

Rustic Wedding Centerpiece Idea: Use Terracotta

For rustic wedding centerpieces with a bit of a Portuguese twist, you can use vintage-look terracotta pots. They come in a huge variety of sizes, shapes and there are so many ways you can use them. 

Larger pots can hold a flowering lavender plant for height, and you could group around smaller pots of herbs such as rosemary or sage and thyme, which you might be able to find flowering. Small alpine plants can also be found with colorful flowers.

You can decorate some of your pots with twine or natural raffia and you can even paint on lettering or table numbers. Numbered pots could hold plant labels with the guests’ names on.

Arrange the pots on large log slices or a burlap runner and add candles in terracotta or glass pots. You could even let your guests take home a pot as a keepsake! These are likely best sourced locally, but you can find them online, too – see our list below.

07

Rustic Wedding Centerpiece Idea: Unusual Thrifted Containers

For another simple rustic wedding centerpiece idea, we can move away from natural sources and look to vintage and boho style. This will require a bit of forward planning (doesn’t everything with weddings!), but you can express your own style and have a lot of fun out thrifting. Fill your containers with string lights, candles, flowers, and foliage, though perhaps not all at once!

Collect glass bottles and vases in different sizes and colors and group them together holding a few small flowers on a log slice. On a long table, you can get a beautiful effect from a long row of bottles containing one or two flowers with glass tea lights alongside.

Another idea is to use teapots filled with meadow flowers, like daisies, poppies, and other small flowers. If you can find vintage metal storage tins, they also work well for a retro or vintage feel.

Small watering cans are another great option for an informal outdoor look. They can be found in every size, color and shape to style however you want, and look great with a wildflower-look arrangement. It’s also easy to find mini galvanized buckets you could spray paint or decorate.

Products to Use in Your Centerpieces

• Mason Jars
• Freshly Cut Flowers
• Wooden disks
• Twine
• Natural Raffia
• Lace
• Ribbon
• Tea Lights (small candles)
• Pillar Candles
• Lanterns
• String Lights
• Tall Vases
• Hanging Tea Light Holders
• Burlap
• Lace Squares
• Twigs
• Silver Spray Paint
• White Chalk Paint
• Rustic Terracotta Pots
• “Vintage” Glass Jars

Closing Thoughts

As you can see, there are a ton of beautiful possibilities for creating rustic wedding centerpieces. All you need to do is decide what will reflect your personalities as a couple and give the atmosphere you want on your special day. It may involve a little bit more work, but it is fun and will mean that much more to you on your big day.