Favors as Centerpieces

Fancy Candy

Humble supplies can take on an elegant air: Monogrammed stickers and crepe paper decorate clear plastic tubes filled with champagne-bubble candies. They're then piled into a glass compote around a smaller compote of crepe-paper flowers.

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Favors as Centerpieces

Boxed Groom's Cake

Assembled in the shape of a three-tier layer cake, store-bought boxes hold individual slices of the groom's cake, ready for the guests to take home; tucked between the white boxes are ranunculuses, sweet peas, hyancinths, and lilies of the valley.

Favors as Centerpieces

Potted Orchids

As a centerpiece for the party and favors for the guests (perhaps at a shower), orchids are presented in terra-cotta pots painted white and arranged on a saucer; a butterfly-shaped tag on a thin wire holder hovers over each plant.

Favors as Centerpieces

Flower Boxes

Boxes topped with flowers make a beautiful centerpiece; a table number is embroidered onto ribbon encircling the largest box. Inside, the stems sit in water bottles stabilized by crumpled paper. Favor boxes, which contain nonpareils, double as place cards.

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Favors as Centerpieces

Garden to Go

A cluster of potted zinnias adds charm to the table at a country or casual wedding. A sign next to the display asks guests to "Please pick one." The pots are painted with acrylic paint to match the flowers. The theme that inspires the favor continues at each place setting: Seeds packaged in glassine bags are attached to each of the tented place cards with yellow twine that is inserted through two small punched holes, then tied in a bow. Directions for planting are printed inside the cards.

Favors as Centerpieces

Stacked Favor Centerpiece

This display is a centerpiece, a stack of party favors, and a table-number indicator all in one. Fill small cardboard boxes with cookies or candies, wrap them with bands of paper and slender ribbon, and stack them on a silver compote in the shape of a pyramid. Attach a table number to the topmost box.

Favors as Centerpieces

Tuscan Takeaway

Ripe fruits symbolize abundance and fertility -- and make delicious favors. Tomatoes look beautiful and enticing in this rustic Italian display.

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Favors as Centerpieces

Stamped Glass Candleholders

For the reception, re-create the beauty of etching with ease. All you need is a rubber stamp, white ink, and glass candleholders -- frosted glass holds ink best. One stamp can form a single motif or an allover pattern. (For a custom design, such as your monogram, have a stamp made at an office-supply store.) To use a large stamp on a cylindrical container, carefully roll it from side to side. Allow a day or two for ink to fully dry.

Favors as Centerpieces

Fruit Baskets

Baskets brimming with fruit imbue a reception with rustic charm. We filled Nantucket baskets in various sizes with warm-toned fruits: pears, apricots, and two kinds of apples. Small baskets laden with blond cherries are arranged at place settings for guests to take home; tiny bows are a graceful touch.

Favors as Centerpieces

Trees to Go

Give a favor that symbolizes love growing and becoming stronger with time. Many seedlings are available at online nurseries -- these are foot-tall Norway spruces.

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Favors as Centerpieces

Moss and Rose Centerpiece

This unusual, lush display is rustic and modern at once -- and inexpensive and easy enough to make yourself.

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Favors as Centerpieces

Tea Tin Centerpiece

With their beautiful ornamentation and lettering, biscuit and tea tins bring old-fashioned charm to a reception table. New or vintage, the containers are inexpensive and easy to find at specialty-food stores, tag sales, and online auctions. Test tins to make sure they're watertight before filling with single-flower arrangements. If any do leak, use plastic bags as liners.

Favors as Centerpieces

Paper Bag Centerpiece

Vases of varying sizes, shapes, and materials can be unified with mere paper bags to serve as fresh, bright centerpieces at a casual wedding. Slip the plain white lunch bags over the containers and cinch the tops loosely with ribbons tied in bows.

Favors as Centerpieces

Paper Cones

These whimsical dragee cones standing in a galvanized tray will delight even adults.

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Favors as Centerpieces

Herb Centerpieces

Scented geraniums, herbs, and other foliage nestle in terra-cotta pots at the reception; the bride and her family hand-painted the pots and grew the plants, and invited their guests to take home their favorite as a favor.

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