Paper Flowers For Your Wedding!

They're wedding favors, placecards and centerpieces all in one. (expert advice)

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We love things that can do double-duty, and these adorable paper flowers do just that and then some:  they're seating cards, centerpieces, and favors! These pretty blooms are perfect for a whimsical wedding, a bridal luncheon or shower, and can be made in any color.

You can put a flower on each place setting, or spread them out together on a table for guests to see when they arrive.   Set empty vintage bottles on each table for guests to pop the flower into when they sit down.  The groups of flower-filled bottles create instant centerpieces, and are sweet parting gifts for your guests to take home.

To make the flowers you see pictured, we used Martha Stewart's tissue paper flower kit, but there are plenty of make-it-yourself versions to be found on the web by simply searching for "tissue paper flowers" (like here, here, and here.)  The flowers are surprisingly easy to make, and -- bonus! -- can even be assembled ahead of time and shipped flat (if your event isn't local) to complete when you're ready.

For a finished look, we wrapped green Japanese tape around the stems and personalized each flower with a little paper flag written with the guest's name (image 1).  (If you also want to add a table assignment, simply make the flag bigger to accommodate the extra verbiage, or write it on another flag and add it to the stem below the name.)  Because the flower heads are attached to wire (image 2), they can be adjusted to lie flat on a plate or table, and then bent back when they're in the bottle.

Vintage bottles can be found for as little as a dollar each at flea markets, antique shops, eBay, and Etsy.  

Images Courtesy: Mary Swenson

Member Comments

8770 296 65 sly9377

10/14/2009 at 06:42 am Great article!

340 172 18 dominiquecreek

10/14/2009 at 12:27 am vanhoosedesign - those bouquets are amazing! I would have no idea that they're crepe and tissue paper! I hope my final tissue paper kissing balls turn out as well as your flowers have :D

6 53 2 vanhoosedesign

10/13/2009 at 09:33 pm i made my own bouquet and the girls out of crepe and tissue paper flowers and i love how they turned out.

1 3 2 gotitang

10/13/2009 at 10:52 am Martha Stuart has directions on how to make these. They are great! And really easy to make! I have used these in place of the kissing balls on manzanita branches. I attached those little floralytes that turn off and on to the inside of the tissue paper and hung them off the manzanita! It was amazing and everyone was in awww of how beautiful they were! I also placed them around the bottom of the manzanita base with the lights pointing up and it left the most beautiful shadows on the ceiling of the event I had done! If you are looking for an in-expensive substitute for kissing balls this is it!