DIY Gold Lantern Centerpieces
I knew from the beginning of our wedding planning that flowers were an area I didn’t want to spend a lot on. Don’t get me wrong, flowers are really pretty, but I just haven’t ever been big on them. From the beginning of the Eel relationship, I’ve always asked that Mr. Eel not spend money on flowers, especially during holidays like Valentine’s Day where the prices are gouge-worthy. Since flowers haven’t been a big factor in our relationship, it didn’t make sense for us to spend a lot on them for our wedding.

Beautiful flowers but a little too much for the Eels and our budget. Remember, we’re creatures of the sea. ?
Image via Weddings Romantique // Photo by KT Merry Photography I set a relatively small budget for flowers and received some crazy-high quotes. Crazy-high along the lines of one vendor quoting us over DOUBLE what I said our budget was. The other vendors I received quotes from were within $1,000 of our original requested budget, so it’s not like we were asking for anything extravagant.

In order to stick to our original flower budget, I knew I needed to find some alternatives. The easiest area to save was on centerpieces. Like any good bride, I first turned to Pinterest for inspiration, but it was actually during a trip to Lowe’s where I found the perfect alternative: DIY gold lantern centerpieces. We started with these lanterns.

I found these ~$9 lanterns when Mr. Eel wa...