You are in search of a way to have a wedding on a budget! Not just that, but you want to DIY your wedding centerpieces to save money.
This article will detail how to make wedding centerpieces for less than $5 with items from the dollar store!
For all of you who are new here, I’m Scarlett and I help women understand money and investing! Both here and on my YouTube, you’ll learn fun money tricks and budgeting advice. It’s like sitting down with your good friend over a cup of coffee!
Let’s jump into learning how to make $5 centerpieces!
To create a $5 Dollar Tree wedding centerpiece, you’ll need the following items:
- Vase or votive
- Lantern
- Vase filler
- Battery operated mini candles
- Wreath or other floral
Dollar Store Centerpieces
The trick I’ll show you in this article to create beautiful (but cheap!) wedding centerpieces can be replicated in countless different ways!
But before showing you how it works, be sure to watch the first videos of the Wedding Budget Series on YouTube to have a better understanding of how to budget for a wedding and how much things actually cost! You’ll also discover how to save money and how to have an amazing wedding for under $5000!
In this section I’ll go through the different items you will need to create an inexpensive wedding centerpiece, then in the following sections, I’ll detail how to find alternative options for your unique centerpieces!
1. Vases and Votives
As you can see in the photo above, I used votives from the Dollar Tree in my budget centerpieces.
Take note that I had a winter wedding for under $5000, so that is why the theme may be different than yours. However, this Dollar Tree trick works for any season!
First, go check out the glassware section of the Dollar Tree. At the Dollar Tree, everything is $1!
I first suggest going into a store to find the types of vase, votive, or another glassware piece that you like best. Then, you can buy it in bulk online and have it shipped to the store for free!
The glassware at the Dollar Tree is not a seasonal section, but many of the other items that you’ll use for your budget centerpieces are seasonal. Keep that in mind!
I chose a square-shaped votive from the Dollar Tree for the centerpiece as you can see in the photos in this article! (Be sure to check out the video for more photos!)
2. Lanterns
For half of my budget centerpieces, I used votives with candles and vase filler, and for the other half, I used small lanterns. This helped add variety and a height difference across the reception area.
You’ll see an example of the lantern in the video!
This lantern was a seasonal item. This means that you can only buy this item during certain times of the year. I was able to find this lantern around October as part of the “Christmas seasonal” items and they were sold out fast!
I tell you this as a heads up to constantly be on the lookout for the different items for your Dollar Tree wedding centerpieces!
I will say that this lantern is definitely cheap and nothing like the lanterns you can buy for $30 or more, but it was fantastic for photos and I sold them afterward for a good profit!
3. Battery Operated Mini Candles
This was the one aspect of the cheap centerpieces that I did not buy at the Dollar Tree.
I got these battery-operated mini candles at Amazon! It was around $0.50 per candle, and I did a ton of research to find a great candle at the lowest price.
I found that the Dollar Tree candle options looked really fake and I heard that they didn’t last too long. So, I went with the Amazon option. You can totally save a little more money by getting the Dollar Tree version!
I purchased the pack of 72 mini battery-operated candles for the centerpieces and I had enough left over to scatter around for the wedding. You can turn them on the morning of the wedding and have them last all day and night long! (In fact, mine still work 1.5 years later!)
4. Vase Filler
Vase fillers are an important piece to include if you are planning on using vases or votives for your Dollar Tree centerpiece!
You can use vase filler both inside the votives and/or scattered on the tables to fill up space.
You can find vase filler of all kinds at the Dollar Tree. I also checked out Hobby Lobby and Amazon. For my Christmas-themed budget centerpieces, I bought vase filler that looked like min pinecones, mini acorns, and faux frosted cranberries.
Remember that if you have a summer wedding, for example, you won’t be able to find the same items at the Dollar Tree as you would during the winter. Keep an eye out for what you’re looking for and buy in bulk online!
5. Wreath or Floral
The most important aspect of your budget centerpiece is floral!
I was able to find Christmas themes mini wreaths to use on my $5 wedding centerpieces. As mentioned in other sections above, this was a seasonal item, so if you want to find something similar to this, start looking in October!
Also, keep in mind that you can buy floral at Dollar Tree as well! You can hand-make your own wreaths, but it may be a few dollars more expensive.
If you are unable to find a similar wreath at the Dollar Tree, I highly recommend looking at Hobby Lobby. They always have 40% or 50% off sales and you can snag amazing deals. I have seen wreaths like this for under $2 each, on sale!
The key is to get creative. If you have a spring wedding and want to recreate this $5 centerpiece, you can consider lambs ear or eucalyptus as your floral.
PRO TIP: Another way to sneakily recreate this centerpiece is to buy inexpensive garland at Hobby Lobby ($10 for a strand of garland in the “His and Hers” section!) and cut it into pieces. You can create up to 4 centerpiece “wreaths” from one strand using hot glue.
Summary
The key to creating a $5 wedding centerpiece is to be creative!
It is easy to go over your wedding budget but using the few items listed in this article, you can easily recreate a beautiful budget centerpiece for $5 or less per table!
Also, remember that it is smart to begin looking early and to buy in bulk when you can! The best deals always go fast.
Be sure to learn from the other articles in this popular Wedding Budget Series below!