A lit candle in a centerpiece. What more powerful focal point can your formal
or informal celebrations have? As a way of uniting people around a table, and
creating an enchanting, dreamlike atmosphere, there's nothing like candle light.
Here you'll find the following:
Romantic candle arrangements
Birthday party candles
Wedding table arrangements with candles
Pillar candle centerpieces
Coffee or dining room table centerpieces with candles
Make all of your Formal, or Informal Occasions Special. Browse our Centerpiece Selection:
Candle Holder Centerpieces
Floating Candle Centerpieces
Floral Centerpieces
Fruit Centerpieces
Non-Floral Centerpieces
Wine Glass Centerpieces
Having trouble finding what you want? Use Google to search our site:
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Planning a special celebration? Deciding what to place in the centre of your tables can be quite daunting.
Use our creative candle ideas to put together that one-of-a-kind centrepiece, uniquely your own.
Many of the pieces featured here are available as ready-made candle sets.
Or you can make your own candle centrepieces.
Detailed instructions and photographs help you through the process.
Use the ideas and pictures as they are, or as inspirational starting points. These don't have to be exact
"how-to's". The colors and objects are quite adaptable, and you may substitute your own favourites.
Common mistakes spoil the effect. You might want to read the "do's and don'ts" section. You'll find easy solutions to the most common candle display problems.
Mostly, it's just common sense.
What Kinds of Fillers Can I use in Glass Centerpieces?
Beads
Flowers (fresh, dried, or artificial)
Glass nuggets
Marbles
Sand
Seashells
Stones (glass or natural)
General Do's and Don'ts when Decorating with Candles:
Group your candles correctly:Arrange candles in groups of different heights. This can make the difference
between a monotonous, or interesting piece.
Avoid scented candles: that rose or melon-scented
candle might be wonderful as part of your bathroom, bedroom or living room dècor. Not so great for your wedding, birthday, or
dinner party. The candle competes with other smells (food, alcoholic drinks and flowers.)
Some of your guests might have a wild aversion to
scents or an allergy you aren't aware of. To avoid a mishmash of smells and to keep
your guests happy, stick to plain, unscented candles.
Exceptions:
Beeswax candles, with their natural, wonderful smell.
A casual get-together at home, with a few, very familiar people. You know whether they can tolerate scents or not, and
which ones they like.
Your centerpiece has candles and fruit, and you want candles with a coordinating scent. Use candles with natural, organic fragrances.
Keep it subtle. Real fruit scents don't overpower.
Imagine your senses being caressed by a scent, not bludgeoned.
Scents in a crowded space can cloy. Avoid synthetic fragrances loaded with chemicals.
Natural fragrances smell better and won't irritate your
scent-sensitive guests.
It's summertime. You're holding an outdoor event. Midges and mosquitoes are a problem in your area.
You burn citronella oil candles, to prevent the discomfort of insect bites.
Keep the centerpiece above or below eye-level: your
guests want to see and speak to each other without peering over or around objects.
Eye-level candle flames are particularly distracting, and should be avoided.
Use low decorations on the tables. Otherwise, use tall, thin-stemmed centerpiece candle holders with a candle arrangement on top, above people's line of vision.
Shelter your candles in a draught: hurricane centerpieces catch drips and prevent the smoky mess caused by flickering candles.
Use hard, long burning candles: your centerpiece candles need to burn for the length of the event.
Hand dipped tapers, particularly, burn down relatively quickly, but should give you 2-3 hours burning time.
It's no hardship to keep extras and replace them when they're finished.
Keep tapers in the fridge overnight. Dry them off thoroughly (especially the wick area) before lighting them.
This will give you maximum burning time.
The candles must contain the hardening additives
necessary to burn longer. If you're not sure, buy one candle of a batch, before the event.
Burn it down. See what it does. A good pillar candle should give you 30-70
hours burning time. Soft, squishy candles will NOT do at a celebration.
Support candles properly: falling taper candles are a tremendous fire hazard, besides being a nuisance. Stick tapers firmly into their holders.
Or use elegant, hanging chandelier candelabra, that can't be knocked over.
You and your guests, children and adults alike, need protection from unstable candle-lit objects.
Hope these tips help you with your candle displays, and answered some of your questions.
