How to Create Tropical Wedding Centerpieces
Tropical wedding centerpieces will add exciting colours and shapes to your reception. They are ideal if you are having a theme such as 'tropical', 'island' or 'beach wedding'.
Whilst many people are used to seeing roses, chrysanthemums and gerberas in centrepieces, exotic blooms are not so common. Here are some ideas on how you can make a success of using these lovely flowers.
Tall Tropical Wedding Centerpieces
There are a number of tropical plants that lend themselves well to tall arrangements. These include ginger, heliconia and strelitzia.
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The display in the photo features heliconia, with anthuriums around the base.
There are also varieties of heliconia that hang down such as 'lobster claw'. These can give a sensational look to your arrangements.
With its long sleek lines, bamboo is a great choice for tall tropical decorations. It can be both part of the display and give structural support to other elements such as delicate flowers.
Floating Tropical Wedding Centerpieces
Thailand is lucky enough to have a great climate for growing orchids. When I visited the country I found that it is common for cymbidium orchids to be displayed in a simple floating arrangement. The orchid flower heads are cut individually from the stem and floated in a large shallow vase or dish.
These flowers are truly beautiful and when there are a large number floating in a vase they have a mesmerising effect.
You can easily recreate this idea as a centerpiece. If you want to keep to your wedding colour theme you can stick to one type of orchid. Mixing different colours of cymbidium orchid in the same bowl also creates a very pleasing look.
Tropical Flowers
There are a variety of interesting tropical flowers that you can use in your decorations. We've already mentioned orchids. Another is anthuriums. These colourful and versatile flowers can be used successfully in both tall and low tropical wedding centerpieces.
In the photograph above they anthuriums are used in an arrangement for a reception with long tables (as opposed to circular tables). The other flowers in this arrangement are roses, and it is arranged on a base of snakegrass (Equisetum).
Tropical Fruit
Why not add tropical fruits such as pineapples, bananas and coconuts to your decorations to continue the tropical theme? You could even hollow out a pineapple and use it instead of a vase.
If you do decide to do this just remember that ripening fruit can release a gas (ethylene) that can shorten the vase-life of your flowers. So add the flowers to your tropical wedding centerpieces as late as possible.
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