Budget Centerpiece Ideas for an Italian Dinner Theme

With some creativity and a little effort, you can make affordable table centerpieces for any dinner theme. We’ve chosen Italian…yum! I’ve created four centerpieces to help spark some ideas for brides on a budget.

1. Plant real plants (we used zinnias) in the cans leftover from your spaghetti sauce or tomatoes. Rinse cans well and leave labels on! These labels become excellent decoration that really ties into the Italian theme. Give each guest a canned plant at the end of the evening as a party favor. I purchased these zinnias for $1 each!

2. Everyone has some glass containers or cylinders around their house. Fill a row of cylinders up with pasta noodles in different shapes and sizes and don’t forget the breadsticks. Tie containers with red raffia and trail cylinders down the center of the table. This works great for a rectangular-shaped table. You can purchase glass cylinders in bulk from Ann’s.

3. Mix and match your containers and think in odd numbers when creating your table centerpieces. We used a tall, bottle-shaped container to hold our gerbera daisies ($1 each) and mason jars in random shapes to hold spaghetti and bow-tie pasta. Also, sprinkle some bow-tie pasta around the table for a fun “confetti.”

4. To make tin can centerpieces, remove the labels and rinse the cans. Wrap ribbon, burlap or fabric around the cans. We used double-sided tape to get them to stay in place. Add water and arrange flowers. Purchase flowers at a wholesale store, farmer’s market or add fresh cut flowers from your garden.

Oh, and don’t forget some matching invitations! You can modify the wording on any of our wedding invitations to turn them into the perfect rehearsal dinner invites. Here are a couple we think would look great with the Italian dinner theme: Vineyard Monogram and Modern Scrollwork.

Like what you see? Check out our previous post from August 5^th featuring ideas for a budget-friendly, Italian-themed rehearsal dinner.

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