Wedding Centerpiece Ideas | Unique Wedding Centerpieces

33 Responses

1. thebuell4

   2009 Feb 06 1

   Maybe you can import just one beta fish for their "sweetheart" table at the reception. That way it is special just for them, and you only need to find one home!
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2. atheism_and_rats

   2009 Feb 06 2

   God damn, dont you have anything betta to spend your money on?
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3. Sk8er Chick

   2009 Feb 06 3

   WEll, for one thing, make sure that you don't but any bettas in the same tank. Betta's are fighting fish. They will kill each other
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4. lovin'87

   2009 Feb 06 4

   i like that idea alot actually! its sounds really cool.
   maybe like let somone from each table take one home as a sorta party favour thing?
   or donate them to the nearest pet store?
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5. Mrs B 8-16-08

   2009 Feb 06 5

   I think you've already given the reasons why they would be impractical shipped in, finding homes (because from what I understand, betas cannot be 'housed' together), time to take care of them, etc. This was just brought up on one of the knot message boards the other day and seemed that pretty much everyone was against this idea for the reasons you mentioned as well as one person said that it sounds like more for a kids birthday party, someone mentioned the occasional immature adults pouring alcohol in with the fish…given all that…what are the pros of having this? Besides the look they are apparently going for?
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6. Jay

   2009 Feb 06 6

   Betas don't get along together…. you going to keep all them when your done or what.. otherwise its a waste of time…… quick hide the fish before PETA finds you and tries to protest something
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7. aratnoid

   2009 Feb 06 7

   I really love the idea, and think you should go with it! I say give them away as gifts to the guests…

   People love to take away a souvenier and this one would really live on. It will truly make the night memorable…the event special.
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8. Shirley T

   2009 Feb 06 8

   I am sorry, I think that would just be the "cats meow" how beautiful and fitting. Just the 10 would be awesome, and I know you would not have trouble letting guests take home a momento. Bettas as so easy to care for and beautiful. I use two on my desk at work and they are my friends. I just think you would not regret getting them.
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9. I Love Coffee

   2009 Feb 06 9

   They have the potential to die. You wouldn't want a dead fish floating at the top of your centerpieces.
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10. daisee1203

    2009 Feb 06 10

    Impractical? Maybe. But its cute. So I say do it if you want. In terms of the fish:

    Offer them to guests (older children, teens or young adults might be up for it)

    Put them on Craigs List for free. Lots of people would take a fish or two.

    Donate them to a local elem school for use as a classroom pet.
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11. JM

    2009 Feb 06 11

    Well for starters you can't put them in a tank together because they will kill one another. Some drunk guy might think this is a cool idea and then you end up with a dead fish. As we say… Two fish enter - one fish leave!

    Also, fish die. It happens and you wouldn't want dead fish floating on the table,

    3. Beta fish are known as fighting fish - not something you want associated with a wedding.

    4. Fish bowls can give off a smell - unwanted when you are trying to eat dinner.
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12. snood84

    2009 Feb 06 12

    Honestly, before I read the rest of what you had written (about the fiance being a marine biologist) I thought it sounded tacky. Although, this is kind of cute when you first think about it once you know his job, it's also impractical, as you say.

    First of all, if there are 5-8 guests sitting at each table, who gets the fish? What if no one wants it? People attending a wedding shouldn't have to feel like they're at a pet adoption event.

    On any given day there are probably 10-20 bettas just sitting on a PetsMart or Wal-Mart shelf, so getting them wouldn't be hard.

    And you said that most of the guests have to come in from out of town, so you'd most likely be stuck with all the fish. You can't all put them in one big fish tank because they're bettas and would kill each other. If you're dead set on the fish idea, why not buy neon tetras or guppies instead for the bowls. Sure, they might not look as exotic, but afterwards you can just dump all of them in one tank, and only have to worry about that. That way no one has to adopt the fish, you're not stuck with 10 different fish tanks, etc.

    Or you could just think of something easier, like fish candies in a bowl or a tasteful display of a fish bowl filled with sand and shells to look like a beach or ocean.
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13. janecat

    2009 Feb 06 13

    That's good enough reason. Where will they go afterwards? They can't expect you to take care of them. That's all I can think of. You have to change their water and feed them, and that's too much for someone who is already busy.
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14. lilfrisco

    2009 Feb 06 14

    I agree with above that you've really already stated your argument. Yes, it's a neat idea and people like Beta fish, but there are other fish in the pond…so to speak.

    Goldfish would be fun, friendly, cheep and still look pretty darn cool. I was actually tempted to use them in my water themed wedding. I would do a tall vase with viney plant leaves (or seaweed) in the center with gold fish swimming around. very cool.

    If the live bait isn't working with you, there is always the fake fish option. Explain your rationale to your daughter and present options. That's the ticket….options! No one likes to be shot down completely only to not have any positive suggestions brought to the table. I'm sure she'll understand and you'll work it out.

    Good luck and happy fishing!
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15. winter_spice78

    2009 Feb 06 15

    Live animals are not decorations. Enough said.

    I went to a dinner a number of years back where someone got the brilliant idea to use goldfish as centerpieces. If they weren't pooping the entire time, they were already dead. Everyone at the table I was sitting at, including myself, lost their appetites immediately due to this. Afterwards the hosts were forcing people to take dead fish home as pets.
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16. fisherman

    2009 Feb 06 16

    great idea…..
    you can give them to a pet shop
    let them go in the wild somewhere as a last result
    ask doctors offices stuff like that if they want one for there desk…i see them alot in places like that….and just to let you know all you have to do is drop some fish food in there once every other day and it would be fine…
    you could flush them
    fight them
    eat them
    put a put a lable on the glass your keeping them in
    (a small label) saying free to good home
    or a sign somewhere people can leave there number on it or something
    i probly sound stupid but im just trying to help
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17. Mustang Sally

    2009 Feb 06 17

    I think its a good idea, but…….
    they might die.
    At my engagement party, my sisters did the same thing…they put one fish in every centerpiece. My sister literally bought them the same day as the party, and 2 hours later, 2 died. They were floater centerpieces. We ended up leaving them in the bowl as a joke, but it wasn't such a formal event so people laughed about it. But at a wedding, I dunno…maybe not a good idea.
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18. Cole32

    2009 Feb 06 18

    Because normally the guests take the table decorations home with them and most people don't want to go to a wedding and then go home with a responsibility. And you don't want your lovely wedding couple to worry about what to do with 10 fish on the night of their wedding. Stick with flowers or candle arrangements….
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19. beatlemaniac

    2009 Feb 06 19

    Using living, animate creation like that is really selfish. They weren't put here to be someone's decoration. Puleeese, as a marine biologist how can he be so callous?
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20. onehoneybear

    2009 Feb 06 20

    They die. Keeping them alive and then transporting them to the venue, setting up the bowls on the table with the correct water temperature, etc., etc., could leave you with a bowl of water and a pretty fish floating to meet your guests. What about the bowls on each table with some coral, shells, plants in each. You might be able to incorporate into your decorations a tall column type aquarium with tropical fish. I would contact a pet store to make a deal. Or purchase it as a gift to the couple.

    Depending on where you live, there maybe a aquarium in your city who is willing to hold your reception in a particular viewing room. Might be an option for a spectacular venue.

    I might invest the time and money into a wedding coordinator for such an important event. Saves you plenty of worry and headaches. Good luck
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21. Emily J

    2009 Feb 06 21

    While the betta fish is a good idea, maybe suggest just getting one and putting it on their table? And then you could only find one home for it!
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22. Sophiesmom

    2009 Feb 06 22

    If you have a pet store near you or even a Walmart they sell them for under 4 dollars each…I keep 4 in my house in decorative jars, 1 i have had for 4 years…10 is not a lot to find homes for…I would do the fish for them.
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23. iloveweddings

    2009 Feb 06 23

    Hi. Personally, I don't like the idea of using live fish as a centerpiece. It may be different if you had them locally, but to pay to have them shipped in….then house them….then relocate them into bowls for the reception…and then what?

    Also, you cannot house them together….they are fighting fish and will fight to the death! I don't know ….I have read stories. Take a few groomsmen (or any guest) and give them a few too many drinks and then the betas go into one bowl….sick humor for a wedding reception! Yes, I have read that this has happened.

    It's nice that you are trying to incorporate your soon to be son-in-law's career into the wedding planning, but there has got to be another idea that you can come up with.

    Just go with a blue/green color scheme. Get small bowls and get the colored "vase gems" in blue/green and float some candles in them. OR….get a small glass bowl and use the fish tank colorful rocks…put some on the bottom and push down a small votive into the rocks.

    Good luck with your planning!
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24. My thoughts

    2009 Feb 06 24

    I think this is a bad idea.

    These are living breathing creatures, not decorations.

    I can just see Uncle Bob getting tipsy and stumbling into a table. BAM! There's Betta #1 flopping on the floor.

    And afterwards, how many of them will be flushed or suffer other horrors.

    Get flowers or plush toys. Please, not living animals.
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25. Engaro

    2009 Feb 06 25

    They will poop while people are trying to eat, and that is gross.
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26. B221J

    2009 Feb 06 26

    I think they're gross. Fish poop is gross and stringy…not attractive on the tables. I don't want to look at fish poop while I'm eating, sorry!
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27. bountifiles

    2009 Feb 06 27

    Guests would take them home, Petco could get them, and they're a heck of a lot cheaper than fresh flowers…. I say leave the kids be! IMO it works.
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28. Honeybee

    2009 Feb 06 28

    Invite the guests to taken them home as a favor!

    I do not care for this idea because how gross would it to have to stare at a dead fish while eating dinner (that may also be sea food considering he's a marine biologist!)

    This is the same idea for prolly around the same cost or cheaper!
    http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?namespace=browse&origin=searchMain.jsp&event=link.itemDetails&demandPrefix=12&sku=2/1397&mode=Searching&erec=6&D=glass%2Bfish&Ntt=glass%2Bfish&Ntk=all&Dx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&Ntx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&N=0&sd=Fun+Fishbowls
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29. ungirl

    2009 Feb 06 29

    You can get them quite easily at Wal-Mart or any pet store. And they are very cheap. Ask if you can return them to the store afterwards. Or, give them to the young cousins and neices and nephews in the family. Fish are a very small responsibility. You have to feed them once a day which takes about 2 seconds and is extremely cheap, and change their water about once a week. Yes, this is a responsiblity, but a good one for children. Children need to learn this kind of responsibility and a fish is a pretty harmless way to go.
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30. perfect_blue_and_blond

    2009 Feb 06 30

    My friend's sister had beta's for her centerpieces…they were beautiful! We live in a tiny town too, but there is a wal-mart nearby that sells them. Perhaps you could look into that. Getting rid of them shouldn't be too hard. Encourage people to take home a centerpiece. At the wedding I attended, most of the children talked their parents into taking one (including me)…it was very lovely.
    While it may seem unconventional to you, it is what they want, so I'd go for it. ANother thought, you could put one of the bridesmaids/groomsmen in charge of obtaining and getting rid of the fish.

    Best of luck!
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31. butters

    2009 Feb 06 31

    i would just wait until i got were i was going and buy the bettas from a local pet shop there you call them and ask them to have them there for you and you will be picking them up that would be alot easier on your part and you take them straight there and after the wedding i am sure there would plenty people who would want to take one home and your daughter would probally want one so you wouldnt have to deal with keeping them after ward but you may want to consider some time of lid if you are using the small bowls because i had a betta jump out of its bowl one time and thats not what someone wants ontop of their filet minon =) good luck
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32. blushing_bride

    2009 Feb 06 32

    i would say get then and make you daughter and son in law happy you could raffel them off by table towars the end of the reception as an extra favor or some
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33. heather

    2009 Mar 31 33

    I did the betta fish as centerpieces for my son’s communion, he’s very into fish. I used the vases, put the glass beads in the bottom that were my color theme and put a peace lily on top so the fish could eat the roots. It was a big hit! My guests were fighting over who was taken it home. I purchased the fish a few days before and had no casualties for the day. People who took the fish home had them for a few years.