Fishbowl faff! Anyone feeling creative?

We are having what you would definitely call a wedding on a budget!

To save some money we decided to do our own centrepieces so I got some bargain fishbowls from B&M and mirror plates from ebay. Our florist is providing us with a bunch of gerberas (enough for 3 per bowl) and a load of flexigrass for £15.

Now I'm wondering what to do with it all! I can think of 3 options:

1. Wrap the flexigrass round the outside of the inside of the bowl (if that makes sense ) and put some water in the bottom of the bowl to float the flower heads in

2. Same again with flexigrass but instead of water for the flowers, buy some aquabeads to put the on - in this case, does anyone know how much I will need for 6 x 8 inch fish bowls?

3. Same again with the flexigrass but using water and aquabeads? - in this case, does anyone know whether you can use aquabeads in water or do they just float / keep getting bigger and soaking up more water?

Any suggestions welcome!

Hi,

we've done our centrepieces too well with the help of my auntie who used to own a wedding business so still has access to the wholesalers etc.

I really wanted fishbowls but have got vases in the end with glittery stuff exploding out of it haha...doesn't do it justice but i'm sure it will pull together in the end.

Personally, i'm not keen on those aquabeads and I think I would just go with the water option. i love the floating flower heads could you add in a floating candle or too? I've cleared candles with our venue but don't know if everywhere would be ok with this.

What about wrapping the flowers on the stem around the outside of the inside of the glass (that sounds so odd but I know what you mean!) with the flexigrass and then put a small tealight in the centre?

This is what I'm having but without the flexigrass stuff - I'm also having 3 gerberas per bow (so bigger bowls than this)

Some more ideas too:

I'd love candles but unfortunately our venue doesn't allow them at all.

Thanks Nutts, the top pic is exactly what I've been looking for, your googling skills must be better than mine!

Don't suppose you've had a play with aqua beads yet? I have no idea how much I'll need!

Haha I spent hours googling and now have folders of saved pictures to call upon!

I'm not actually using aqua beads, I've just got crushed clear stones to fill mine with, I've got 3 tubs of these http://www.elitefloristsupplies.co.uk/decorative-glass-and-fillings/glass-stones-and-pebbles/glass-stones-3-5kg-clear for 10 fishbowls.

Oh that's a good idea! Do they hold any water to keep the flowers fresh? Or will the gerbera heads last long enough without?

I'm actually having silk gerbera heads so no worries for me about keeping fresh! But you could always put a little bit of water in with these stones, they'd be heavy enough to stay at the bottom..

Nutella, where did you get your silk gerbera heads from?  I want bright pinks ones and want good quality ones.  Thanks

I'm getting them from Rainbow Florist who is a HIB on here, along with my bouquets and buttonholes.

Her website is http://rainbowweddingflowers.co.uk/ but she will work from any ideas you have as well which is what she's doing for me.

you cant use aqua beads with water as they just disapear into it.

Also have you tried putting three geberas in yet? as we also have some of these from b&m that we usually put on top of a bigger one on the top table and we have never been able to put more than 1 or 2 flowers in without it looking crowded?

I've mocked mine up tonight as I happened to have a vase of gerberas with a few of the right colour in there. Had no problem getting 3 in and I think it looks perfect, not too crowded at all.

I had no problem with 3 flowers either, my vases are 8 inches diameter. I've only tried them in water so far not with aqua beads but I think it will work even better with the beads as I can sort of bury the stems in them so they stay put, whereas with water they will float around and that will be no good for my (wedding planning induced) OCD!