Savvy Entertaining

If you are looking for a centerpiece that brings a “Wow” factor to your table, think about combining unusual elements together.

One combination that I love is a vase filled with sliced limes topped with a bouquet of flowers. Not only is it a striking visual element on your table the smell of the limes mixing with the florals creates an appealing scent.

This centerpiece doesn’t take that long to put together, but really makes a statement.

To create it you will need:

6-8 limes (depending on size)

a hurricane vase

a plain glass  florist vase

6-8 stems of a “drapey” flower

6-8 stems of a “stalk” flower

10-12 stems of a “blooming” flower

To assemble, start by slicing your limes. I make the slices pretty thin.

When you are finished with that, put the plain florist vase inside the hurricane. It is okay if the florist vase sticks up a bit because the top will be hidden anyway.

Once the vase is in place, start layering in the limes until you’ve got them going up to the top of the hurricane. Fill both the hurricane and the plain vase with water.

Start arranging the flower stems inside the plain vase. I use the “drapey” flowers around the outside edge of the vase in particular,to hide the edges. The “stalk flowers” create some texture and height appeal while the “blooming” flowers add bright pops of color and texture.For this arrangement I used cuttings from a snowball bush that had not yet bloomed for my “drapey” flowers, lavender stems for my “stalk” flowers and peonies for the “blooming” flowers.

Have fun with this, be creative and remember there aren’t any rules set in stone about how this has to look. You could also substitute lemon or orange slices and you could use any combination of flowers and greenery. If you want dramatic height, you could even throw in a few tree branches.

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna