18 Easy Floral Centerpiece Ideas for Every Dining Table

As far as parties and events go, dinner parties reign supreme as the most common method of entertaining.

Each year, Americans search for dinner-party related keywords over 11,000 times in Google. That’s about 9,000 more searches than the next most common event type (a cocktail party) gets.

When hosting a dinner party- or a brunch or a romantic date or a girl’s night in- you’ll need the perfect bouquet to adorn the center of your table.

Here, we’re going to talk about some floral centerpiece ideas that are sure to have you hyped for entertaining at your next event!

Classic Centerpieces

Classics are what they are for a reason: they never go out of style. That’s why creating your own classic bouquet for your dining table is an idea that you’re sure to be proud that you had. Read on for some ideas of arrangements that are always en vogue.

1. Ruby Red Roses

Roses are the ideal flower for basically any event. They’re romantic and perfect for a dinner date, but they also are ideal for family gatherings or classy girl’s nights. Roses come in a ton of different colors, all of them gorgeous. However, red is likely the color that comes to mind when you think of this classic bloom.

Red roses are perfect centerpieces because they’re bright and loud. Everyone is sure to notice them, love them, and envy them.

2. Roses and Foliage

Cutting roses and arranging their stems in vases is easy and beautiful, but you can also create a DIY arrangement that has their vibrant hue resting against green leaves and foliage. This will provide the perfect contrast between hot and cold colors.

For added fun, try including small white or pastel-blue flowers in the bouquet! This will create a well-rounded look for your bouquet and ultimately ensure that it looks perfect.

3. Multicolor Carnations

Carnations are flowers that are just as beautiful and classy as roses, and they come in a ton of different colors. This means that you’ll have a lot of options to choose from when creating floral displays.

Different hues of carnations symbolize various messages, too. This means that you can look over these messages and decide which best characterizes your event. For example, if you’re hanging with your mom, bright pink carnations can be used to express familial love. If someone has passed away and you’re hosting a post-funeral dinner, purple carnations can be used to express condolences.

4. Soft Pink Petals

While red is often used to represent the passionate whirlwind of romance, pink is used to symbolize the constant support of friendship. That’s why light pastel pink flowers are the perfect centerpiece for dinners with the friends that you hold close to your heart.

We live in a society that often undervalues friendship, and it’s something that we often take for granted. Don’t do this. Call your best friend and invite her over for a home-cooked meal and a good chat. Pastel pink blooms on the table are something she’s sure to adore (and, if you want to be extra nice, take home.)

5. Pure White Wonders

White is often thought to be the color of purity. For this reason, it’s used a lot at weddings. While there are a lot of steps to planning a wedding, getting gorgeous centerpieces to go on each table is a must-do item on the agenda.

There are a lot of white flowers that will do the trick in these scenarios. Dahlias make for the perfect little buttons in between the larger calla lilies, petunias, and wisterias. Try out different styles and assess what you like best!

Unique Blooms

While sticking with the classics is great, sometimes you’ll want to try something a little riskier. Read on to learn some unique flowers that make amazing centerpieces at any dining table.

6. Lovely Lilies

Lilies are tall, bold, and proud flowers that are perfect for any centerpiece. They droop in a way that gives the appearance of a waterfall, which is incredibly aesthetically pleasing.

A great way to incorporate lilies into your table decorations is to place them around the edges of a bouquet. Fill the center of the bouquet with small pastel-colored flowers like yellow or pink dahlias. The contrast in size will make both flower types stand out against one another.

7. Bleeding Hearts

One of our personal favorite types of flowers is called a bleeding heart. These get their name because they’re small and pink flowers on a vine that are shaped like tiny hearts. Each heart has a small white seed growing at the end of them that has the appearance of a tiny droplet.

Consider getting some black or white flowers and using bleeding hearts all around them. This will give them a floral bouquet that they can stand out against and truly be the star of.

They’re also incredibly easy to cultivate in your garden, which means that you can stick by them at every step of the process! Have fun growing and using bleeding hearts in all your decorative needs- you’re sure to love them.

8. Marigolds

Marigolds bloom late in the summer and throughout the autumn, making them perfect for Thanksgiving centerpieces. These flowers come in a lot of different warm shades, including bright yellow and burnt orange. This gives them a feisty, fiery vibe, ensuring that your table has an individualistic flair.

Note that marigolds look best if there’s some variation in the colors within your bouquet. It’s fine to only use marigolds within your centerpiece (with no other flower types), but they’ll wind up looking like one bushy mass if you don’t use multiple hues.

9. Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is awesome because of the arching shrubs that they bloom on. The small flowers sit on a mass of green foliage and bloom against it, providing you with natural color contrast. Not only that, but they also bloom naturally in spherical shapes. This is really interesting to look at.

You can use honeysuckle alone, but it also looks great in conjunction with other green plants. Small ferns are a great backdrop for honeysuckle plants, as are leafy plants.

10. Floral Vines

Vines are another unique way to ensure that your floral table centerpiece stands out. Twining philodendron or pothos around a long skewer amidst a garden of short-stemmed flowers is a great way to show off your great taste when it comes to DIY arrangements.

Historical Flowers

If you’re a history buff (or care about symbolism more generally), you might be interested in creating a bouquet centerpiece that has historical meaning. Read on to learn about some of the most historically significant flowers and how you can use them as table centerpieces.

11. Victorian Language of Flowers

People in the 1800s believed greatly in flower symbolism. It was a prevalent method of communication in the time period, and if you wanted to send a message of love to someone or express an emotion that you had, you could do so through flowers.

An interesting way to create a centerpiece for your table is by choosing flowers that would have meant something to you in the Victorian era. For example, ambrosia could be incorporated in arrangements when you invite a date over to tell them that their love is reciprocated. Fleur de lis represented the burning of flames, so you could present them to someone you’re passionate about.

Check out more interesting meanings here!

12. Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums are gorgeous flowers that can often be found in pastel colors. They have a history of symbolism that dates back to the 1400s, when people gave them to both loved ones and royalty to express a desire for longevity, fidelity, happiness, and optimism.

Incorporating them into your table decor is sure to make people feel good, especially if you explain that they’re meant to bring joy and wishes for a long and faithful life.

13. Green Carnations

Popularized by playwright-poet Oscar Wilde in the 1800s, the green carnation became a symbol for those who went against the grain. Not only was it used by LGBT people as an accessory so that they could find one another, but people of all orientations used it to express their love for the aesthetic movement.

If you want to express a love of what is beautiful on your table, green carnations are the perfect flower for you.

Oh, one more thing: they aren’t found naturally, so you’ll need to dye white carnations in order to get them. This fun and easy process is the reason that Oscar Wilde loved them- they, like him and his followers, are unusual and unique.

Full-On Setups

No matter what types of flowers you want adorning your dinner table, there are ways that you can spice up your centerpiece even more. Read on to learn some unique ways that you can express yourself with your dining table’s decorations.

14. Fairy Light Frenzy

One way to spice up any part of your home decor is by adding fairy lights to it. These strings of soft light make whatever they’re accentuating stand out. They provide a warm and romantic backdrop to any room, making them the perfect accessory for your floral centerpiece at a romantic dinner.

You can use these string lights to add a little pizzaz to any bouquet. Think about including them against a hot-colored one, though, if you want to provide guests with the feeling of a bonfire on a warm summer night.

15. Think Pink

Pink is the perfect color for any centerpiece. Not only is it bold and beautiful, but it also comes in a huge variety of hues and shades. This means that you can choose many different blooms to create a cohesive centerpiece.

A fun, feminine combination of hot pink roses, soft pink lilies, and small rosemallows are the perfect DIY centerpiece for your next girl’s night. Start clipping these gorgeous styles and arranging- we promise you’ll love the end result.

16. Candlelit Beauties

Nothing screams ‘romance’ like a dinner by candlelight. It’s a classic for a reason. What you may not have thought of, though, is using candles to accentuate a floral bouquet. That’s double the romance and double the fun!

You can use pretty much any flower to create a candlelit bouquet, so why not surprise yourself? Join the flower of the month club and use the fresh blooms they send to you for your next date night. Make some Italian food, drink some tea, and pop the champagne.

17. Here Comes the Sun

Want to give your table a sense of warm energy? Try creating a flower scheme that looks like sunshine.

One great way to make your table feel sunny is by adding sunflowers to your setup. These huge, unique flowers are a bold choice for any centerpiece. They’re incredibly noticeable and gorgeous, which makes them one of the most memorable floral centerpiece options.

However, if you’re going for something a little more subtle, you can add this feeling to your table with bright yellow flowers scattered in with white ones. Try yellow roses and carnations, but also experiment with marigolds and tulips.

18. Fun With Food

While it would be strange to do at small and intimate gatherings, you can incorporate food into your floral arrangements at larger occasions. Weddings, family gatherings, and Easter brunches are the perfect opportunity to incorporate snacks into your table’s centerpiece.

Chocolate covered strawberries and Hershey’s kisses are perfect for people to munch on throughout any event. Include them among pastel-colored carnations on every table so that people can access tasty treats with no shame.

Beyond Floral Centerpiece Ideas

While there are a lot of floral arrangements that you can choose from at any event, you can’t go wrong with classic, unique, or historically significant blooms. Spicing things up a little bit with fairy lights or candles is also a great way to make the bouquet your own.

Now that you know the best floral centerpiece ideas for any dining table, it’s time to get more tips on maintaining a great lifestyle beyond hosting your dinner party. Browse our online magazine for some more healthy lifestyle tips!