The key question isn't, 'What fosters creativity?' But it is, 'Why isn't everyone creative?'"

The wedding can be built around tradition and heritage, your personal style and taste, couples' interests and hobbies. It is a priority for everyone to ensure the success of this memorable moment.

So, where do you begin? How do you envision and create an environment for your guests from scratch, the one that they will remember long afterwards?

Over a decade, I have been privileged to help people to plan and design their weddings. Although every event or wedding is unique, similar components are always present. Most likely, a wedding will have a ceremony and reception, flowers for the bridal party and attendants. The décor for every segment of the wedding may be elaborate, simple or traditional and can be summarized with one common word - elegant. Therefore, we need to determinate what style suits you best and start designing an event that is truly yours.

Be original. Your guests will certainly be charmed and excited by what you create because it is unlikely for you to be ordinary. A wedding is all about details every step of the way. Today I would like to concentrate on the reception area. In most cases, it would be a place where your guest will spend the majority of time. The table settings will be a focal point that commands the attention of everyone. Depending what kind of space you have to work with, you have to consider a few aspects while designing the centerpieces for dinner tables; scale, texture, color and even sense.

Lighting could be the most important design element, it evokes a different atmosphere.

If a wedding is a formal seated dinner in a ball room with a twenty four foot ceiling you probably will want to fill the empty space by building six/seven foot arrangements.

Most likely, you would want to add more texture by dressing the table with an elegant overlay and napkins. In the areas where the ceiling will not allow you to use the high arrangements, you may want to create an interesting composition of different size lower glass containers and flowers. Whatever the case might be, we need to allocate the budget for our table setting and frankly it could be very costly, especial in our trouble economy.

Don't worry. There are ways to create elaborate events without spending a fortune. Let's look at some options.

Visualize the overall look that we are trying to achieve. If we were to build a high centerpiece, wouldn't you say that using small flowers might not be feasible? On the other hand, flowers like hydrangea, gerberas, and lilies would cover a lot. A lot of times my clients don't want to see any greenery. Ok, not a problem. Use less expensive flowers like carnations as a base. It just happens to be that carnations are very beautiful, sturdy and colorful flowers, but if you do not particularly like them, not to worry, you will not see them. Use them as filler and a base.

If your theme is more towards the natural look, you can use branches with flowers attached. I love to work with curly willow. When using a proper container you can build a centerpiece that would be over six feet high and still cost under a hundred dollars. Another option is to use natural trees. For example, a six feet tall Manzanita tree gives you a spectacular, chic and unique look. Again, although those trees are very pricey you may easily find a company who rents them.

Recently we built a six-foot crystal chandelier centerpiece with silk orchids attached. Our client saved a ton of money and still had a million dollar look on her wedding day. There are event design companies who specialize in building custom designs. You can save money and yet craft a unique wedding.

I remember, about seven years ago we created our first life-like silk centerpiece. Over sixty high quality flowers in true natural colors were used in each arrangement. It was a "million dollar" look then and it still is. Today you will find a few companies that rent silk centerpieces for your event for a fracture of cost.

Keep in mind dimensions if you need to create low table arrangements. Pending on your theme, use different size glass containers. There are so many options. The containers can be filled with different color gel and LED lights, sea glass, marbles, green leaves, fruits and more. You can use the same flowers in all of the containers or fill each container with a different flower in a different color. The possibilities are endless.

My advice to you is, find an event/wedding design company near you, make an appointment and see what they have to offer. Tell them your budget and see what they can do for you. You will be surprised how easy it could be.

Michael Heifez