My sister-in-law, Julie, didn’t want to do traditional floral centerpieces for wedding reception. I knew she loved arrangements that had light inside of them so when I discovered red submersible LED lights, I knew I had to use them. I found my lights at my local Michael’s store, but I should have done some online shopping first, because the ones I found on Amazon will work just as well, come in more colors, and are cheaper! Anyway, I loved the lights, and immediately started brainstorming on how to use them.

The brainstorming paid off and I came up with a really cool idea that also solved the issue of how to serve champagne at the reception. I thought it would look neat for the lights to be shining through ice, so I put a light in the bottom of a clear plastic ice bucket and sat one in the middle of each table. I surrounded the bucket with 8 plastic champagne flutes and sprinkled some acrylic ice all around.

Then, right before the reception started, I had the servers add a bottle of champagne and fill the buckets with ice and red rose petals. More petals were scattered on the table, and the whole look was just fantastic!

And just look how gorgeous this fire-and-ice centerpiece looks at night, when the lights were dimmed for dancing!

If you use this idea, be sure to test one of your lights before the big event so you can see how long it will last before the battery dies. Mine lasted well over 4 hours during my test, and they outlasted the dancing at the actual reception.

The bride was so happy with this project because she got a very unique centerpiece that was also functional and will save her a LOT of money. She would have purchased the champagne anyway, and the buckets and lights were a nominal fee compared to the quote she got for even very basic floral arrangements.

I love this idea so much that plan on using again at our next Christmas party, too!