Intimate Wedding Showcase: DIY Wheatgrass Centerpieces

DIY Wheatgrass Centerpiece for Wedding Guest Table

I love it when a bride wants something different! I was delighted to meet with Sophie and her planner Michelle in December of 2011. Sophie brought her inspiration photos which included a picture of a grass centerpiece with wildflowers, so after seeing what she loved I said to Sophie something like, "Of course I can do that!"

After doing some online research and some local calling, I found wheatgrass seeds and some instructions for how to proceed. My first trial at growing the grass was in May 2012, with a second trial in June 2012, and finally the real deal in July 2012.

Head Table

The guest reception tables holding our grass centerpieces would be large rectangles 5' x 6', so we decided that the ten tables would hold grass centerpieces 10" x 30". Another four (4) tables for the bridal party's head table would need smaller grass centerpieces 10" x 20". My excellent partner Kyle (a.k.a. "The Other B") and I designed and built the fourteen (14) trays that would hold the grass arrangements.

I ordered wheatgrass seeds from WheatgrassKits.com and gathered my other supplies.

The first pictures that follow here are from the trial in June when we grew one tray of grass. Then below are the pictures from July when we grew 14 slabs of grass plus 2 extras just in case we had a problem. Having extra grass also allowed us to experiment with the insertion of our flowers.

Day 0

Follow These Steps

Soak 1 cup of seeds in 3 cups of water (Handy Pantry Hard Red Wheat Sprouting Seed from WheatgrassKits.com).
Let sit overnight.
Put foil pans together to fit size of tray using duct tape. (Use only on upper edges to keep the trays together. Otherwise the roots of the grass will stick to the tape.)
Punch holes across bottom.
Fill with 10 cups potting soil (Schulz Seed Starter Plus from Walmart)
Top with single layer of seeds.
Cover with 5 cups potting soil.
Water with sprayer.
Cover with wet paper and let sit for 3 days.
Uncover on Day 4 and place in indirect sun.

Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow.
Remove from foil pan.
If inserting fresh flowers, layer tray with wet oasis foam before placing grass on top.

Day 1 - Put foil pans together
to fit size of tray.

Day 1 - Preferred
Shultz Seed Starter Plus
because of less bark.

Day 1 - 10 cups dirt and
1 cup of soaked seeds spread evenly on top.

Day 1 - Closeup of seeds.

Day 1 - Covered with wet paper.
Day 1 & Day 2 - Watered.

Day 3 - A.M. - Lifted paper for a peek.
Small shoots starting to appear.

Day 4 - A.M. - Removed paper.
Shoots have pushed up the dirt.

Day 4 - A.M. - Uncovered and began watering.
The blades have pushed up the dirt.
Watered with sprayer until dirt fell down.

Day 5 - A.M. - Grass is about 4" tall.

Day 5 - P.M. - Grass is about 5" tall.

Day 6 - A.M. - Grass is about 6" tall.

Day 6 - A.M.

Pulled foil away from roots.

Lined tray with plastic and layered with
1" of wet Oasis floral foam.

Lifted slab of grass from foil pan
and set into plastic lined tray.

On Day 6 of our July grass growing for the wedding, we experimented by adding fresh flowers
to one of our extra slabs of grass. We inserted Sunflowers, Gerbera Daisies, Black-Eyed Susans,
Scabiosa Pods, Billy Buttons and Sweetgum Balls. For the wedding we also
added white pompom daisies, gold curly twigs, and Fairy Berries twinkly lights!

Growing 16 Trays at Once is a Little Different!

Based on our earlier trials and in order to get the height we wanted, we decided to plant the seeds on Day 1 for the wedding on Day 7.

Twelve 10" x 30" trays (made 2 extra)

Put 3 foil trays together for correct size. Used duct tape to hold it together.
Punch holes across bottom
Fill with 10 cups potting soil (Schulz Seed Starter Plus or Miracle Gro Potting Mix from Walmart)
Top with single layer of seeds (1 cup per tray)
Cover with 5 cups potting soil

Four 10" x 20" trays

Put 2 foil trays together for correct size. Used duct tape to hold it together.
Punch holes across bottom
Fill with 6.5 cups potting soil (Schulz Seed Starter Plus or Miracle Gro Potting Soil from Walmart)
Top with single layer of seeds (2/3 cup per tray)
Cover with 3.5 cups potting soil

Day 1 Sunday 7/22/12 - Used some Schultz Seed Starter and
some Miracle Gro Potting Mix.

Day 1 - Sunday 7/22/12 - Watered and covered
with wet paper towels.
Day 2 & 3 - Monday & Tuesday 7/23-7/24/12 -
Watered twice daily.

Day 4 - Wednesday 7/25/12 - A.M. - Uncovered and watered.
Concerned about the weight of the potting soil on top of
the seeds. Not all of the sprouts were able to push through.

Day 5 - Thursday 7/26/12 - 6 AM -
Raked a lot of the potting soil off of the top
of the grass shoots with a large meat fork.

Day 5 - Thursday 7/26/12 - 6 A.M. -
Grass in the best tray is about 3-1/2" tall.

Day 5 - Thursday 7/26/12 - 9 P.M. -
Grass is finally looking good!

Day 5 - Thursday 7/26/12 - 9 P.M. -
Grass is about 4-1/2" tall.

Day 6 - Friday 8 A.M. - Grass is about 5-1/2" tall.

Day 6 - Friday 7/27/12 - 11 P.M.

Day 6 - Friday 7/27/12 - 11 P.M. -
Grass is about 7" tall.

The End Result and Other Design Elements!

On the day of the wedding, Day 7, Saturday, 7/28/12, the grass was about 8-9" tall! All of the trays were lined with wet Oasis foam, and the slabs of grass were transferred into the trays and transported to the reception site where the flowers were inserted. The Gerbera Daisy stems had to be strengthened with spikes in order to penetrate the roots and go into the Oasis foam. The sweetgum balls had been collected, sprayed with clear polyurethane spray, wired with 6" of wire, and "stems" wrapped with brown floral tape. The other flowers, even the large stalks of the sunflowers, were able to stand up well in the grass.