Forever & A Day Decor 2013 | Page 14

Are you considering fish instead of traditional flowers as your centerpiece? Personally, I love the idea. Having a fish as a centerpiece is very controversial among many people, because more often than not they are not responsibly taken care after the event. If you are indeed interested, please consider the following before making a definitive answer. Fish as a centerpiece may be gorgeous, but keep in mind they do require more maintenance than inanimate objects.

• First, figure out the number of centerpieces you will need.

• Once you have figured out how many centerpieces you will have, you will know how many fish you need to find homes for. Make sure to plan ahead where the fish will go. The day of the event if you try to just give them away you will undoubtedly receive multiple excuses why they cannot take it. Plan ahead; be prepared; be responsible.

• After you have homes decided for them you can start thinking about design. Now’s when to choose what vase, bowl, rocks, or color fish (etc.) you'd like

• When choosing a fish I'd suggest bettas, but gold fish are an alternative. Both types of fish will get stressed, however bettas are a hardier fish in general. Do NOT choose fish like neon tetras, guppies, angel fish etc. because they are much more sensitive and more than likely wouldn't survive the event.

• If choosing bettas you may want to get a deep container, because they do jump and a fish flopping on the table isn't ideal for anyone.

• If using candles in conjunction do your research and use a safe one. Find a non-dripping candle.

• Wait on placing the fish into their containers last minute to limit stress. However, it'd be a good idea to prefill the containers the night before to give the water time to get to room temperature.

• Use filtered water or use a dechlorinator you can get at a local pet store.

• Lastly, it may be a good idea to pre-print up care sheets to give out with the fish so your guest knows how to properly care of their new pet.

If after taking all these things into account you are still interested and willing to go through what you need to have this type of centerpiece, I say go for it and enjoy!

Mention code: f15hb0wl to receive a 10% discount on the above product. Limited use; may apply on up to 3 fishbowl centerpieces.

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Fishbowl Centerpieces