We did colored sand in tall vases with floating candles. Then decorated the outside to match her "theme" which was beach based. Just make sure that when you fill the vases with water, you put ICE in there first to let it saturate the first couple layers of sand. Some colored sand will float and make bubbles. It was pretty cheap and fun. For the large quanity of white sand we just used white play ground sand and washed it in a cooler or swimming pool, let it drain and let the sun dry it for you. I have many ideas if you need them. I did all of her flowers and all of her centerpieces, along with her invitations as well. We had two different centerpieces so everything didnt look so the same. I will post another one of the other one as well. ... View related article.