23 Mason Jar Ideas from Real Weddings

Mason jars date back to the 1850s, when they were a necessity for canning and preserving food. The molded glass containers became a pantry staple—holding jams, pickles, and more—but can now be repurposed and used for a multitude of décor ideas at a wedding. While many of the ideas that follow cater to a more rustic or natural affair, their casual style is pretty versatile. You can choose to buy new jars or upcycle a stash you've collected over time. The variety of sizes means you can use them for centerpieces, lighting, drinkware, serving pieces, and favors. And because they're clear and come with lids, you can show off what you've put inside, display them open, or seal them up as they were intended to be used.

Confused about what the difference between a Mason jar and a Ball jar is? It's really just the name. Mason refers to John Landis Mason who invented the jar, and Ball is one of the biggest companies that's been manufacturing them ever since. That's why you'll see their name pressed in to the glass of some of the jars that follow.

Using Mason jars in your décor is relatively easy thanks to a slew of DIY projects. This couple used several to customize their ceremony backdrop by lighting them up and stringing them in a tree. You'll definitely want to consider an idea like this if you're getting hitched at sunset or on a bucolic estate in autumn. Click through this gallery for more ideas that fit all seasons and styles, and then get ready to incorporate Mason jars in to your big day. Trust us, they're not over yet.

You Can Handle It

Make your drinks easier to hold with handled jar glassware. Take it up a notch by making them dual purpose, with a colorful escort tag tied on, and pop a patterned paper straw in for an additional dose of color.

Label Your Tables

Filled jars were used as table numbers once Panache Event Planning wrote on them with gold paint. Since the jars are clear, you can fill them with just about anything that suits your style—river rocks, vegetables, or sentimental tidbits you've saved from your relationship are all good ideas.

Stay Hydrated

Swap out the typical water goblet or stemmed glass for a Mason jar if you're planning a rustic reception. We love how the drinkware is a constant but the plates feature a mix of different patterns. It gives the whole celebration a feeling of an elevated, casual backyard bash.

Creative Candle Holders

If the standard glass hurricanes are too modern for your taste, consider placing pillar candles in large Ball jars. Here, Belovely Floral & Event Design used pebbles and moss on this tree-stump display that would be a beautiful way to anchor your ceremony spot or line a pathway to your reception tent.

Autumnal Décor

Event Designs by Katherine paired a white-gourd-turned-table-number with a mason jar of flowers, then set both atop a slice of wood. The final result was so autumnal and sweet. For a wedding that celebrates the season, an unfussy, clear vessel keeps nature at the forefront.

Hung With Style

The beauty of a Mason jar is that its lip makes it easy to hang. Using twine wrapped around the neck a few times and slung over a simple folding chair, these arrangements of astilbe and ranunculus dressed up the aisle in style.

Light Them Up

Going rustic on your big day? Consider this take on a chandelier, which incorporates an old wagon wheel, pretty greenery, and bistro lights strung inside mason jars. The light reflects beautifully inside the vessels and celebrates your chosen theme.

Light Up the Night

This eco-friendly idea packs quite the punch. Pieces of wood were refurbished to make a unique light fixture from bottomless Mason jars. Topped with greenery, this would look stunning over a head table—whether in a tent, barn, or loft.

Fruit Forward

Serving basic lemonade as a cool refreshment during your summer cocktail hour is always a welcome idea. But when you can take it up a notch, that's even better. Fill Ball jars with agua frescas or add a chili-flecked pineapple wedge to fruit juice and then garnish them. Here, Haute Catering dressed up the rims and presented the old-time glassware on an equally vintage ladder shelves (like this option from Archive Rentals). We love this presentation of alternating options!

At the Kids' Table

Set a seat for each child attending your wedding but instead of plates and glassware, use craft supplies and a Mason jar filled with candy. The combination of art materials (even as basic as a bowl of crayons) and sugar will keep them entertained until it's time to dance.

Fun Favors

This couple transformed simple jars into special mementos by applying felt cutouts in the shapes of their home states. They then printed a favorite lyric on gold paper and affixed the piece to lids wrapped with burlap. Take it one step further by filling them up with your favorite candy or snack, or do something similar as part of your welcome bag.

Line Your Aisle

Shepherd's hooks are great for hanging décor along your ceremony aisle. Because of their wide openings, Ball jars hold the perfect amount of flowers, so place arrangements every few rows (with petals scattered on the ground) for maximum impact.

Grab a Jar

At this couple's wedding, Sunkissed Events worked with East Beach Catering and Paper Tangent to serve the signature cocktail—a vodka lemonade—in style. Jars were filled with the infused beverage and tied off with Kraft paper tags tied on with twine. The calligraphy on the tags, which read, "Bottoms Up!" elevated the simple presentation.

Down the Middle

Decorate your tables without breaking the bank by going heavy on tea light candles and dressing up simple canning jars. Here, a mix of materials added visual interest and texture. You could also tape off stripes or paint the jars in solid colors for a more colorful collection of centerpieces.

Portable Place Settings

Toss napkins and utensils in a Mason jar that guests can then fill with whatever beverage they fancy. This tag is too cute, with its rhyme identifying the jars as "your glass for the night, for whatever seems right."

Help Yourself

Make a welcome refreshment station with large jar dispensers filled with cider, lemonade, or flavored water.

Fun Centerpieces

Flowers Squared Floral Shop lined a large Mason jar with lemon slices for a pop of color before arranging white snapdragons inside of it. A smaller jar was wrapped with twine in a loose manor to let the glowing candlelight show through. Let this combination inspire you and your floral designer to dream up unique ways to enhance the interiors and exteriors of the jars used in your décor.

Ready for Eating

Make it easy for guests to grab their grub at a buffet by corralling utensils and napkins into Mason jars (which double as their glasses). All they need to do is pick one up and find a seat. Consider this idea for a casual rehearsal dinner, too.

Jam On

Why not use a jar for one of its intended purposes—by filling it with homemade jam and sending guests home with a sweet reminder of your wedding day. Baker's twine is a fitting material to tie on a tag for a fresh-from-the-kitchen feel.

A Specialty Cocktail

Guests at this wedding strolled around the lawn sipping a variation on Dark and Stormies in Mason jars outfitted with striped flags. If you're having a coastal celebration, you may want to follow suit.

Clustered Centerpieces

Centerpieces were kept minimal so they wouldn't detract from the natural surroundings at this farm wedding. Jars filled with white stock flowers and roses were placed in small groupings down the tables. In a scenario like this, showing off the sides of the jars and the logos or designs pressed into them complements the simplicity of the flowers arranged inside of them.

A Taste of Home

Because this couple didn't get married in the United Kingdom where they live, they wanted to have a touch of home at their French destination wedding. Pimm's Cups, an English summer libation, seemed liked the perfect fix.