Floating candles create an ambiance of tranquility and elegance. They’re specifically designed to float atop water, adding a unique element to table centerpieces for special events such as holiday celebrations, weddings or other events. Making floating candles is a great way to create an eye-catching centerpiece for your next dinner party. While the basic process of making floating candle centerpieces is simple and relatively quick to complete, you can get extra creative with the endless design possibilities. Learn how to make floating candles and more here.

What Are Floating Candles? 

Floating candles are crafted with a special design that allows them to remain buoyant on water surfaces. Unlike traditional candles that sit in a holder, these burn on top of water. Typically, they feature a flat base and are made from various types of wax. One popular alternative to traditional floating candles is Foton Pearled Candles, known for their versatility and reusability.

The Allure of Floating Candles

The allure of floating candles lies in their ability to create a mesmerizing atmosphere. Whether used for a romantic dinner, a relaxing bath, or a festive celebration, these candles enhance the ambiance with their gentle glow. Since it’s possible to add various decorations such as decorative rocks, crystals, branches and/or fresh or faux flowers among other things into the water, the possibilities to match any design theme are endless.

Benefits of Floating Pearled Candles

Foton Pearled Candles are particularly recommended for floating candle arrangements. Pearled candles take the shape of any container and are more sustainable than alternative floating candle options. Here are some of the benefits of using pearled candles for your floating arrangement: 

• Elegant & customizable Aesthetic: Whether used as part of a centerpiece with floating candles and flowers or scattered around a room, pearled candles elevate the visual appeal and create a captivating atmosphere. Pearled candles take the shape of any container, so whether you’re using a cylinder, square or another vase shape, Foton pearls cover the surface evenly for an elegant look. You can also combine floating pearled candles with Foton pearls in a complementing container to complete your centerpiece.
• Longer Burn Time: Pearled candles are crafted from high-quality wax that burns more efficiently compared to traditional candles. This results in a longer burn time, allowing you to enjoy extended periods of illumination without the need for frequent replacement. Each Foton wick provides around 12 hours of burn time, and you get plenty of wicks with every Foton Candle so you’d never run out.
• Clean-Burning: Traditional floating candles are made from petroleum-based paraffin wax, which can produce toxic fumes and excess soot. Foton Pearled Candles are made from highly purified proprietary plant-based wax, making them burn cleanly with minimal smoke or soot.
• Reusable & Refillable Candles: Foton Pearled Candles are an eco-friendly candle option that’s smarter for us and kinder to our planet. Unlike traditional floating candles that need to be replaced after each use, floating pearled candles can be reused even after using them to make floating candle centerpieces. Simply replace the wick in your floating candle vase, and you have a new candle every time. If you’re ready to switch up your décor from a floating candle centerpiece to something different, your Foton pearls can easily transition from a floating candle back to a container candle.  Simply scoop out the pearls from the water or catch them in a fine-meshed strainer, then allow them to air dry on paper towels before reusing. 

Using Floating Candles Safely

While floating candles offer aesthetic charm, it's essential to prioritize safety when using them. Always ensure any decorations such as flowers are completely submerged in the water before pouring pearled candles on top of the water. This keeps potentially flammable decorations from getting too close to the pearled candle flame as the candle is burning and slowly melting down. As always, never leave burning candles unattended, and keep them away from drafts, kids, pets and flammable materials.

Learn How to Make Floating Candles

Unlike traditional wax candles that may not float well, Foton’s white pearled candles are specifically designed for this purpose. Their small size and lightweight construction allow them to rest comfortably on the water's surface.

Here's a basic approach to creating floating candles:

1. Choose a suitable container: Glass bowls or vases are generally the best options as they’re transparent and allow you to see the décor in the water. While we recommend heat-resistant containers for added safety, the primary consideration is to ensure the vase is at least 4 inches wide at its narrowest part for a single-wick candle. This is to ensure that the melt pool will never reach the container edge so the container wouldn’t heat up. It also makes cleanup easier as the melting pearls won’t reach the edge so nothing sticks.
2. Decorate (Optional): Enhance your centerpiece by adding decorative elements such as pebbles, flowers, or seashells to the water before adding the pearled candles. They make ideal Christmas floating candles and decorations for other holidays. If you choose to use flowers, you’ll find that most flowers tend to want to rise to the water’s surface. Pro tip – use hot glue to glue the flowers down to the bottom of the vase to prevent them from wanting to float. If you’re using decorative rocks and flowers in your floating pearled candle, you may be able to anchor the flowers between the rocks.
3. Add water: Fill your container with enough water to ensure all the decorations are fully submerged while still leaving at least 3 inches of space above the water.
4. Add Foton Pearled Candles: Carefully pour white Foton candle pearls on top of the water. Keep in mind only our white pearls are suitable for floating candles, our colored versions are not. We recommend at least a 2-inch deep layer of pearls to leave enough space to add a wick without the bottom of the wick touching the water. If you have a shorter container, you can always cut the wick shorter but keep in mind that will shorten the burn time. 

Floating candles offer style and functionality, making them a versatile choice for all settings. With benefits such as endless design options, longer burn times, clean-burning nature, and reusability, floating pearled candles are both beautiful and practical.

About the Author

Heidi Stojanovic is one of the sisters and co-founders of Foton. Before launching Foton Pearled Candles, she spent 9 years leading the Research & Development team of a global chemical company. Foton combines her passions for sustainability and using chemistry to solve real-world problems in simple yet clever ways.