Beach Theme Wedding Ideas

Invitations:
Establish your beach theme from the start by sending your wedding invitations as messages in bottles. You can order bottles for less than $1 and fill them with invitations you print yourself on weathered-looking paper ­ think treasure map. Tear the edges, roll them up and put them in the bottles with a sprinkling of sand, tiny shells, or confetti. Specialty Bottle sells them online, and can also supply mailing boxes or tubes and bubble wrap. If you'd prefer to have your invitation in a bottle printed and assembled for you, Marketing in a Bottle will take care of it all for around $2 each.

Décor:
Whether you're on a beach or not, you can use a rowboat filled with ice to hold canned and bottled beverages. Have an ice sculpture of a mermaid in a conch shell or dolphins. Incorporate shells and sand into your centerpieces. Put them into vases or bottles, and for centerpieces, plant shell studded candles in bowls of sand with seashells scattered throughout. Rent palm trees for an indoor location. If there's a fish tank, let it show. Look for sculptures of sand castles, fishing boat decorations, miniature boats in bottles, and fishing nets. Place sand chairs around the location, and chaises covered with bold beach towels. Outdoors, use tiki lights to light pathways.

Attire:
If your wedding is going to be on the sand, steer clear of traditional wedding dresses and think about a sundress, sarong or tea length gown in linen or gauze. You'll need to go on the casual side, so have fun with it. Let your groom be your captain in a sharp blue blazer, white pants and a captain's hat. Your groomsmen could dress as sailors or pirates. Or go Hawaiian with print shirts, muumuus and sarongs. And don't forget the sunglasses. (For more ideas on what to wear for your beach wedding, see Beach Theme Wedding Dress Ideas For a beach theme wedding that doesn't require getting around on the sand, also consider a sleek and sexy mermaid style wedding dress.

Food:
Of course, any seafood will do, but try to avoid the predictable stuffed flounder and have some fun with your menu. Conch salad. Shrimp on the Barbie. An oyster bar. California rolls (crabmeat, avocado and cucumber sushi). Swordfish steaks for the "meat eaters." Or opt for a New England clambake. For beverages, serve tropical "umbrella" drinks (nonalcoholic too), iced tea, homemade lemonade, marguritas.

Music:
If you plan to marry on the sand, it's critical that you inform your prospective DJ's and musicians, since sand can have ill effects on equipment and instruments.

Treat your guests to tunes by the Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffet. Be sure to put "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" and "Margaritaville " on your song list.

Favors:
Present your favors in plastic children's beach pails. Some items you might want to put in the pails include:

Flowers:
Use strategically placed tropical blooms amidst bold foliage and palm fronds. These will work for bouquets as well as decorations. Anthurium, King Protea, Heliconia, calla lilies and orchids all make stunning bouquets and arrangements. Although tropical flowers are quite expensive, you don't need many to make a fantastic impact.

Copyright 2005 The Westchester Wedding Guide

Although not all of these ideas will be practical if you are planning a wedding in Hawaii (and you don't live here) there are some really good ideas here. The best things about a beach wedding in Hawaii are that there are hundreds of wedding planners who will work out all the details for you and the clothes you will look completely natural in! Try the Hilo Hattie Wedding Collection

Also, many hotels, especially those on the neighbor islands have pavillions and gazebos and special areas set aside just for weddings that will really make it easy on you. I got married at Pahoehoe Beach Park on the Big Island in Kailua-Kona for under $500, and we then walked next door for a wedding dinner at Jameson's by the Sea. I set up a wedding for my brother in law at a hotel in Kona in their beautiful oceanside gardens for about $650. (The hotel actually shut down and reopened under another name since then, so I don't know what their current situation is.)