Martha Stewart Weddings

23 Beach Wedding Ideas You Can DIY to Make a Splash at Your Seaside Bash

July 27, 2011
Credit: Maura Mcevoy

Let the surroundings inspire your details on your big day.

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Credit: Maura Mcevoy

Saying your I do’s before an ocean backdrop? Personalize your celebration with handmade touches—from easy centerpieces to last-minute escort cards—inspired by your location. These how-tos will get you in the swim of things.

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Tropical Envelope Liners

Credit: Bryan Gardner
Make These Tropical Envelope Liners

Use depictions of nature—in this case, palm leaves and orchids—to give your beach wedding invitations a pretty punch.

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Shell Bouquet

Walk down the aisle with this cluster of bivalve blooms. This pretty posy is easier to construct than you’d think—it’s simpler than making a flower out of silk. 

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Grass Skirt Garlands

Credit: Erin Kunkel
Make These Grass Skirt Garlands

Elevate a bamboo arch, Polynesian-style, with these DIY strands made from a sand-friendly staple: grass skirts.

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Beachy Escort Card Display

Credit: Bryan Gardner
Make This Beachy Escort Card Display

A collection of shells and ocean-y elements, arranged like a cabinet of curiosities, makes getting guests to their seats a breeze. 

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Seashell Terrarium Centerpieces

Credit: Maura Mcevoy

For an on-theme display, curate still lives of shells and coral on sand placed inside glass fishbowls and vases.

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Gold-Rimmed Shell Salt Cellar

Salt and seashells are a match made in the ocean. To make this pretty dish for your reception tables, press the shell edges into a gold stamp pad, and then fill the shell with sea salt. 

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Beach Drink-Stirrers

Make These Beach Drink-Stirrers

Even if you party late into the night, the sun will never set on your drinks thanks to these cute swizzle sticks.

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Beachy Gift Tags

Download These Beachy Gift Tags

Tell your friends to pack their bikinis, but you’ll provide the sarongs. Find our wave and leaf designs at Spoonflower, a custom cloth maker, and order two yards per pal. Then bundle with twine and our cheery tag.

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“Just Married” Beach Flag

Make This “Just Married” Beach Flag

Forget tin cans tied to a car bumper, and hop onto a bicycle built for two with a trailing pennant spelling out your new status. 

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Beach Patterned-Paper Favor Wraps

Most sunny locales have one thing in common: amazing fruit! Think oranges in Florida or mangoes in Mexico. Our patterns, secured with twine, complete the package. 

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Sea-Glass Sticker Confetti

Credit: Laurie Frankel

These translucent vellum shapes mimic the frosted luminosity of sea glass. A glassine envelope carries that theme one step further. 

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Coral-Wrapped Favors

Credit: Maura Mcevoy

Make a wave with takeaway gifts. Wrap boxed treats with coral-printed paper and seal with a scalloped sticker. Or corral goodies into coral-printed favor pouches. To make them, fold a 15-by-5-inch piece of fabric in half, right sides facing, and stitch the sides. Turn the pouch right side out before trimming the top with pinking shears and cinching with a sticker and punched card-stock tag.

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Sea-Glass Snack Favor Tags

Credit: Bryan Gardner
Download These Sea-Glass Snack Favor Tags

Sea-glass candy resembles the real deal at parties on (and off) the beach ($82.50 for 40 oz, etsy.com/shop/andiespecialtysweets).

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Seascape Centerpieces

Credit: Maura Mcevoy
Make These Seascape Centerpieces

Dress tables with sculptural shells and coral-like pieces. Large conch and murex shells, with cattleya orchids nestled in their openings, and smaller marlin spike shells surround a vase filled with tiny shells and a pillar candle. Painted manzanita branches stand in for real coral.

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Natural Napkin-Holders

Credit: Maura Mcevoy

Tie capiz shells (sold with predrilled holes) atop rolled-up napkins with ribbon and rest a small branch on top for an oceanic white-and-brown color scheme.

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Ceviche Shell Dish

Your ceviche appetizer will feel right at home served in a seashell.

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Mahalo Favor Tags

Download These Mahalo Favor Tags

Say “mahalo” to guests—that’s “thank-you” in Hawaiian—with bags of sea salt in cut bamboo cups. Top each with a mini wooden spoon and a grateful tag. 

The Details: Bamboo cups, $29 for 20, and spoons, $21 for 50; bioandchic.com. Muslin bags, #24988, $31.50 for 100; celestialgifts.com. Sea salt, $36 for 2.8 lbs; foodservicedirect.com.

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Madeleine Pineapple Display

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Shaped like scallop shells, madeleine cookies are a charming beach wedding dessert option, especially when taken one step further with a pineapple-shaped presentation. Simply cover a foam form in rolled fondant and attach the sponge cakes with thin wooden skewers.

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Sea Urchin Candle Holder

Credit: Johnny Miller

Grouped serenely on a bed of sugar-soft sand, sea urchins prop up skinny candles that light the way for guests at an evening beach wedding. 

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Silk-Petal Garlands

Credit: Annie Schlechter
Make These Silk-Petal Garlands

Transform inexpensive silk flowers into delicate garlands. Just dismantle the blooms to separate the layers of petals, removing any greenery. Overlap edges of petals slightly, and join them using dabs of hot glue. Then glue beads in centers to cover stem holes. String garlands along aisles, at the altar, or across chair backs.

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Parasol Seating Cards

Credit: Charles Maraia

These cheerfully colored umbrellas sporting seating assignments can dot miniature sand dunes at the entrance to a beach-themed reception.

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Candy-Rock Favors

Credit: Charles Schiller

They may look like the real thing, but candy pebbles in small galvanized pails are a sweet and delightful favor for an outdoor wedding. A note lets guests know they are for eating!

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Beach-Bucket Centerpiece

Credit: STEPHEN LEWIS
Make This Beach-Bucket Centerpiece

Turn kids’ metal beach buckets into custom centerpieces by painting them in the wedding colors.

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