Creative DIY Ideas for a Beautiful Beach Wedding

Guest Blogger #526, Entry #1187, May 18, 2012

If you’re up to the challenge, there’s lots of creative freedom and huge savings when you DIY your beach wedding. With a little help from Mother Nature you can take credit for a story-book beach wedding anyone would want. Ready to get your feet wet?

One of the best things about getting married at the beach is the free-pass you automatically get to do whatever you want in terms of staging. After considering practical matters like shade and not wearing high-heels  in sand, a well-planned beach wedding gives you dramatic surroundings that need only a few simple touches: perfect for DIY.

Gather your inspiration from the sea itself, whether you decorate an existing place like a permanent gazebo or you’re intent on building a structure of your own. Choose a lightweight, sturdy frame and assure that it’s built to withstand wind: you’ve got to have a space that’s architecturally sound. Silky fabrics affixed to corners will blow romantically in the ocean breeze and they’re glamorous yet not too pricey. Wrap fabric properly so it doesn’t catch you up!

Reflect shapes of the ocean by using flowers, greens and branches that are tall and graceful, like kelp floating in the sea. Take advantage of the limitless sky above you and design tall arrangements that punctuate your décor with vivid color. Stick with just a few high-drama arrangements — they’ll be highly memorable, cost-effective and easy to transport as needed.

Seashells and sea stars are easy to collect or find on-line, continuing a motif that’s timeless and charming. We love the idea of placing large sea stars half-deep in the sand to mark the aisles and end-chairs for your guests. This kind of special little touch reinforces your theme and lets your guests know they’re in for a treat. Add edible sea stars to your nautical wedding cake or sprinkle seashells across your tables, mixed with sea glass and a few plain tea lights in glass votives… the effect is elegant in an easygoing way.

Tempted by the endless blues and greens of the ocean, you may think your DIY beach wedding is limited color-wise to what the waves bring… but it’s the beach, so there are no limits, remember? In wedding cakes and bouquets, cool shades are stunning and you can’t go wrong picking up a nosegay of hydrangea in sky-blue or holding just a few deep purple/blue Iris with bright yellow centers.

Now take your cue from nature once again:  use that same sunny yellow color at key points throughout your decorative plan, from invitations to cake. Lime green, citrus orange and rosy pinks enhance your beach-y hues. Finally, if it’s your goal to dress up your beach wedding and conjure up a formal atmosphere, add liberal touches of black and white to your table-scape. You’ll get great prices by ordering white linens and adding black is always classic move.

Whatever you decide to DIY your beach wedding, keep things simple and make it yours.

Susanna Miles, from (kisswedding.com) and real wedding blog (kisswedding.com/blog) is a place for brides to go for simple wedding ideas that make planning a wedding on a budget a heck of a lot easier.  The Guide, the Workbook and now the eCourse however help brides de-stress by de-mystifying the wedding industry, simplifying planning, and uncovering alot of the myths surrounding inexpensive wedding ideas.

All of the elements of the K.i.s.s. brand are based on keeping it simple & special – the very things that kept me sane while planning my own wedding and thousands since

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