Ever wanted to walk down the aisle with warm, soft sand beneath your feet, and waves hitting against the shore for music? We’ve all dreamt, at least once, of getting married on an exotic island surrounded by the resplendent turquoise ocean. Beach weddings are quite sought after because of the scenic and picturesque nature of the location. Wherever you decide to conduct your beach wedding – whether it’s at your family’s seaside residence or going off to the Caribbean islands - you’ll definitely want  it to be the most unique and memorable experience of your life.

After deciding on how you want your wedding layout to look like, you could make use of elements found around the beach, like sand, seashells and even the wildlife, to help you achieve that look. Your beach wedding decorations should also reflect your personal style. If you are not too sure of what to do with the decorations, the following tips might just provide you with the inspiration you’ve been looking for:

1. You could opt to go for an enchanting ocean-themed wedding. Decorate your reception and ceremony area with sand, seashells (like conch), glass marbles, strings of pearls, and sea creatures. Anything you can get from the beach would give your wedding a much more authentic feel; other than that, you could get replicas from any supply store or even wedding retailers near you.

Use sand to adorn everything, from your invitation cards to the reception tables. Shells are absolutely gorgeous embellishments because they come in an assortment of colours, shapes and sizes. You could paste them to the hems of table cloths, press them into candles and you could even use the bigger ones to serve fruits or dessert, once they’re washed. Experiment with your shells and see what you can use them for. String pearls and glass marbles along the tables, on the shells and anywhere you can think of! Place glass bowls with ocean water, sand, seashells, pearls, marbles and live fishes, in the middle of tables. It’ll be an interesting and lively centerpiece for the guests to gaze at! 

2. What  about a tropical-styled wedding at the beach? To create a tropical atmosphere, all you need are palm trees, tropical flowers (such as verbena, hibiscus and bougainvillea), tiki torches and coconuts! Because beaches are already naturally surrounded by palm trees, you really don’t need to do much with it. You could twine an arch with the tropical flowers or use them to decorate the reception tables and chairs. Fill empty coconut husks with sand and glue the tropical flowers all around the husk. Once that’s done, put a tea-light candle in the coconut. Tiki torches could be placed along pathways or to create a border around the reception area.

3. You could choose to go with a nautical theme. Anchors, nets, ropes, bottles, buoys, boats and oars are the things you’ll need to correspond with the theme. Rent boats from renting parlours which can be found about the island, and have them replace chairs at the wedding ceremony, instead of just using them as décors. Flip the boat facing down and have cushions secured onto the boat so that guests can sit comfortably. Swathe the dining place with nets and ropes; hang buoys and anchors from the nets to give it that unique touch. Slip little messages or beautiful quotes into clear, empty bottles to create a ‘message in a bottle’ effect.  

4. If you like the sand and love to party, then you could arrange a few surf boards, colourful beach umbrellas, beach balls, pails and towels to create a ‘Beach Party’ theme for your wedding.  Place the towels all around the beach for guests to sit on and set up the beach umbrellas for shelter. It may not be as formal, but it is a load of fun and guests can rip the waves and have a beach volleyball match while waiting for the barbeque to start up. You don’t have to fork out a fortune for your beach wedding decorations either!

Play around with your decorations before deciding on how you want your wedding arrangements to look and let your creativity run wild. Remember to incorporate every element of the beach to make your wedding every bit as fascinating and unforgettable for you and your guests.