Beach-themed wedding ideas

If you're planning a coastal-themed wedding -- whether inside a luxurious ballroom, on the sandy shores of your favorite beach, or in your Aunt Betty's backyard -- small details are what this theme's all about. Too over-the-top, and you may be crossing into birthday party territory. Here are a few ideas:

dress up the bouquet with starfish and a sand dollar

party favor idea: saltwater taffy in little buckets

seaglass on the table around the lantern

centerpiece: a white lantern with a candle, sand, a starfish and some shells inside

a treasure box over fishing net for dropping cards in

Royal Blue, Vibrant Orange, Yellow, Hot Pink

If you ever need inspiration, I recommend greylikesweddings.com. Sometimes I take some of the gorgeous weddings I love and try and think of ways that could be done as cost-efficiently as possible. For me, if I were trying to imitate the photo above, I'd get the vases I wanted but maybe smaller and with smaller bouquets or without flowers- maybe long, elegant twigs for a different feel.

Anyways, I simply love the bright, warm and vibrant shades of the flowers juxtaposed with the rich royal blue. It reminds me of the Mediterranean, even though I've never been. If you like the boldness but you'd like to tone it down, try this same royal blue with a marigold yellow (match the glasses with the yellow of the flowers in the center.) If you can't afford to buy all those blue glasses and your venue does not have them, consider buying pretty satin ribbon to tie in bows on the stem of each glass to add that same pop of color. If your wedding is outdoors, the clementines are neat, but if it's indoors they might be a little out of place. Instead, say for a ballroom, you could use glass beads that you'd buy at a craft store, sea glass, or decorative balls in a little vase.

The above photo from prettychicky.com. Thought I'd share some more pretty inspiration for you! If I find more helpful websites, I'll letcha know ;).

As you plan your wedding, if all else fails...

Get the look for less- how to emulate your favorite vibe in a more affordable way.

So, if you want your reception to look like this (see below), but you are a budget-savy bride (or groom), you gotta figure out what concepts you love and why, and how you can make those concepts come to life in other ways. For example, what I love about these photos are the bright pops of color, the votive candles to accent the centerpieces and the unique vibe. Here are some very simple ways to emulate what I liked.

Anna's version:
No floral centerpieces needed. Really, they die and they're expensive as heck. Choose your style- I've included several to achieve that chic, colorful look on a budget.
1. Rice paper votive holder: just google rice paper votive holder and you will find a plethera of affordable and cute, chic votice holders. Try here. Only like 3 bucks I think.
2. Blue votive, only 2.75.
3. Wholesale votive holders: You pay $33 for a box of 72. Awesome!
4. Pier 1 Imports- cute lanterns, now on sale for less than 5 bucks each! Fabulous centerpieces. These are not votive sizes; they're probably 7-8 inches. I have one.
5. Thank you again, Pier 1, for being so addictive. Mercury Glass Star Tealight Holders- normally 10 bucks, now only 2.48.
6. Yes, Pier 1 again. 4 bucks for this pretty starfish ceramic tealight holder. Precious, elegant, laid back at the same time. Delicious.
7. Get a satin table runner at wholesale prices. There are a bunch of websites that offer this, here's one. 35 bucks for 15 table runners... seems too good to be true!