Beach wedding decorations range from elegant to playful.
Whether your wedding takes place on an actual beach or you choose to hold a tropical-themed wedding reception indoors, an effective tropical centerpiece helps pull together the entire theme. Convincing tropical centerpieces often include beach elements like sand, seashells and water, or tropical elements like palm leaves, fruits and flowers.
Tropical Flowers
Combine the tradition of floral centerpieces with the chicness of a beach wedding by using tropical flowers in your centerpieces. Orchids, the easiest tropical flowers to obtain, make lovely arrangements naturally suited for centerpieces, as do heliconia and anthuriums.
Floating Candles
Floating candles come in a variety of colors and shapes. For an elegant effect, place standard white floating tea candles in a small glass or metal dish filled with water. For a colorful twist, use vibrantly colored tea candles shaped like flowers.
Seashell Candles
For a craft-minded person planning a low-budget wedding, homemade seashell candles present an affordable and unique centerpiece option. Gather large, flat seashells with large openings and fill these openings with melted beeswax. Insert a candle wick in the center of the wax before it finishes cooling.
Seashells
Use an array of seashells to decorate the tables at your reception. Place the largest shells in the center of the table to act as the centerpiece and scatter small shells around the rest of the table.
Colored Water
Use small bowls filled with colored water to create a nautical atmosphere. Fill clear glass bowls with light blue-tinted water and place small white tea light candles around the bowls to reflect light and color.
Sand Art
Create sand art centerpieces. Choose clear glass jars shaped like hearts, bowls or bottles and layer colored sand inside each jar to create the centerpiece. Use colored sand that matches the colors used in your wedding.
Beach Pails
Toy plastic beach pails can be used to create playful, informal and inexpensive centerpieces. Fill the pails with sand, seashells, sunscreen and a small plastic beach shovel to complete the look. Spread sand or palm leaves beneath the pails.
Treasure Chests
Decorate your tables with pretend treasure chest centerpieces. Use cardboard, paper mache or small wooden boxes obtained from a craft store as the treasure chests, and spread sand or seashells around the base of each. For added fun, fill the chests with pirate-themed wedding favors like candy jewelry or chocolate coins.
Tropical Fruit Bowl
Fill a plastic punch bowl with tropical fruits like pineapples, bananas, kiwis and mangoes to create an edible centerpiece for your guests. If you wish to add flowers to the arrangement, do so as late in the day as possible, since ripening fruit releases ethylene that shortens the vase-life of most flowers.
Beach in a Bowl
Combine multiple beach elements together to create mini beach scene centerpieces. To do so, fill clear glass rose bowls with beach sand and small shells. Add silk flower petals or small votive candles to give the miniature scenes an added sense of romance.
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