Summer Beach Weddings

by: N Ricasata
2010-03-08

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What could be better than having your wedding on a day of clear blue skies, lots of sunshine and soft breezes? How about having the ocean nearby, with the sun setting on the horizon to top it all off?

Having a summer beach wedding is one of the most popular options preferred by couples, along with chapel and garden weddings. Of course, summer naturally means that the weather is almost always in good condition. After all, it's a time when the sun spends most of its time out, creating a perfect, cheerful atmosphere on your most celebrated day.

Theme

The possibilities for coming up with summer beach wedding themes is almost limitless. One can go with all-organic materials such as rattan, bamboo, recycled paper, banana and palm leaves to complete that island escapade feel.

You can also play around with organic-themed colors by playing around with various hues of orange, green and brown. Orange and brown might work pretty well especially if you're counting on the sunset to complete the dramatics for your theme.

Invitations

For the invitations to a summer beach wedding, you'll want to go with either of the two things: organic (minimalist and elegant) or vibrant (a total play on color). Designs consisting of summer elements such as flowers, palm trees or starfish can also be used, depending on whether you're feeling formal about the layout or not. In the invitation, you also want to communicate the dress code to your guests in advance, to make sure that they're comfortable at the event.

It's also advisable to send out your invitations way more advanced than people normally do, as summer tends to be a busy time for people who like to go on vacation.

Women's summer wedding dresses

Summer beach dresses are the easiest to pick out, for both the bride and her bridesmaids. Actually, a summer-themed attire is the easiest to put together even for the wedding guests.

Since it's summer and it tends to get a little more humid at near the ocean, light fabrics are highly recommended for dresses. You should be able to achieve the classiness you're aiming for with linen, organza and lightweight silk and still remain comfortable wearing it throughout the celebration. A short cocktail dress with playful summer colors should do the trick.

Men's summer wedding attire

The men's attire should come easy, too. Consider khaki pants paired with a dress shirt, and a blazer. Linen suits should also be comfortable enough, without looking too stiff and formal. Choosing which shoes to wear should come easy as well--just be practical. Sandals and flipflops should make walking on the sand comfortable enough. For even better results, go barefoot.

Decorations

To complete the whole beach feel, use environmental elements for your decorations. Create an arc made of bamboo or palm leaves as the main entrance to the ceremony or reception. Use shells or capiz candle holders as centerpieces for your reception tables. Another suggestion is to use woven rattan or abaca for placemats and coasters.

Various colored (or just plain white) orchids should also help create a vibrant atmosphere at the party. Other summer flowers that can also help with building a great summer party feel are sunflowers, mums, daisies and cosmos. Go with flowers that have playful colors. The thing about summer weddings is that you're more free to play around with a lot of color if you should choose to do so.

If you're quirky, get a bubble making machine for the reception to tickle your guests' senses. If you're expecting it to be humid on your wedding day, you could place palm leaf hand fans on the table (one for each guests) so that they can ward off the heat.

If you think it's a good idea, you can also do away with traditional tables and chairs and let your guests sit on huge woven mats on the sand instead. Or, a better idea is to have both options--you can set up the tables and chairs to the side, with the mats in the center, with a lot of throw pillows for extra comfort

Giveaways and favors

Beach wedding giveaways are pretty easy to decide on, especially if you know where to source them. Elegant materials such as capiz, rattan and abaca tend to be pricey, as they're imported from other tropical countries (unless you live in one). Nevertheless, the cost is still manageable if you want to be able to provide your guests with great giveaways that they will use long after the wedding is over. In other words, you want to give them classic pieces.

Food

For most of your guests (and maybe you as well), dinnertime is the most anticipated part of any wedding party. Since you're at the beach, take advantage of the food that you wouldn't normally order for a wedding in the city or garden.

Make eating a fun activity for everyone, too. Prepare a feast of various kinds of seafood--fish, shellfish, prawns, lobsters and crabs. Provide everyone with disposable bibs to avoid any stains on their shirts. You can even get rid of the usual heavyset ceramics and go with wooden plates topped with banana leaf coverings, for a total back-to-nature experience.

Get different kinds of fruits for desserts--get watermelons, bananas, mangoes, lychees and other exotic fruits imported from other countries. You can even do an open bar for fruit shakes, which are the perfect drink for the summertime. For alcoholic beverages, pina coladas and margaritas should get the party going well into the evening.

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