Beach Wedding Favor Ideas
So you're having a
beach wedding, but it's more Westport than Waikiki?
You're in luck! As you've doubtless noticed, there's almost a limitless supply of cool beach or destination-style favors on the market.
But if you love to get hands-on — and especially love the special vibe given off by a personal, hand-crafted gift — there are lots of fun and attractive beach favors you can put together yourself (or at least put your unique stamp on!).
Some you eat, some you can drink from, and some give off a strange magnetic attraction.
Kitchen Witchery
Happiness! Any bride who knows a mixer from a measuring spoon can whip up sweet, tempting beach favors in the kitchen for next to nothing.
Clever Cookies
Try this Eastern shore classic: sand-dollar cookies, made from a chilled shortbread-style dough, which holds its shape during cooking. All you need is a round cookie cutter. Poke around the edges of the cookie with a fork. Make the pretty indentations all around with the side of a spoon.
Martha loves to get crazy with shortbread, and so do we. So don't forget you can make chocolate sand dollar cookies ... or lavender ... or green tea(!), as well as regular vanilla.
Want a grand finish? Dip the bottom halves in delectable white chocolate ... but only if the final destination isn't too hot.
Or, use a star-shaped cutter to make adorable starfish cookies. Twist the "arms" a bit after you cut them out for a lively look.
Rich, buttery recipes like these freeze perfectly, so don't worry about slaving over a hot oven the night before your nuptials.
Seashell Chocolates
Another popular and lovely idea: mold-your-own chocolate seashells, starfish or even seahorses. They're easy and attractive, and you'll find so many uses for the results (wedding cakes or cupcakes, individual favors, or just popping in your mouth). Buy the molds online or at a craft store. Still, remember that chocolate is only practical if your reception will stay relatively cool.
Want an elegant hidden treasure effect? Try mixing up your chocolate shells with gold or silver Jordan almonds. Tuck in a treasure chest favor box and tie with a sheer organza ribbon. Lovely!
Beach Bubbly
So you grabbed a case of those champagne flutes that Overstocked Retailer practically flung out the door? Great: now make them even better.
Hot-glue tiny shells around the flute (outside only, please!) and tie a length of your personalized ribbon to the stem. Simple but breath-taking. Your guests will never crack open a cabinet again without remembering that lovely, lazy afternoon they spent celebrating your love.
Flair in the Glare
Try treating your guests to more practical luxuries:
personalized sunscreen or sunglasses, for example.
Cast a Little Light
Lucky enough to live near the ocean, or at least a good craft store? You're in business! Here's some ideas for rousing that sleeping do-it-yourself queen:
Shell Candle Favors
Make your own candles with medium-sized shells, either the "spiral" or clamshell type. Choose shells that can easily "sit" upright on a hard surface, or hot-glue them on to a base. Pour in melted wax and insert a wick. Try tinting your wax with wedding colors (or just leave that pretty translucent white). Add a little glam by sponging the shells with a touch of gold paint ... or leave au naturel.
Gel Candle Favors
What could look more festive than a beach-themed gel candle with a touch of aqua blue? Create your own completely custom mix of glass containers, goodies (shells or beach glass, for example), and scents for a one-of-a-kind favor. But don't limit yourself to votive holders ... unexpected ideas like champagne flutes make great containers for gel candles, too.
Magnetic Attraction
Pretty Starfish
The mysterious, lovely starfish barely needs any touching up. Still, a bit of bling and a strong magnet lends a starfish a sense of occasion ... and a very practical purpose.
Tie a pretty, sheer bow to the arms of dried or plaster starfish, then hot glue a round ceramic magnet to the back (pick the larger, stronger magnets so your creations don't slide down the fridge). Want more glam? Sponge on a touch of sparkle paint.
Elegant Sand Dollars
Apply the same simple technique to sand dollars ... which you can easily personalize with a little calligraphy bearing each guests' name. Or, smarten up some clam shells. Spice up the hollows with mini satin rosettes, bows, or smaller shells. For a super-polished look, coat your creations with clear acrylic spray.
Favored Presentations
The simplest favor containers becomes extraordinary when you hot-glue small seashells, sand dollars or starfish to the lids. Even glue a little bed of sand beneath the shells.
Finally, tie it all off with a cute raffia bow, after you've filled your boxes with chocolate shells or more heat-resistant saltwater taffy.
Spinning Out the Seaside Theme
For a pocketbook-friendly but evocative centerpiece, gather terra cotta pots (paint white or ivory if you choose). Fill with sand, and a cluster of tall, white tapered candles. If the sand isn't enough to keep the tapers upright, pour a bit of plaster of Paris and insert your candles while it's still wet. Fill the remainder of the pot with sand when everything's dry.
For whimsical, original placecards, check out Martha Stewart's cocktail umbrella idea — so cute and inexpensive!
Hi
I’m looking for white clamp shells to make wedding invites.
where could i find them in South africa.
i’ve attached a photo they used it as decorating the table.
thank you
Cindy
Cindy, I couldn’t find a place in South Africa but this is worth a shot contacting….
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/seashells4.html
Also try ebay, they should have them too.
Can you carve out a message in a cocanut for the guests?
Marika,
I have seen pics on the internet of people carving coconuts. It is difficult.
Could you do it? The wedding is in November.
Please Email me if you can.Also the cost.
Hi
doesn anyone know where i can buy message in a bottle kits for wedding invites? even where i can purchase the bottles?
thanks
At theknot.com
hi guys im getting married in thailand next year! looking for some nice ideas for favours! something special but not too heavy so i can take them out with me! i did see wee heart shaped bottles with sand and small shells but i cant find them again anywhere!!
help!!!!
Hi brides, this is one of the sweetest uses of seashells in a wedding bouquet I’ve seen. Those spiral seashells just rock in this setting, for some reason I have never been too sure about typical clamshell style shells in beach bouquets, but this just works.
From Corey Ann
lovely !!!!! x
Hi Beach Brides,
I wanted to point out a service by Bliss! Wedding markets I just ran across. For $50 they will create a themed semi-custom logo that you can then use for all your DIY design work, or take to a printer’s, for things like stationery, program covers, bridal party t-shirts, favor tags, you name it.
By semi-custom I mean they don’t start from scratch, they have many designs (around 70? I think more) that you can choose from, and they will redesign your choice with your names and date in five days or less. This is a wonderful alternative to a true custom logo which (when done right) runs at least $300 and can take much longer than five days!
They have an especially nice selection of beach logos! If you like any of these, check out their service, you can find it here: Custom Wedding Logos by Bliss!. Have a great day!
I am getting married on the beach and I want all the men to wear orange shirts with Khaki so that it will match my bouquet. I want the women to wear a different color so that it’s not too much orange. What color can I get the women to wear that will go good with the orange?
I am doing my wedding on the Beach and the bridesmaids are wearing aqua blue strapless dresses with white flip flop sandals and the men are wearing light khaki linen pants with light blue Tommy Bahama shirts and dark leather flip flops, the girls are carrying dark pink flowers. Just an idea. It looks very beachy
I want to do aqua bridesmaid dresses also. My colors are aqua with fuschia accents. I am having a problem finding aqua bridesmaid dresses. I know David’s Bridal has a line in Pool that is close. I want to go their for a last resort. Sheila were did you find your dresses? Anyone else have others suggestions besides David’s Bridal dresses? Thanks!
serene,
you may not like mail order but jcrew.com has aqua dresses. its a gamble if the dresses dont fit, so if you go this route allow PLENTY of time. just check out the dresses link or type in aqua dresses. you can also take a look at the wedding link ( bridesmaids)
believe it or not target.com
*Isaac Mizrahi for Target® Sateen Pencil Dress – Aqua Curls
also google image and google search aqua dresses
PLEASE, let me tell you. Jasminebridals.com THE cutest beachy bridesmaid dresses in a WIDE range of the color you are talking about..bahama breeze, tahiti…every blue color you could imagine. haha. The ones I found that I loved are long dresses, but it wouldn’t take anything to take them to a seamstress nd have them cut off. That’s what my plan was until I found some others at Macy’s that I liked. Thought that might help though.
I too am getting married on a beach and want my guys to wear orange shirts. My girls are wearing light turquoise dresses. I was wondering where you went to get your men’s shirts for your wedding. I am having a really hard time finding what I am looking for.
I think fuschia goes well with orange and gives the wedding a great tropical look!
beige (resembling sand), or turqoise (water) would look great in my opinion!
Purple goes great, like a grape color. My wedding is my June, in Maui, and my colors are Orange and Purple, like the Bird of Paradise flower.
I got my seashells for really cheap from Ebay. I also got tiny bottles with corks to fill with sand and sea glass as my favors. Does anyone have ideas on where to get the sparkers from and how to present them. I was thinking a few with a ribbon but i’m not sure how to handle lighting them.
Hi Amber, I’m sure you have this long figured out by now, but I had a really cute picture of sparklers in my files, I love the presentation — it’s so colorful with all those ribbons and tags, and the bucket is a nice “beachy” touch. Oh darn, I just realized you can’t see the bucket in this pic. But a galvanized bucket and you can wrap a colorful satin ribbon around the rim with a glue gun or double sided tape.
As for lighting, try to get one or two teenage boys to help as ushers … put them in charge of getting everyone’s sparklers lit … they will treasure the job
It’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but just one of those long gas lighters you use for grills is very effective at getting sparklers lit fast.
I want to have a beach wedding. I was wander if the colors Pool blue and Palm Beach Coral would work together?
Hey Jenn,
I think you can put anycolors you want to together. Just curious which were you thinking making the main color and the accent color?
blue pool would be the main color
Jenn,
I think that would be very pretty! I believe it’s our wedding ou shoud have it look the way you want! If you want to bounce wedding ideas off each other you can email or im me. My im is amberdominiquedesigns andmy email is amberdominiquedesigns@yahoo.com. Good luck with everything!
I have had so much fun with my beach wedding. Instead of using rice or flower petals we are using sparklers (you know those cheap little ones you played with as a kid on the 4th of July) as the wedding is at sun down. The tables are decorated with sea shells, sand, and sea grass. And no matter what your favor is, if you are wrapping it in any way, little shells are great. I am using tule, then passing ribbon through a little shell to tie it off. The shells were free as I picked them up on the beach. If you don’t live on the beach try googleing “discount seashells” as there are several good wholesalers you can by from or if any relatives or friends live near the beach ask them to help you out. Even if they can’t go out and collect the shells they can buy them locally.
Do you have a picture of your tables? How did it work?
Do you have any ideas for a summer wedding besides a beach theme? It’s so hard to find ideas for summer weddings besides beach and garden themes. I don’t mind making something myself but I’m not sure where to start. Thanks for your help.
Hi Mandy, check out this article which covers some popular wedding themes and color schemes by month, it might really help. Let us know what you decided!
Here’s what I did for beach wedding favors: I work in an engraving shop, so I collected quite a few of the small, round (half-dollar sized) clear plastic containers, that commemorative coins come in. On the lid of each one, I engraved the wedding date, the names of the bride and groom, and the name of the beach where the wedding was held. I gave one to each guest, and after the ceremony, everyone had fun filling their boxes with small shells, sand and “findings” from the wedding site. The boxes were a big hit, and the bride especially treasures the fact that she has saved the actual sand she stood on while exchanging her vows. These little boxes cost me nothing since I work in an engraving shop, but maybe you can adapt the idea and come up with something similar for your gifts.
We’re planning a destination wedding in Costa Rica. I want to give everyone who comes a little gift. I was thinking about a tote bag with some beach type stuff. I’m drawing a blank as to what sort of things I can put in them. It seems like a silly question, but I feel like I’ve started over thinking, and now nothing comes to mind. Can anyone help?
I’m doing this for my bridesmaids- but getting them monogrammed for them. something like suntan lotion, sunscreen, cheap sunglasses for guys and girls ( can find stylish ones chepa at places like Rue21 for both sexes), a beachtowel from wal mart or target, just think of what you would take to the beach!! And make sure you do personalize something and put in there for the guests.
Does anyone have any ideas for an extremely small reception at a resort for about 8-12 people? They will provide a cake & champagne but I have no idea of what to do afterwards being that it will be at 11:00 A.M.
Flower petals are a common item used to shower beach couples or any small local flower, like using orchids in Hawaii! Florists often sell inexpensive local flowers in bulk and often offer flower petals the same way. To save money though, you can buy roses that are a little past their prime at a discount and remove the petals yourself. They store in the fridge very well for a couple of days!
What do guests “throw” on the beach? Rice? Bird seed? Bubbles?
Don’t throw rice or bird seed the seagulls with be all over your wedding. A good idea for an evening wedding would be sparklers or bubbles
I am lookinf for a pirate themed cake topper for a grooms cake. Does anyone have any ideas?
Janet, try checking out the pirate wedding article, see if that helps.
I am looking for 2.5-3″ clam shells to use for the wedding favor idea I found on Michaels.com, any suggestions?? I would like nice ones but not too pricey.
A cute idea that I read about, was getting Sandollars and painting the couples names and wedding date on them and then tying a ribbon through the holes at the top. Or you could even make them into magnets. You can buy them in bulk on-line. Usually .50 cents to a dollar each, depending on the type you want.
Someone was posting about 4″ Tortuga rum cake “favors” from the Cayman Islands. Kind of pricey, about $8 apiece, but for a small beach-theme wedding I think this would make a great, really appreciated favor.