Wedding ceremonies on the beach are classic, especially if all things go as planned (i.e.: the weather cooperates fully and completely with you)! If you are planning on having a beach wedding, I hope that Mother Nature attends your ceremony in good spirits and that everything goes splendidly. Beach weddings are some of the most memorable ceremonies due to the nature of the wedding, but you don’t have to rely on just memories to make sure that your guests remember all of the great details of your special day. You can always send them home with a piece of your wedding by giving them a special wedding favor that reminds them of your ceremony, and also lets them know how much you appreciate all of their support and their role in being apart of your special day!

There are actually a lot of really cute mass-produced, store bought wedding favors out there and I don’t say that too often! I was browsing around to see what’s out there nowadays for the beachy brides and I found a lot of candle holders with netting on them, or in the shape of beach chairs that hold a tealight candle…and they were really cute, especially if your guests love the beach just as much as you do! The favors that I came up with aren’t as glitzy as I usually do, but I still maintain that some of the best favors are the ones that you make yourself because they aren’t something that your guests have seen before and they also show them just how much thought you putting into saying thanks! One of the things that I always say I don’t like seeing as a wedding favor is candy; sure it’s cheap and gets the point across, but it’s so popular and just seems a little impersonal to me. I understand that it’s a great way to keep costs down and at least give something to your guests, but I have come up with a couple of ways to jazz up the candy!

1 Salt Water Taffy: I think that giving salt water taffy as your candy is a wise choice because it is reminiscent of the ocean and it just tastes so damn good. The only issue with taffy being that it may not be well-received with your older guests; when I offered the left over taffy to my grandpa…he told me that he loves the stuff but that it tugs at his dentures. So, getting that fair warning aside, I still maintain that it’d be a cute option for your beach ceremony! Strangely enough, I have a lot to say about salt water taffy, so I’m going to try and keep it somewhat brief. You can get some great deals on salt water taffy, especially if you live by the beach where the taffy is so very good. If you don’t live by the beach, much like myself, you can get your salt water taffy in stores or online; I found mine at World Market and looked up the brands website: sweetcandy.com. I got the “Old School” taffy which had about 20 pieces in the adorable box for $3.99 (about $0.20 each). Each beach trunk only needs about 5 pieces each, which brings your candy total to $1.00.

The trunks aren’t really that difficult to assemble and it may be even easier for you to get the preparation done in some sort of assembly line (they’re called bridesmaids for a reason…). The nice thing about adding a little presentation to your candy is that the extra step shows that you put a little more thought into your favor, and the fact that it’s salt water candy will win over the hearts of beach lovers, maybe even the older guests if their dentures are up to it! I also saw a couple of other storage container options at the craft shop for the same price, one being a papier-mâché box shaped like a flip flop, complete with a raffia strap across the top. Get creative with these favors and by all means, get as beach inspired as needed…even if that leaves you with some over-the-top, beach inspired favors.

1 Small, Wooden Treasure Chest Container: I found this natural wood treasure chest at the same craft store that I found my beach trunk for the same price, $1.00. As I always say, if you can find it in online at a bulk retail shop, do it up.

These are very simple to put together and your creativity and individual vision is what will guide this project. I put a little bit of tulle net in the bottom of each chest to add a little extra pazzaz, but whatever you want to do is what will happen. The only challenging thing that I found was painting the chest; I am a bit of a perfectionist, so naturally it drove me up the wall if I flubbed a little bit on my lines. The best advice I can give is to get an assembly line and to use acrylic paints because they dry fast and if you mess up you can work some magic to cover it up. I would also suggest painting the yellow parts (or get really fancy and use some shimmery gold paint) of the chest first and then the brown of the chest; you may even want to have a picture of what a treasure chest looks like to help you out, maybe even adapt some sort of paint-by-numbers grid? Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

I actually have never been or even heard of a pirate-themed wedding! I’m sure that they happen, especially with the popularity of pirate weddings, but if you have been to a ceremony or having one yourself- let me know! Especially, if you have pictures, I’d love to see them.

This is one of my favorite wedding favors (I use the idea a lot) because you can dress the bottle up to fit the theme and colors of your wedding, you can personalize it with gift tags and charms, and you can even pick out the type of wine that you want to give to your guests. To assemble these favors, I would recommend testing the tulle against a bottle of wine to see how much you need and then cutting out a ton of those squares for the rest of the bottles. Then, put the bottle in the middle of the tulle and just pull it up around the sides, fastening it at the top with either a mini rubber band to hold it in place, or just firmly tug the ribbon around it.

If you are planning a beach wedding ceremony, I hope that the planning process is proving to be exciting and going very smoothly for you. There are so many different options that you can use for your wedding favors, especially since there are so many available out there to buy online, but if you opt for the homemade route, I hope that my ideas have inspired you. Whatever you decide to do, try your best to find the time to add some sort of personal touch to the favor; your guests will notice it and they will certainly appreciate it! They will have a memory from your wedding to last them forever, and a favor to remind them of those special memories.

Here’s to walking barefoot on the sand and having a beautiful ceremony by the ocean!

-M.