Four Keys to Using Nautical Decor in Your Simple and Elegant Wedding

May 7th 2016

“Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.” - Kahlil Gibran

You know you must simply use nautical-themed decor for your nuptials when you and your future spouse are never happier than when you are aboard a boat and near the water.

You also crave a simple and elegant wedding, and in the back of your mind may lurk memories of nautical-themed events with grinning pirates and strands of seaweed—definitely not the look you are going for. However, “nautical” and “elegant” are completely compatible, as long as you keep in mind these four keys:

Key #1: DEFINE WHAT YOU LOVE.

What do you love about the nautical lifestyle? Why are you drawn to this theme in the first place? What memories come up when you think of beaches and boats? Spend some time with your fiancé zeroing in on these questions, and you will breeze through the next three keys, which are…

Key #2: SELECT THE COLORS FIRST.

The colors provide the foundation of any wedding decor and serve to tie everything together. Ideally, you will limit the palette to a simple trio of colors. Visit a paint store and look through their paint chips. Compatible hues are already grouped together and luckily, there are many colors whose names hint at their seaworthy origins: aqua blue, coral orange, sand bar beige, etc.

Key #3: PRIORITIZE AND EDIT.

Things get kitschy when you get carried away. If you have shells and mermaids and dolphins and anchors and pelicans and lighthouses, you lose focus. Things get cluttered—definitely anti-elegant.

The key is to pick a quartet of complementary nautical items, ones that reflect you as a couple, fit with your color selection, and offer a range of textures.

An easy way to select these four thematic items is to pick:

one metal (silver, bronze, copper, brass, etc.)
one man-made item (life ring, nautical rope, fishnet, pier posts, Japanese glass floats, paddles, etc.)
one item from nature (seashell, driftwood, sand dollar, starfish, etc.)
one creature (pelican, sea turtle, dolphin, fish, heron, sea gull, etc.)

By picking one from each category, you'll end up with a balance of color, texture, and shape.

Key #4: FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR THEME.

Elegance is in the details, so everything from the area around the nuptial site, to the centerpieces at the reception, to the gifts for groomsmen and bridesmaids should derive from your customized nautical theme.

Once you have refined your focus, it's time to shop. Everything Nautical is the go-to source for simple and elegant nautical items.

Say, for example, that you decide your colors are sand dollar beige, naval blue and sea foam green. You and your fiancé selected brass, nautical rope, seashells and dolphins for your thematic items.

On Everything Nautical’s website you will find what you need to bring the theme to life.

Sea shell balls are elegant orbs that can grace the reception tables or hang in groups to add interest to any space.

Nautical rope ladders can be placed to frame the nuptial site while adding visual interest and natural texture.

A purser’s bell is the perfect item at the reception for ringing “All hands on deck” for the toast to the new couple.

A pearled metal dolphin on a stand has simple, elegant lines to decorate the cake table or arrange with nautical rope and sea shells in a vignette.

Everything Nautical has all that you need to tastefully and artfully create your nautical theme. Their selection of items will help you brainstorm and, when you find something you need multiples of, they offer quantity discounts.