Planning a wedding on a boat: the theme
So you’ve decided to have your wedding on a boat. Great decision! Now comes the fun part - planning and styling your wedding cruise.
The great thing about holding your wedding on board a cruise ship is that you don’t have to go overboard (pun intended!) on the decorations. After all, you’re surrounded by a beautiful and ever-changing canvas painted by Mother Nature herself.
But of course you’ll most likely want to put a few personal touches on the décor by choosing a wedding theme, which might include colours, patterns, textures and graphic elements. You may also want your own attire and that of your bridal party to reflect this theme.
One popular choice for a cruise wedding is of course a bold nautical theme. Here are some ideas for putting together a nautical-themed wedding - check out our Pinterest board for more inspiration.
source: Pinterest
Choosing colour schemes for a wedding cruise
The classic nautical colour scheme involves navy blue or royal blue and white. Keep your colours bold and plain, or use stripes for extra interest.
Adding a dash of red to the mix can make things pop, while metallic accents (silver, gold or brass) can also enhance your nautical theme.
What to wear for a nautical themed wedding
An elegant nautical-inspired wedding ensemble might include some elements from the colour scheme above – think crisp, classic white with touches of navy or red, clean lines and silhouettes, and tailored or structured formal wear.
You and your partner could choose accessories with little nods to the theme, for example rope-style bracelets or cufflinks, anchor prints on ties and socks or gold braid embellishments.
From a purely practical perspective, think about wind when choosing veils and hairstyles. If you wear a veil you’ll be able to get some beautiful and dramatic wedding photos, but you may not want to deal with it all day as you move around the boat, travel over to visit island beaches and so on. Fascinators, shorter or birdcage veils or a jaunty hat could work well as an alternative to a veil.
Loose flowing hair will also look stunning – but might be hard to maintain over the course of your wedding day, whereas a more formal updo will still be looking fresh and chic at the end of the night.
If you choose a wedding dress with a train, make sure it can be looped up with a button or similar attachment to make moving around the ship easier.
Decorations and nautical wedding styling
Traditional seagoing elements like rope, anchors, knots, ship's wheels and sails can be incorporated into aspects of your decorations to keep your wedding shipshape.
You could choose one or more of these elements as the main design element and use it throughout your wedding decorations, from the invitation to the ceremony programme, reception decorations and guestbook.
Have fun with textures too, such as canvas (like a ship's sail), rope, wood and brass.
Some fun ways to incorporate the nautical theme into your evening include having guests post a ‘message in a bottle’ instead of a guestbook, or even have them sign a wooden anchor!
You can also use nautical lingo in the words and phrases you use in your invitations and other signage. From playful text about sailing away into the sunset to full-on ship jargon like
- Ahoy!
- Anchors away!
- All aboard!
- Sail away with me
- First mate
- Aye aye, captain
Of course, go too far and you might find your classic nautical wedding turns into a pirate-themed wedding! (Hey, if you want a pirate wedding, we're cool with that too.)
The team at Hauraki Blue Cruises are experts at putting together magical wedding cruises - contact us and let us help you plan your special day.