Totally use a grass or palm table skirt to get that island feel.
HOW TO PLAN YOUR BEACH THEME PARTY /WEDDING
A beach theme party or wedding is a great way to break the norm and create excitement. Tiki/totem poles… Cakes with goldfish bowls featuring live fish… Grass skirts. The possibilities are endless!
Below is a comprehensive list of music options, decorations, party ideas and other tidbits to make your beach theme wedding a splash with your guests!
BEACH THEME INVITATION IDEAS
How about wedding invitations sent as Sting would like… as, “A message in a bottles.” Get some cheap bottles with nasty corks. Get them anywhere you can find them. You can find them online, in an antique store, or in the grass down route 87. (If you do start looking out on the road, remember you need glass ones! Look out for the gator aid bottles that the truckers have disposed of.) If you still have no luck, just stop by the local dollar store. Fill the bottles up with invitations you print yourself on weathered-looking paper. Tear the edges, roll them up and put them in the bottles with a sprinkling of sand, tiny shells, or confetti.
You could also include a treasure map, with location information.
LOCATION IDEAS
You don’t need to travel to bring the fun in the sun to your party. You can have your beach theme party at an actual beach, or capture the atmosphere without being seaside. Some other options are on a boat, at a marina, any venue with a view of the water – lake, river or sea, any venue with prominent fish tanks, especially tropical, a hotel’s swimming pool area, in a backyard by a pool.
Hang Beach balls and use pails to bring the sand idea to an area that you really can’t have sand.
BEACH PARTY DECORATION IDEAS
A row boat, treasure chest or a kiddie pool filled with beverages would be awesome! Also, if you have the money and connections an ice sculpture of a mermaid or some kind of fish/dolphin/ or whale would be pretty cool too. Get some seashells and sand to put out in or around your centerpieces. (Photo Credit mypartypassion.blogspot.com)
Inflatable or fake palm trees for an indoor location would also be cool, as would sculptures of sand castles, fishing boat decorations, miniature boats in bottles, and fishing nets. For tables, place sand chairs around covered with bold beach towels. If the party is outdoors, use tiki lights for that ultra groovy Gilligan’s Island feel, and maybe you will attract a Ginger or two! Wooo!
Put out some Gilligan gear like sailor hats and skipper hats and let the fun begin!
BEACH PARTY COSTUME SUPPLY TABLE
Let’s face it. Not everyone will come in costume, but many will wish they had AFTER they see how much fun people are having.
Put out a table with sunglasses, grass hula skirts, and flower leis, to get people in the spirit. You can get a lot of these things right at your local dollar store in bulk!
If you want to be really fancy, provide Gilligan & Skipper hats, as well as flip flops.
Beach Theme Costumes can look like this.
BEACH THEME WEDDING ATTIRE IDEAS
If your wedding going to be on an actual beach, and you are non-traditional and not afraid to break the norm, you might want to think about costumes. Because of the heat, you’ll want to go a little more on the casual side, anyhow so have fun with it!
Wedding – Let your groom be your captain in a sharp blue blazer, white pants and a captain’s hats. Your grooms men could dress as sailors, pirates, Hawaiian hula gear, or Gilligan’s Castaways. Or go with Hawaiian print shirts, muumuus and sarongs. The bride could also consider a sexy mermaid-style wedding dress.
Beach Party Favors
WEDDING FAVOR IDEAS
If you are planning party favors, present your favors in plastic children’s beach pails. Some items you might want to put in the pails include: Beach ball (deflated) – Sun screen – Ocean print hand towel or washcloth – Sand dollars – Lifesavers candy – Cheap sunglasses – Seashell soaps – Natural sponge – Starfish – Shell encrusted candles -Beach Boys CD – “Beach Blanket Bingo” DVD – Plastic leis.
BEACH THEME ENTERTAINMENT/ACTIVITIES
Don’t forget to bring lots of Beach Balls, Hula Hoops, Surfboards, Limbo Sticks and maybe even “Twister!” with you!
CENTER PIECE IDEAS
Here are a few centerpiece ideas to help give you inspiration.
Beach Party Theme Centerpiece
BEACH THEME SONG LIST
Inflate a palm tree!
Planning a wedding or party next year with a beach theme? If you are then you already know you will have the Beach Boys, Jimmy Buffet and reggae master Bob Marley requested to your DJ. Below are some more ideas…
1. “Rock Lobster” (The B-52s)
2. “Under the Sea” (from The Little Mermaid)
3. “Come Sail Away” (Styx)
4. “Tequila” (The Champs)
5. “I Love Beach Music” (The Embers)
6. “In the Navy” (Village People)
7. “Love Is the Seventh Wave” (Sting)
8. “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” (Enya)
9. “Private Beach Party” (Gregory Isaacs)
10. “Beyond The Sea” (Bobby Darin)
11. “Rockaway Beach” (The Ramones)
12. “Sailing” (Christopher Cross)
13. “Sea of Love” (The Honeydrippers)
14. “Sittin’ on The Dock of the Bay” (Otis Redding)
15. “The Beach” (New Order)
16. “The Ocean” (U2)
17. “The Tide Is High” (Blondie)
18. “Too Many Fish In The Sea” (The Marvelettes)
19. “Under the Boardwalk” (The Drifters)
20. “Ebb Tide” (Al Hibler)
21. “Underwater Love” (Faith No More)
22. “California Girls” (David Lee Roth or The Beach Boys)
23. “Wipeout” (The Surfaris, or The Fat Boys)
24. “Sea Cruise” (Huey Smith)
25. “Beach Baby” (Regents)
26. “Caribbean Queen” (Billy Ocean)
27. “Coconut” (Harry Nilsson)
28. “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” (Rupert Holmes)
29. “La Isla Bonita” (Madonna)
30. “Walk on the Ocean” (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
31. “Margaritaville” (Jimmy Buffet)
32. “From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea” (The Cure) 33. “Vacation” (The Go-Gos)
34. “California Dreamin'” (The Mamas and the Papas)
35. “Going Back To Cali” (L.L. Cool J)
36. “Heatwave, (Love Is Like A)” (Martha Reeves & The Vandellas)
37. “Hot Fun in the Summertime” (Sly & the Family Stone)
38. “Hot Hot Hot” (Buster Poindexter)
39. “I Can See Clearly Now” (Johnny Nash or Jimmy Cliff)
40. “Miami” (Will Smith)
41. “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” (Timbuk 3)
42. “Walkin’ on Sunshine” (Katrina and the Waves)
43. “Surfing USA” (Beach Boys)
44. “Three Little Birds” Bob Marley
45. “I’m Yours” Jason Mraz
46. “Lazy Song” Bruno Mars
47. “SOmewhere Over The Rainbow” Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
48. “Limbo Rock” Chubby Checker
49. “Banana Boat SOng” Harry Bellefonte
50. “Toes” Zac Brown Band
BEACH THEME CUPCAKES
Want to drift away? Need some good music to start it all off with?
Here is another link to a video blog of a recent corporate event that DJ Kenny Casanova did at Beach Theme Party, where they poured tons of sand down and brought the beach to them! —> BEACH THEME VIDEO BLOG
The “Bridal Party Introduction” is where I really made the transition from Professional Wrestling Ring Announcer Kenny Casanova to Wedding Reception DJ. It was just natural that my Michael Buffer-like, “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble,” voice lent a hand in success when it comes to the intro of the bridal party. So with that being said, what have I seen lately in this area of bridal introductions?
For the most part, as the wedding DJ, I format the actual bridal party line up ahead of time expecting changes last minute. This gives me a base to start from. It often changes last minute, but at least we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. So, along with the song selection, I send them an outline to fill out with names in chronological order. This helps a lot, brides, so if you can get this squared out ahead of time, there is a lot less confusion in the hallway a minute before you are about to go on.
Usually, I think it works best to acknowledge the grandparents from their seats, then have the parents come through the doors with no music. Next, the sound hits and the wedding party comes in.
Lately for large bridal parties, I have found a few songs is kind of cool, as long as it doesn’t create a huge hassle for the DJ who has to also announce the names at the same time. Very familiar songs are the key and also create individuality and characterization for the members walking out.
Recently, one bridal pairing came out loosely costumed as Michael Jackson to Billie Jean and walked to their line on the dance floor complete with pearled gloves and surgical masks to boot.
A dramatic pause before the bride and groom is also cool, followed with a different song.
These are just a few selections I have seen in the Capital Region area as a wedding DJ. What ever you choose, make sure it fits you, as it sets the tone for the rest of the DJ fun for the night!
For more modern selection options, check out our Intro Song Idea List, also on this site.
Remember something borrowed and something blue? At first we only saw hints of one color on a bride. A little color maybe in the hair… A blast of color in jewelry… These accents made a nice touch, while still allowing the bride to wear her traditional white, at a traditional white wedding. However, many different colors have been creeping into the scene more and more, with all the new brights and eccentric patterns just as we see in today’s fashion trends. Just as we see people breaking the norm at many receptions, today’s bride who wishes to buck tradition is throwing the color rules out the window.
Just as brides and grooms are breaking it down on the wedding dance floor in the middle of a slow song all over the internet, today’s independent woman is no longer a follower. She is no longer silent. She doesn’t want to go along with the crowd. She wants to be different. She wants to make her day memorable. Today’s daring bride wears what she wants to wear, and sets a trend.
Out of Albany, NY, but willing to travel, I was the Disc Jockey for a recent wedding in Rochester, NY. At this particular wedding, I was pleasantly shocked to see that each bridesmaid had a different pastel color on, as I was calling the introductions over some Black Eyed Peas. The dresses were, in fact, the same cut and style and matched the vest on each of their individual escorts, but none of the dresses were the same color. White at this one was reserved for the bride, however, I am seeing brides dropping this tradition more and more!
What Will Everyone Think? I read that historically, white wedding dresses weren’t the norm until after Queen Victoria wore a white dress for her wedding. Okay, I am just the DJ, and not any sort of fashion plate, but I can tell you this. Not all brides are following the Queen anymore! Brides who are choosing colored gowns, are doing so for many other different reasons.
Quite often, in a world that sees second marriages as commonplace, for today’s bride who wants color but doesn’t want to be too obvious, I have been seeing washed out and faint colors on the dance floor, mixed into in their traditional white dresses. I have also seen very faint colors, it almost still looks white; almost as if someone washed a bright colored sock in with the gown.
Wedding dresses in the palest of pink or the lightest of blue add color, but aren’t looked at as inappropriate and don’t make the groom look as if he is marrying Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
One denominator for color choice has often been selection to match the season. Spring brides are choosing pale pastels, while those marrying in the summer choose deeper shades of similar colors. Those getting married in autumn are choosing yellows, golds and even shades orange, like my friend Pete, who recently got married on Halloween 2009, which fell on a Saturday.
However, from what I hear, it is the daring trend-setting winter bride who often chooses to make the boldest statement. Last winter, I had a bride in a bright red dress, with a red veil to match. (And yes, she looked like she raided Lady Gaga’s VMA closet.
My opinion on this? The wedding is all about the bride. I think the bride looks beautiful with whatever she chooses to wear, as long as she feels good in it and wears it front of a DJ at the reception, rather than a band!
I recently did one of the most research-involved DJ gigs to date; a 50th Italian Wedding Anniversary, NO ENGLISH, with all Italian music straight from Italy!
Italian music has long been the staple of weddings in that culture. The vow-renewing bride and groom at this renewal were great people and I really wanted to give them what they wanted. I had a heck of a time, however, finding all the traditional Italian favorites song by the original artists, but I did it, four hours of Funiculi Funicula fun!
Albany NY Anniversary DJ
THE MEETING – When I met with them originally, I was under the impression that Italian-American artists would be great for this event. I pictured lots of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Andrea Bocelli, and my personal favorite, Louis Prima! However, I was told by a charming old Italian woman in broken English that, in so many words, “Prima is a hack and a poor imitation to the original.” The problem was, she didn’t know who the original artist was, who sang say, “Zooma Zooma / Cella Luna Mezzo Mare,” which Prima called “Angelina”.
It took many phone calls and visits to the library to learn that I really wanted Mario Lanza, Lou Monte and Al Bano, for example. However, in the end, everyone had such a great time… and the food… Mama Mia!
In talking with the Italian couple, I learned a lot of things. I thought these three points would be an interesting quick read on those of you planning or interested in old Italian Wedding Traditions:
THE ITALIAN MONEY DANCE – The money dance is still very common at Italian weddings and today the money is most often placed in a satin bag carried by the bride. It has crossed over to the mainstream internationally at weddings around the world, known as “The Dollar Dance”.
MAY & AUGUST RESTRICTIONS – Many years ago, devout Italians avoided getting hitched during the months of May and August. The reasons could be deemed superstitious, but practiced, none-the-less. The month of May was reserved for the veneration of the Virgin Mary, and August was thought to invite bad luck and sickness.
MASSIVE FOOD SPREADS – eating large quantities of food was said to ensure fertility and thus always played a large part in traditional Italian weddings. They idea was to encourage large families, not necessarily large waistlines.
