Beach Wedding Colors: Ideas for Themes, Flowers and Decor

When you’re choosing your beach wedding colors, there’s so much to consider. You can think about the location, your theme, or even what color would look best on your bridesmaids. For an easy way to pick your color palette, start by looking at your beach wedding venue.

Choosing Colors For a Beach Wedding

Consider the location and the scenery.
Decide on a theme for your beach wedding.
Think about your bridesmaid dresses.
Find inspiration from flowers, bouquets or wedding invitations.
Use online tools to create your own wedding color scheme.

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1. Consider the Location and the Scenery

Think about the natural decor and colors that are already at your beach wedding venue. Even within the US, there’s a huge variety of beaches.
The natural blue and green colors at a beach in Seattle are a lot different than the white and turquoise colors at a beach in Miami.
If there’s a lighthouse or sailing spot near your wedding venue, you might choose a nautical theme, with a blue, green or sand color scheme.
If your venue is in a tropical location, bright coral, turquoise or hot pinks will look fabulous with the white sand and blue ocean.
If you’re planning a destination wedding at a resort, you can look at your venue for inspiration. Check out the colors they use around the resort, especially in the gardens.
Classic wedding color schemes, with bright, medium or neutral colors will look great at nearly any location.

2. Decide On a Theme For Your Beach Wedding

There’s lots of fantastic themes for beach weddings. If you find one that you like, it could inspire the color palette for your wedding. Palm trees can inspire a green and tan color scheme. Or seashells could inspire a blue and coral palette.

Beach Wedding Color Themes: For a Nautical Wedding

Some beaches, like a local lake or pond, are perfect for a nautical theme. Especially if your reception is at a nearby restaurant, club or park.

Nautical knots
Sailboats
Lighthouse
Anchors
Lobsters

Beach Wedding Color Themes: For a Tropical Wedding

For a wedding at an oceanside venue, like Florida or Hawaii, a tropical theme would look fantastic. Tropical wedding themes are also perfect for a destination wedding in Mexico, a wedding in Jamaica or a wedding in Dominican Republic.

Palm leaves
Palm trees
Pineapples
Coconuts
Lemons and limes
Whales or fish
Seahorses
Ocean
Seashells
Starfish
Coral
Sand dollars
Sea glass
Surfboards
Driftwood
Flamingos
Mermaids
Lanterns
Sunset

3. Think About Your Bridesmaid Dresses

When you’re choosing your beach wedding color palette, remember that the main color will be used for your bridesmaid dresses. Most people match the groom and groomsmen accessories to the main color, too.

You don’t have to choose bridesmaid dresses right away, but it’s never too early to start looking. Try to find a color that will look good on dresses, ties, socks or pocket squares.

4. Find Inspiration in Flowers, Bouquets and Wedding Invitations

If you have a favorite flower, you can build your color palette around your bouquet. If you’re having a resort wedding, fresh flower bouquets are usually included with the package.

If you want to stick to a color scheme, lots of brides buy or make their own bouquets and bring them along. If you’re planning your wedding at another venue, you can choose fresh or faux flowers to match your wedding color scheme.

Beach Wedding Flowers and Color Palettes

Classic wedding flowers like roses, peonies or carnations look beautiful at a beach wedding. To add a bit of tropical style, consider adding a few exotic blooms to your bouquets and boutonnieres:

Orchid

Orchids are a delicate, tropical flower. They bloom in nearly any color you can imagine. The colors are bright and vibrant, making them perfect for a wedding bouquet. You can find the most popular varieties in blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow and white.

Bird of Paradise

The bird of paradise has bright orange and yellow petals, with a green, purple and blue leaf base. The color mix makes it a beautiful flower to include in a tropical bridal bouquet. Just a few bird of paradise blooms will make a big impact.

Heliconia

Heliconia is a tall flower that grows in a stalk shape. It comes in bright pink, red, orange, yellow or green. It makes a dramatic addition to beach wedding floral decor or bouquets.

Hibiscus

Hibiscus flowers are found in many tropical locations, including Hawaii, Mexico and Jamaica. The soft romantic flower makes it a beautiful addition to bridal, or bridesmaid bouquets.

You can find hibiscus in many colors, including pink, purple, orange, yellow, peach and white. You can even find multicolored hibiscus blooms to match a color scheme.

Protea

The protea is an unusual flower that’s shaped like a bulb, with pointed petals. It makes a unique addition to a bridal bouquet. You can find it in bright pink shades, for a tropical look. Or you can find protea in pale pink and white, for a more neutral color palette.

Plumeria

Plumeria are native flowers in Mexico and the Caribbean. They’re also popular in Hawaii. The small flowers have soft, round petals that look beautiful in wedding bouquets. Some varieties are inexpensive, so if you want floral decor on a budget, plumeria are a great choice. They come in colors to match any scheme, from pale cream, yellow and pink to bright blue, purple and red.

5. Use Online Tools to Create Your Own Wedding Color Scheme

Once you’ve found some flowers, bouquets or invitations that you’d like to use as inspiration, you can upload a photo to an online color tool. My favorite is the Color Palette Generator from Coolors. It’s simple to use and you can create dozens of color combinations for yourself.

How to Use Your Beach Wedding Colors

Once you’ve decided on your color scheme, you can use it throughout your wedding day. As well as the obvious spots, like the bridesmaid dresses and the groomsmen accessories, there’s lots of ways to bring your colors into your wedding decor:

Wedding invitations
Bridal bouquet
Bridesmaid bouquets
Groom’s boutonniere
Groomsmen boutonniere
Wedding day jewelry
Ceremony decorations
Reception decor
Tablecloths and napkins
Centerpieces
Cake topper
Signature drinks
Wedding favors
Welcome bags for a destination wedding

Want to see more colorful beach wedding ideas? Check out my Favorites list on Etsy: Beach Wedding Ideas and Colors

What Are Some Good Beach Wedding Colors?

Once you’ve thought about your venue, your theme, bridesmaids and bouquets, you can choose a wedding color scheme that matches.

If you’re not sold on any one idea, you can just choose a color that you like. There’s no hard and fast rules for wedding colors. If you like the way it looks - your wedding will be beautiful!

If you haven’t decided yet, here’s a few more color palettes to consider:

Color Schemes For a Nautical Wedding

Dark blue, slate blue and sky blue
Navy blue and gold
Navy and white
Navy and red
Blue and sand

Tropical Wedding Color Palettes

Coral, teal and aqua
Coral and mint
Coral and peach
Pink and green
Pink and aqua
Purple and blue
Orange and yellow
Hot pink and orange

Classic or Neutral Colors For a Beach Wedding

All white
Latte, ivory and cream
Dusty rose and white
Sage green and blush pink
Navy blue and blush pink
Gray, pink and blue
Lavender and blue
Pink and peach

Planning a destination wedding at an all inclusive resort? Find out more about planning a beach wedding in a tropical destination. The book includes how-to’s, tips and worksheets for everything from choosing a venue to planning your last dance. Available now on Amazon: