Great Ideas for a Pirate Themed Wedding [Part I]

Themed weddings are becoming more popular these days. One particular theme that seems to be showing more & more interest is a Pirate themed wedding. In 2006 my husband & I had a pirate themed wedding and in this blog I'll tell you some great ideas on how you can have a wedding that no one will forget!

We used messages in bottles for our invitations. I ordered the plastic bottles & corks from a sand art company online. You can also find glass bottles, which are more authentic, but do cost more to ship and require a box to be shipped in. Plastic bottles do not need a box to be shipped in. You can place the address label and stamp right on the bottle and mail it that way. Just think how neat that must be for your guests to find in their mail when it arrives! It cost around 60 cents each to send them in 2006, but please check with USPS for current rates. Also, if you add sand or various other items, it will weigh more, therefore making it cost more.

This is what we did for ours: I found a pirate map online and the wording in the invitation as well. We printed the map invitation on 5x7 parchment paper and then burned the edges with a wood burning tool (can be purchased from a craft store for under $10). We then rolled them up tightly and tied them with gold ribbon. We placed them in the bottles and sealed them with gold wax (also can be purchased from a craft store). On top of each cork we stamped the letter S (our last name) in gold wax. They are certainly gorgeous when they are finished.

After spending many hours online searching for the right one, I found the Captain With His Lover figurine that I think fit our wedding perfectly. Sadly though, this figurine has been discontinued and is very hard to find now.

Here are some other suggestions for cake toppers:

The Love Never Dies skeleton figurine series, although not pirate like, still seems to fit the theme slightly.

A Pirate Ship. If you search nautical and pirate sites you can find small scale ships that would look nice on top of a wedding cake. You might have to get creative and add the pirate flag yourself though! There are also crystal ones that look classy but still match your theme.

Another option is having one customly created for you out of clay. Many sites promote this service and their portfolios are impressive. You could have them create small miniatures of you and your pirate to be in the attire you will be wearing at your wedding. Although this may be the most expensive route, it is certainly something you can cherish for a long time and very unique.

There are a ton of pirate figurines out on the web, do a search and see if anything you are looking for is out there!

You could use the norm of flowers in a vase and add some pirate like touches to it, or you could go with something a little less normal.

We created our centerpieces by glueing sand to a piece of wood (purchased at a craft store too!). Then small treasure boxes we found at the same store were painted, decorated and glued to the board next to a small metal pail. We filled the pail full of white confetti like beads to imitate ice and then placed three small bottles of liquor in them for our guests. We had to have Captain Morgan of course - and chose Jack Daniels since I am originally from Tennessee, and we chose Tequila to represent my husband's Mexican heritage.

Other ideas could be that you could use a larger treasure chest and fill it with chocolate gold coins.

Each table could be named a different pirate ship, and each have a different ship model as the centerpiece.

You really have a lot of options for the centerpieces! Have fun!

This is the end of part one. Please check back for part two where I'll give ideas for the wedding attire, food, and decorations - plus much more!