You’re drawn to the beauty and bounty of the sea. Whether you harbor a love for the boating lifestyle, reside in a seaside community, or simply want to get married near the water, your nautical-themed wedding can express your shared passion for the waterside in staying true to your unique love story.
“A nautical wedding reflects the styles, textures, and lifestyle of the harbor, seaside or boating life,” says Rosemary Hattenbach, creative director and principal owner of the event planning studio Rosemary Events. “I encourage couples to tap into one aspect that inspires them and make it authentic to the location or their relationship.”
To create this special wedding theme, Rosemary uses colors and patterns of the sea, including shades of blue and white, striped patterns, and accents of orange. “We contrast these details with textures such as sailcloth, heavy weight rope, net, and industrial metals such as anchors, chains, and a compass,” she says.
Nautical Wedding Invitations
Before your wedding day arrives, you will have a chance to unveil your unique nautical theme through your wedding invitations. Are you going for classic wedding invitations with a hint of the sea or nautical-themed stationery?
Classic motifs and designs to add to a nautical-theme wedding invitation include stripes, nautical flags, rope detail, and illustrations of a compass, an anchor, or a ship wheel. Rosemary also suggests canvas textures, oars, or going for a vintage Chris Craft boat with wood accents.
To help you create your nautical wedding invitations, we’ve gathered seven of our favorite sea-inspired wedding stationeries that boast maritime designs.
Bold Union
A symbol of an anchor reflects your unwavering love toward one another and a shared passion for the sea, in this contemporary blue and white striped nautical wedding invitation.
The Bold Union wedding invitation boasts a chic and contemporary look, featuring a nautical-inspired blue and white striped border. Designed by Petite Lemon, this beautiful stationery features lovely script and an anchor symbol that represents your steadfast love for one another and shared passion for the sea. If white and blue wedding invitations don’t match your color palette, this invitation is also available in yellow and bright orange.
Personalize the Bold Union wedding invitation with details of your big day.
Forever in Love
A soft blue watercolor illustration creates a lovely ocean background for this contemporary wedding invitation for your nautical-themed event.
Forever in Love is an elegant, contemporary wedding invitation with a soft watercolor illustration of waves that fade from light blue to navy blue. With the words “love always” featured in cursive gold script, this stunning stationery hints at a romantic waterside setting that’s perfect for a nautical-themed affair. Designed by Yours Truly, this invitation is also available in sea green and soft pink.
Customize the Forever in Love wedding invitation with your wedding day information.
Beautiful Border
Your contemporary nautical wedding theme can be brought to life with this dramatic dark blue and white wedding stationery.
Evoke the deep blue sea and your intense love for one another with the Beautiful Border wedding invitation designed by Stacy Claire Boyd. With a stylish bracket trim, this maritime-inspired wedding stationery features bold white font and soft peach script that creates a modern look to match your yacht, beach, or nautical-themed wedding. You can also order it in peach or sea green.
Order the Beautiful Border wedding invitation for your friends and family.
Painted Blooms
A border of flowers in a sophisticated color palette of gold, navy blue, and white surrounds this wedding invitation that calls to mind a beautiful day on the yacht.
Getting married at the yacht club or a seaside resort? Designed by Stacy Claire Boyd, the impressive Painted Blooms wedding invitation matches any upscale nautical-inspired wedding. With a border of loose flowers in chic nautical hues of navy blue and gold, this sophisticated stationery comes with an ocean blue envelope that completes your elegant maritime theme.
Invite your loved ones to your wedding day with the Painted Blooms wedding invitation.
Stylishly Striped
This clean and classic wedding invitation features sea green and white stripes, a subtle way to get your guests excited about your nautical-themed wedding to come.
Sea green and white stripes border this delicate nautical wedding invitation designed by Yours Truly. The Stylishly Striped stationery features a contemporary look that matches any casual boat, yacht, or seaside wedding. The beauty of this template is that you can customize the color palette to fit your unique color scheme.
Purchase the Stylishly Striped wedding invitation in time for your big day.
Refined Monogram
A custom photograph of a couple kissing on a boat creates the perfect nautical-themed wedding invitation.
The Refined Monogram wedding invitation is an elegant template that allows you to upload your own nautical-inspired photograph in a chic white border. This stationery is the perfect choice if you’re planning an engagement photo shoot or a special sea-inspired photo shoot for your invitations. Along with beautiful cursive script and a customizable color palette, the design features a lovely wreath around your initials.
Forever More
An elegant soft blue wedding invitation with the word “forever” boldly scrawled across the top makes a lovely nautical invitation for your laid-back boat or seaside wedding. Designed by Yours Truly, the Forever More wedding invitation is simple yet sophisticated, conjuring blue serene waters and calm skies.
Send the Forever More wedding invitation to your friends and family.
Personalized Nautical Wedding Invitations
Shutterfly’s nautical wedding invitations are stunning, and they’re also simple to customize. Select the design you love most and personalize it using your custom color palette, favorite trim, and type of paper. The design possibilities are endless, making it easy to create unique wedding invitations that reflect your nautical theme and express your relationship.
“Depending on how you choose to express your theme, a wedding invitation holds the power to generate excitement for your big day,” says Rosemary Hattenbach, creative director of Rosemary Events.
Five Free Wedding Invitation Samples
It takes time to find the one. Let us help you find your match. As you narrow your search for the perfect wedding invitations, don’t forget to order five free samples from Shutterfly. See and touch the designs in person, then trust your heart!
