Nautical Decorating Ideas

When planning a concept for your next event consider the universal appeal, versatility, and wide range of decorating options that come with a nautical theme. Whether it is boating or sea life, an emblematic maritime adventure has something everyone can appreciate, and it works well for any occasion from casual to formal.

From the precise regimen of a navy ship to the natural environment of the seashore, a nautical theme has come to embody a broad range of elements and design aesthetics. And we're here to get your creative juices flowing so you can fashion a fun and memorable event for you and your guests.

For inspiration, consider the weathered wood of a fishing pier, polished chrome of an ocean liner, bright colors of a sailing regatta, and coastal elements of a seaside village. Here are 3 distinctive nautical decorating styles:

RUSTIC

• Rough textures
• Muted colors
• Weathered wood
• Peeling paint
• Rusty metal
• Fishing & cargo accessories

SHIP-SHAPE

• Crisp, clean lines
• Bold colors
• Glossy white paint
• Varnished wood
• Polished chrome & brass
• Sailing, ships & ocean travel

COASTAL

• Light, breezy, casual
• Softer colors
• Vintage & worn
• Sailing memorabilia
• Seashore & nature inspired

Welcome Aboard! Entrance & Foyer

• Make a great first impression and set the tone for your event with a welcoming entrance:
• Line the walkway, driveway or entrance with channel markers

• Red triangles on the right (left on exit)
• Green squares on the left (right on exit)
• Light the trees & walkway with hanging rope lanterns
• Hang ocean waves of blue & white bunting on fences and/or porch railings
• Erect a directional signpost with ocean port cities; use oars as signs

• Wrap balusters, columns, fence posts/rails, and/or tree trunks in fabric strips of blue & white
• String maritime signal flags and/or colored pennants along the walkway or above the front door

• Flank the front door with hanging life rings
• Add planks to wood pallets to build a pier | dock | wharf walkway
• Warehouses (like us) leave wood pallets by the back door/dock for anyone to take (please!)
• Lay blue cellophane underneath to look like water
• Make your own pier pilings, DIY here
• Create an 18th century wharf on the front porch or in the foyer
• Arrange wood cargo crates, fisherman nets, and barrels as props
• Scatter hay or straw (sparingly) on the floor and walkway

• Bubble dry ice to create an ominous fog; drop in a glow stick for added effect
• Setup a guestbook and feather pen on a barrel or table draped with burlap

• Simulate a cruise ship entrance at the front door or in the foyer

• Use a red or white carpet runner as a gangplank with plastic chain railings between posts or stanchions
• Stack cardboard boxes painted to look like trunks & luggage
• Make fluffy clouds from white paper lanterns, DIY here
• Cut out a flock of seagulls and hang overhead
• Extend signal flags from the center point above the entrance to create a tent effect
• Include life rings on each side of the door

Give 'em a Sign

• Harmonize your decor by repeating distinctive Nautical icons, symbols and motifs, such as:
• Captain's wheel/ship’s helm
• Anchors
• Ropes & chains
• Hurricane lanterns
• Monkey fist/paw knots
• Lighthouses
• Sailboats
• Life rings
• Compass rose
• Sextant
• Crossed oars
• Rowboats & dinghies
• Telescopes
• Nautical maps
• Navigational charts
• Sails & rigging
• Signal Flags
• Brass signs
• Buoys
• Portholes
• Diver’s helmet
• Ocean, water, waves
• Seashells 
• Starfish
• Fish
• Octopus
• Lobsters
• Crabs
• Mermaids
• Pelicans
• Seagulls
• Fishing nets
• Casks & barrels
• Wood trunks, crates & chests
• Galvanized buckets
• Glass buoys
  

• Include international maritime signal flags in varying formats to add color, pique interest, and spell out secret messages
• Group photo picture frames together with a printed nautical signal flag in each frame
• Add nautical flag throw pillows to a neutral-colored (or covered) sofa

• Use nautical signal flag toothpicks to skewer drink garnishes & hors d'oeuvres
• Simulate sail rigging with signal flag banners
• Intersperse nautical phrases written in rope letters, DIY here
• And, find nautical phrases in common usage...click here
• Label areas in the style and terminology of a ship, such as, Galley, Head, Bridge, Poop Deck, Engine Room, Crew Only, Boiler Room and Quarters.

Show Your Colors

• Highlight your selected colors throughout the party area:

• Neutralize the background with white, beige, & black to make your colors stand out 
• Remove competing colors and objects that distract from your chosen palette
  
• Repeat each color at least 5 times to maximize the effect
• Alternatively, use colors symbolic of water as a background, such as light blue and/or aqua

Fly High

• Decorate the ceiling and transform the room; here are some suggestions:

• Hoist round paper lanterns in varying sizes, colors & heights

• Droop ivory or white sheets end-to-end to resemble ship sails
• Cluster large-link plastic chains and/or knotted ropes
• Stretch fishing nets with hanging glass buoys
• Attach blue & white strips of fabric to metal rings
• Hang bottles with messages, mini sailboats and buoys with fishing line, ribbon or rope
• Crisscross banners of signal flags and/or theme-colored pennants
• Intermix swaths of fabric
• Make fishing bobbers from paper lanterns, DIY here

• Dangle ceiling swirls in theme colors
• String up Welcome Aboard life rings in varying sizes, heights & colors
• Suspend hurricane, square, and/or rope lanterns
• Festoon with buoy, seashell, and/or driftwood garland
• For the true sailor, fill the room with silver stars of different sizes at varying heights

Up the Walls

• Enhance the background with themed wall decorations, trimming, and backdrops:
• Line the walls with portholes, DIY here
• Add a realistic nautical scene behind the bar or dessert table with a photography backdrop, such as an

• Ocean horizon
• Tropical island
• Nautical map
• Underwater scene
• Hang a fishing net decoration on the wall and add shells and sea life, photos of your guest of honor, or sea travel destinations
• Also include buoy floats, white lights, crabs, fish, lobsters, & green streamers as seaweed
• Use weathered wood bulletin board paper for the background

• Install a boat window made from an ocean scene poster or bulletin board paper, then
• Cut a thin frame with rounded corners from poster board
• Paint metallic gold

• Build a nautical themed wreath from a life ring, foam, vines, or captain's wheel 
• Lay out your own water & sky horizon with overlapping blue & turquoise 
• Fabric, tulle, paper, and/or bunting
• Use mini white lights underneath to emulate sun/moonlight reflections on the water
• Hang a round orange or yellow paper lantern sun
• Mark the spot with crossed oars over a doorway, bar or fireplace
• Make a gallery wall using poster board to frame printed maps, ships and/or lighthouses

Serve 'em Right

• Fire up your food service with unique details at food stations, appetizer spreads, self-serve buffets, raw bars, dessert tables, and hors d'oeuvre trays:
• Add a mast with sails to the center of a serving table
• Alternatively, extend a sail and flags from the ceiling to convert a table, counter, or kitchen island into a sailboat
• Cut out portholes and attach to a white or solid colored table skirt

• Include enamel and galvanized serveware, such as cake stands, beverage tubs, and utensil holders

• Trim serving dishes with aqua or blue rick-rack to look like ocean waves
• Enhance food platters and serving trays with decorative nautical centerpieces
• Skewer & circle hors d'oeuvres and appetizer bites with shark fin toothpick flags
• Serve food on mini oceans by covering tabletops with teal satin or blue cellophane 

• Use boat, scallop, clam, and starfish shaped serving dishes
• Change plastic utensils to wood by applying a sliver of wood-grain contact paper to the handle
• Border the table with hibiscus garland or blue & white wave bunting
• Create a mini harbor scene with boats & lighthouses by adding a raised back to a serving table using shelves

• Label food with tents and mini signs in card holders or monkey fist rope knots 
• Give your food presentation a professional look with individual appetizers lined up in rows using:

• Shot glasses
• Tasting spoons
• Forks or plastic forks that look like silver
• Round & square tasting cups
• Glasses and glass jars
• Martini glasses

• Use serving platters and trays to group your well-ordered rows of:
• Skewered bites and dipping sauce
• Chilled soups with toast points
• Layered salads
• Veggies with dressing
• Mini desserts
• Then build levels with tiered trays and platters on 
• Glass blocks to simulate ice 
• Groups of wood buoys
• Life rings
• Mini whiskey barrels
• Down-turned galvanized buckets
• Wood crates
• Get more food station tips & buffet table ideas at www.party-ideas-by-a-pro.com

Raise the Bar

• Lift spirits with extra fun touches and embellishments in cocktails and at the bar:

• Serve up your spirits in a memorable way by creating your own makeshift bar. Throw a door or wooden planks over 2 barrels to make a rustic vignette for the carousers

• Offer red (port) & green (starboard) martinis and/or cocktails
• Cast fishing bobbers into ocean colored punch

• Border the edge of your bar with rope, plastic chains or burlap
• Stretch a fishing net or nautical flag banner across the front
• Hang mini life rings or lobster buoys below the bartop
• String themed light strands behind the bar, around the top, and under the overhang, include nautical and/or marine life

• anchors
• lighthouses
• glass buoys
• sailboats
• lanterns
• lobster buoys
• seashells
• sea turtles
• tropical fish
• whales
• jellyfish
• mermaids
• seahorses

• Cover cocktail tables with over-sized tablecloths or fabric, then gather and tie with rope
• Add pennants to striped straws
• Skewer drink garnishes with shark fin or nautical signal flag toothpicks
• Fill a martini glass with white life saver candies
• Install a red light bulb or candle holder on the left (port) side, when facing out, & a green on the right (starboard) side
• Rename a nautical-inspired cocktail for the event or guest of honor
• Use a printed wood-grain tablecover to convert the bar top to wood
• Pass South Seas Shimmy Jell-o shots, recipe here

Focal Points & Centerpieces

• Place seashells, starfish, & sea glass along a burlap runner; adjust heights with risers underneath
• Add another facet with the gentle motion & glow of flickering tealights or the charming whimsy of fairy lights
• Highlight sailing, ocean, and nautical elements in centerpieces and focal points with

• Sailboats, ships & anchors
• Lobster & glass buoys
• Pelicans, seagulls & shore birds
• Ropes & knots
• Shells & marine life
• Lighthouses 
• Hoist a ship's mast from the center of the table
• Make wood pilings from pool noodles, DIY here
• Flip containers, buckets, jars, boxes, and wine glasses for creative risers of varying heights
• Spray paint branches to look like coral or use simulated coral sprays

• Decorate tent poles with a rope ladder to a crow’s nest

• Wrap glass vases, bottles and jars with burlap, rope, or netting & decorate with shells or life rings
• Re-purpose galvanized buckets, tins, and wood crates as vases and/or planters 
• Fill glass vases or globes with rope
• Contrast smooth and rough textures to enhance your composition
• Suspend sailboat, nautical & sea life ornaments from branches in a fluted vase

Water Features

Keep it all afloat with plenty of water; here are some ideas for adding the illusion, suggestion, and/or symbolism of the ocean and water in your nautical-themed centerpieces and focal points

Reception, Banquet & Dinner Table Settings

• Bring your style to the table with coordinated color and details:

CRISP

• Bold blue & bright white
• Clean lines & striking contrast
• Well-ordered, neat, & tidy

FRESH

• Liven up tables with stripes
• Energize further at angles
• Casual & active

EMOTIVE

• Add feeling with vivid color
• Red for drama; yellow for cheer
• Dynamic & engaging

• Display paper pennants or flags on toothpicks as place cards

• Decorate tables with nautical-themed salt & pepper shakers
• Tie utensils and/or napkins with rope
• Make life preserver napkin rings, DIY here
• Include nautical map table runners and/or placemats
• Cover tables and/or chair backs with fishing nets
• Print ship portholes for each place setting
• Count the ways you might number your tables:

Light it Up

• Give your event that magic touch with an extra beam of brilliance:

• Create a focal point of branches in a fluted vase with suspended candles in glass candle holders & nautical themed ornaments
• Set pillar candles in stacked wood crates for a unique lighting display

• Aim pin spots to make centerpieces stand out
• Cover fairy lights with ocean-colored tulle or organza to simulate shimmering light reflections on water
• Position colored bulbs or candle holders with a red (port) light on the left (when facing outward) and a green (starboard) light on the right
• Light-up the bar, walkways, railings and serving tables with nautical & marine life themed string lights
• Float candles in vases filled with water and sea shells
• Use colored glow sticks on walkways or floating in the pool
• Wrap jars with rope to make candle holders, then hang them from trees  
• Fill colored and frosted bottles with fairy lights and decorate with a shell on jute rope

• Customize your own candle holders with coral, sand & shells in glass vases
• String colored or white lights along marine signal flag banners and/or pennants

• Assemble a captain's wheel chandelier with hanging rope lanterns
• Make candle pilings with 3 pillar candles & vases of different heights tied with rope
• Up-light walls and focal points with blue and aqua lights
• Include submersible colored floral lights in vases

Thankful For Small Favors