Ahoy! Nautical Invitations

After selecting this theme for your party, choose a slogan to use in your invitations, and to use in tying in decorations and personalized favors for your sea-faring Nautical theme.  Find the perfect slogan for your party by trying one of the following, or by thinking of one that suits you.    

• ”Anchors Away…for a boat rockin’ party!
• ”Ahoy Maties…It’s time to party!”
• ”Ship’s Ahoy Sailmates…We’ll be cruising on the S.S. Party!”
• ”Join us for some Nautical Nonsense to celebrate Jon’s 40th birthday!”

Invitations:

Choose one of the following invitations to let your guests know what a seaworthy time they will have at the party:

A Titanic Invitation is perfect for this theme. Invite your guests to come dressed for some “wind-in-your-hair” fun! 

Write out your own invitations for a personalized touch.  Roll the invitation up, and tie it with a small piece of green (seaweed) curling ribbon or raffia.  Add the invite to an empty water bottle (label removed).  Add about 4 tablespoons of sand to each bottle, and a few small seashells.  One shell necklace can be cut apart, and will provide enough shells for about 10-12 invites. 

For your convenience, if you don’t have a design that you would like to use, we have several designs that would be perfect to use in personalized invitations along with your choice of wording.

Create a Seaside Escape with Nautical Decorations

These decorating ideas are great for your nautical themed event or yacht party! 

The color scheme that works the best with this theme is definitely blue, red, and white, with touches of yellow. A combination of only two of these colors would work as well, so pick what works best for you. There are complete nautical decorating kits that, if your budget allows, would transport your guests to a nautical paradise.

The Nautical Theme Party Kit includes a dock, a lighthouse, a sailboat, a cruise ship mural and much more!

Greet your guests at the door with a Life Preserver Arch for a fun way to get the party started. This can also be used as a fun cruise style backdrop for some souvenir picture taking! The personalized nautical banners also make great entrance decorations.

Set up a Personalized Ship Standee next to your buffet tables, gift tables, or other key areas for a great touch.

The nautical anchors would be perfect to place on your walls - these are available in gray, red, yellow or blue. Complement these with some of our seagulls and portholes!

To create a fun and unusual illusion of actually being on a cruise ship, place a ship’s rail decoration approximately three feet away from a wall. Add some blue water gossamer on the floor between the rail and the wall and add a few small white and blue balloons to look just like the ocean!

If you wish, you could attach a beautiful mural to the adjacent wall! Our room rolls are great for creating a lush ocean backdrop to your nautical themed party.

Table Decorations:

Start by covering your tables with blue table covers and add blue table skirts. You may use either fine white china for an elegant look, or try red plastic tableware for a truly nautical effect.

• If you wish to have assigned seating, purchase a sand dollar for each guest and use a paint pen to write their names on them. Place one sand dollar on each plate to serve as a placecard.
• Scatter sand and a few shells across you table like confetti.
• If you will be having a head table, or a buffet table, highlight it by placing a set of dockside pilings on either side of the table.
• Highlight it even further by lining the edge of the table with our nautical signal garland.
• Place a plastic life preserver at the center of your table. For the center of the ring, spraypaint some tree branches white and hang fish net and shells from them. Keep the branches upright by using a Styrofoam base to support them.
• If you can find some beautiful pieces of coral, these always look beautiful on your tables. You could add some air plants and sprinkles of sand to complete the look!

Some other decorating items that you may want to use around your party site would include lots of:

• Fish netting
• Glass ball floats
• Air plants
• Palm trees
• Cork
• Lighthouses
• Canvas-backed beach chairs
• Lanterns
• Beacon lights

Set Sail with Nautical Themed Activities

Of course you will want to play some appropriate cruisin’ kind of music - the kind that hopefully will inspire some dancin’ on the upper deck! We suggest playing Caribbean type music, or maybe a little Jimmy Buffet for starters! Don’t forget about the theme song to the infamous Love Boat for a cute and unusual twist!

Here are a couple of games that work great with this theme and help your guests mingle together throughout the entire evening!

Get a list of the different nautical symbols. Spell words with the symbols, and have people figure out what the words are. Give out prizes to the person who gets the most right.

You could also play “To Speak, or Not to Speak.” Give each player a bag or goodie box with 10 small treasures in it (candy, chocolates, little favors). Have bags labeled with players’ names, so they don’t get mixed up. Let players know at the start of the game exactly when the game will be ending–this game can be played throughout an entire party if you so choose. The object of the game is to catch fellow players saying one of the forbidden words or phrases. For example:

NAUTICAL, BOAT, OCEAN, WAVES, BEACH, YACHT

To help players, post the words prominently on a board where they can be seen often. If someone is caught saying one of the words on the list, that person has to give up a treasure from their stash and give it to the person they said the word to. The player with the biggest haul of goodies at the end of the game is the winner. Lots of fun!

This idea is great for the little mates you may have on board, but is appropriate for any age:

Sand Sculpting
Materials:
1 C. play sand
½ C. cornstarch
¾ C. hot water
Nautical theme molds or cookie cutters

Mix ingredients in a pan and let cook while stirring until very thick. Cool the mixture. Form the object using molds or cookie cutters. Let them dry in the sun for approximately 12 hours. These can be painted when dried if desired.

Anchor’s Away with Nautical Party Favors

Party favors are a wonderful way to thank guests for attending your special party or event. There are tons of favors perfect for your nautical or yacht party!

There is a wonderful Anchors Around Votive Holder that would be a nice favor to give to guests so they can remember the night long after it is over.

Give out Captain’s Hats or Gob Hats to all your guests as soon as they arrive at your door. If the event is centered around someone’s birthday or anniversary, give the guest of honor the Captain’s hat and everyone else the Gob hats!

Give your guests something to treasure by filling a blue personalized snifter with sand and a few beautiful shells!

There are great favors the kids will enjoy, including Under the Sea favor packs and plastic sea creatures. Check out our party activities for more great nautical tips!