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Last week, we shared our ideas for a backyard wedding on a budget (click here if you missed it). Today, we wanted to share more budget-conscious ideas for a wedding at the beach! If you go through your city’s parks department, you should be able to reserve a stretch of beach for a lot less than a typical “wedding venue,” and you’re guaranteed to have a beautiful backdrop for all your pictures! For this board, we envisioned a fun and laid-back ’50s beach-party-inspired affair.

The Decor: We envision a big white tent on the beach with bunting banners draped across it. The tables would have simple, casual centerpieces of mason jars and vintage bottles filled with bright, cheerful flowers. Mason jars can be purchased for $1/jar or less, and you can find vintage bottles fairly inexpensively at thrift stores and antique stores. You could even save wine bottles for an even more budget-friendly approach.

The Food: Barbecue is perfect for a summer beach wedding. It’s casual, delicious, and it won’t break the bank! Trader Joe’s sells mini hamburger patties and mini buns that would be perfect along with fries. Old-fashioned soda bottles are a must for the 50′s inspired beach wedding. If you’re looking to save money, you could follow this DIY tutorial on how to make your own soda out of generic brand soda water. It even includes downloadable templates for adorable retro labels!

The Dessert: Ice cream cones and a spread of delicious cakes and pies would take the place of a tiered wedding cake. You could challenge your friends and family to a bake-off and have them each bring their signature baked good. Stick little flags into each dessert with the name of baker. Then, have everyone vote on the best dessert! At the end of the night, we imagine a beach bonfire and s’mores. You can make cute little s’mores packets as your favors by simply repackaging graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows, all of which are very inexpensive. If you need inspiration, here is a tutorial.

The Fashion: Going with our 50′s inspired theme, what immediately jumped to mind for the bride’s dress was something short with a poofy skirt–which is perfect for the beach, because it won’t drag in the sand and get dirty. Stephanie James and Dolly Couture are two great places to look for short vintage inspired wedding dresses. For the bridesmaids, pick something bright and cheerful that they will actually wear again, like this cute little number (on sale!) from Anthropologie.

The Details: Make ribbon wands for guests to wave at you as you head back down the aisle or as you depart. Provide frisbees and volleyballs for fun and games on the beach–some of the more adventurous guests may even jump in the water! A bonfire with s’mores would end the evening perfectly.

The Invitations: We designed our bunting banner invitation suite with this board in mind–and to help you stay on budget, it’s free!

Image Credits: soda via Project Wedding, car via Mandy Lynne, bridesmaid bouquet via Snippet & Ink, mini burgers via Culinary Delights, mason jar photo by Hugh Forte, sunglasses via Lieditionmited, programs via Snippet & Ink, ribbon wands via Project Wedding, wood sign photo by Jose Villa, fries via Alexandra Grablewski, dessert table via Once Wed, ice cream via Erin Quon, bottle centerpiece photo by Jonathan Canlas, invitation via Love and Lavender, ocean photo by One Love Photo, sand photo via pixdaus, hammock photo by Jonathan Canlas, s’mores photo by Jonathan Canlas.