Did you see our ocean bride wedding inspiration yesterday? Humblebrag, we're pretty proud of the whole dreamy beach scene.

Not only did it feature so many fabulous designers & vendors but we got to put together the cutest & maybe easiest wedding DIY for your seaside wedding decor: oyster shell candles!

These little cuties are perfect for an ocean-themed wedding. Maybe you're marrying at a windmill on Île-de-Ré, France, or like our models last month, lounging on the cliffs of the misty Puget Sound. Either way, these oyster shells would be so cute surrounding your cake & filling your dinner tables.

So let's get to it!

What You'll Need

Oyster Shells – If you already live at the beach, this will be free & in abundance! If not, believe it or not, you can order oyster shells on Amazon & Etsy. Look for shells that are the cup side (not the flat side). The deeper the “bowl” the more wax you can pour for your candle.

Tea Light Candles – I ordered some fragrance & paraffin-free, soy-based ones on Amazon, you could definitely get creative with scents & colors though!

Double Boiler – Set this up however you like, basically you'll need a pot of boiling water on the stove and a heat-safe bowl, glass jar or anything you don't mind cleaning wax out of after you've finished.

How To Make The Candles

1. Remove wicks from tea light candles. This should be pretty easy! Just push the tea lights out of their tin, flip them over and gently pull the wick out from the bottom. Reserve all the now wickless tea light candles.

2. Set wicks in your oyster shells. Layout a space with parchment or newspaper and line up your oyster shells. Set the wicks up how you'd like them in each.

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3. Melt your wickless tea light candles over a double broiler. This will take about 5 – 10 minutes. Careful, it's hot!

4. Pour melted wax into oysters. Gently pour your melted wax into each oyster shell. Don't worry that you can see the wicks & wick base, the wax will turn opaque as it dries.

5. Let dry!

And that's that! The bigger & deeper the oyster, the longer they will burn once lit.

Extra DIY

We had a lot of leftover oyster shells that were the ‘flat side'. So, we held a lighter to the bottom of tall tapered candles, let them melt a bit, dripped the wax onto the flat shell and stuck the tapered candles to the shell. This gave our scene levels & it was so easy! (Or so my handy, husband helper said!)

Would you rather buy than DIY? Good news, you can! Many beach-loving artisans on Etsy make & sell oyster and other seashell candles & decor for you to buy.

Find more wedding decor inspiration on our Instagram & Pinterest pages!