DIY Boat Sail Wedding Vows Ceremony Backdrop

I have a fun surprise for you today! Sara from Burnett’s Boards did this fab DIY boat sail wedding vow ceremony backdrop for a shoot in St. Lucia she created, (see below for link to the shoot), and today she’s here to share how to make the backdrop for your own wedding.

From Sara:

I recently had the opportunity to design a wedding inspiration shoot at The Landings, St Lucia (see the whole shoot here!) and wanted a real wow moment for the ceremony backdrop. For a tropical beach wedding I couldn’t imagine anything more romantic than a boat sail with wedding vows.

For your own boat sail ceremony backdrop you could use love letters, favorite poetry lines, quotes, or of course your vows if you’ve already written them! For this editorial, I chose lines from Derek Wolcott’s long-form poem Omeros, which speaks to the beauty of the island of St. Lucia.

The sail was hand-carried to St Lucia where the wonderful staff at The Landings procured a boat for me and created the mast before the shoot. It really was a magical day and after the shoot couples at the resort stopped by to take pictures with the boat.

I’ve had several requests for how to make the sail since then and want to share the materials and steps with you here on Fab You Bliss today. (If you want to use this one consider getting married at The Landings – it’s still there and ready for action!)

MATERIALS

With the exception of the paintbrush, which I found at an arts & crafts store, I bought all of these materials at my local Lowes.

1. Paint Brush
2. Painter’s tape
3. Drop cloth – they’re usually either white or look slightly tea-stained. I definitely went with the tea-stained linen type (this brand). If you want to stain it a certain color, they’re pretty easy to stain since they’re made to be absorbent.
4. Grommet kit
5. Wall paint in the color you’d like the words to be in
6. Primer: ask someone in the paint department which primer you’ll need since it all depends on which paint you choose.
7. Painter’s tray
8. Mallet
9. Plastic drop cloth (make sure it’s larger than however large you intend your sail to be)
10. Tape measure
11. Wood plank or some other hard surface you don’t mind using the mallet & grommets on
12. Fishing line (instead of traditional thread. The wind is going to tug at your sail – better safe than sorry!)
13. Sewing needle

STEPS

***If you already know exactly how tall your mast is be sure to use more precise measurements. When I created this sail I didn’t even have the boat lined up yet so I just went with it and made the biggest sail I could out of the drop cloth I bought, figuring I could roll the bottom if need be ***

1. Clear a space in a spare room and lay the drop cloth out along its longest edge. The longest side is where your mast is going to be. It’s helpful to iron out the drop cloth (I just did this directly on the floor) before you measure and cut.

2. Take the tape measure and go to the top of where the mast would be on your drop cloth and run it down so that it creates the triangle shape of a sail. Cut along the tape measure.

3. For the long side of the sail I simply folded one end over to create a slip where the mast could slide into and sewed it down. Close the top of it up too by sewing so that the entire sail doesn’t slide down your mast when you put it on.

4. Along the shorter side of your triangular sail is where you want to install your grommets. I placed a piece of wood underneath as I followed the grommet kit instructions. Where you place these is up to you. My theory here was that should there be a boom, I would tie the bottom of the sail in place with ribbons.

5. Place the plastic drop cloth over as much of your floor as you can and tape it down with the painters tape. Then, spread your sail out over it.

6. Depending on how much of your sail you want to fill with words, measure out lines using the tape measure. Place painter’s tape along all these as though you’re lining a piece of paper.

7. Put some of the primer in your painter’s tray and use that first to write your words out. If you go straight to the paint it will peel off. So definitely use the primer first!

8. After you’ve written everything out with the primer let it dry. I finished this portion up in the evening and let it dry overnight.

9. Once the primer is dry paint over your words with the paint color you’ve chosen. Again with this I let it dry overnight.

10. Remove your lines of painter’s tape and admire your work!

Thanks for stopping by!

** * **

Credits: Photography: Mikkel Paige Photography // DIY Design: Burnett’s Boards // Venue, Boat, Flowers, & Coordination: The Landings, St Lucia // Wedding Dress: Truvelle // Hair: Emma Boxill // Makeup: Glamour Art by Toya // Model: Oceane Recloux

MATERIALS

STEPS

** * **

You May Also Love:

DID YOU ENJOY THIS POST?

Post a Reply to Erika {Artfully Wed} cancel