With over 2.3 million marriages every year in the US alone, it’s no surprise that weddings are becoming more original and unique than ever before with location being a key factor. In fact, the most common wedding destinations outside of the US are the Caribbean, Mexico and Hawaii, making beach weddings a hugely popular choice among couples.
Beach weddings often carry the stereotype of being beautifully idyllic and unique, surrounded by soft sand and picture-perfect palm trees. Whilst these factors are often present in many beach weddings, successfully organizing and hosting one is far from easy and can often cause greater stress than a more traditional wedding. It can be a lot more complicated than simply finding an empty patch of sand and exchanging vows, with a lot of steps many couples accidentally overlook.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case, and by implementing the strategies you’re about to read below you’ll be able to hold the beach wedding of your dreams – absolutely stress free!
Investigate permits and ordinances
Every beach is different, and each will vary with regard to granting wedding permission. In fact, some beaches across the world may not even accept weddings, so it’s important to do as much research as you can to avoid disappointment.
How many guests are you expecting to have? How much of the beach do you estimate you’ll need cordoned off? Are you going to be involving alcohol in your wedding? Some beaches completely prohibit alcohol altogether and, dependent on size, won’t be able to stop members of the public being present in the surrounding area unless you manage to find an accessible private beach.
Weigh-up your priorities and choose a location accordingly to ensure your chosen location best suits your preferences.
Dress based on location
Whilst many brides dream of an extravagant wedding dress complete with embellishment and heavy material, this simply just isn’t practical for a beach wedding. Typically, beach weddings will be held in the summer accompanied with hot weather, so choosing a dress with this in mind is essential to ensure you’re as comfortable as possible on your big day.
Light, airy fabrics that allow for maximum movement are a great option. It may also be best to avoid wearing a veil as this may cause your makeup to become sweaty and shiny (never a good look in photographs!). Selecting a wedding dress with these factors in mind can be difficult, but there are some brilliant sites out there that specifically cater toward wedding dresses for the beach giving you an array of options to choose from.
Accommodation and accessibility
If your approved beach location is close to your hometown/where the majority of your guests live, it’s unlikely you’ll have to worry about accommodation too much. However, a hugely appealing aspect of beach weddings is simply getting away and having your special day somewhere new and exotic, meaning you’ll have to take into account travel/accommodation expenses for yourselves and your guests.
Will all your guests be able to afford to travel to your destination? Is there enough local accommodation available for everyone to stay? These are factors that need to be considered for traditional weddings, but are often hugely amplified for beach weddings and shouldn’t be neglected.
Accessibility is equally important – are any of your guests disabled? Crutches, wheelchairs and walking frames are all virtually impossible to use along sand, so it’s crucial to establish whether or not your chosen beach will allow temporary flat-lay materials to be placed down if necessary. There would be nothing worse than suddenly realizing on your big day that an important family member couldn’t actually access your wedding location due to disability, so it’s a vital factor to consider early on in the organizational process.
Consider the tide
Tides occur naturally every single day, and the last thing you’d want is for your beautiful ceremony to be taken over by the oncoming ocean. Once you’ve selected your beach of choice, make sure you time your ceremony to coincide with times of low tide. This may seem like a very obvious thing to do, but it’s a factor most couples don’t even consider when looking into booking a beach wedding.
Beach weddings can certainly be some of the most beautiful weddings around, as long as you don’t overlook anything. There are more factors that need to be considered when compared to a more traditionally-set wedding but, if you utilize the above tips, you’ll be well on your way to hosting a beach wedding without a single hitch!
Rachel Lamb works at a bridal boutique and only recently got married herself. She enjoys sharing her wedding dress tips and ideas online.
