First time to Key West - wedding help please
 

Hello! This will probably be the first of many posts as I am trying to plan a special getaway to Key West. I have never been there before but my boyfriend and I are thinking about getting married there in June. We just want a small wedding on the beach with a few family and friends, then a nice place for dinner, then bar hoping and partying all evening. Now I know from reading that Key West does not have great beaches. But I really just want the atmosphere, I don't care if the sand is rocky and the water isn't good for swimming. I just want somewhere pretty and somewhat private. Also, do you have any suggestions on who to get to perform the ceremony? Should I look into a service like Fantasea Weddings (found on the internet), or is there someone else recommended?
I think I'll start with this and post later on hotel and restaurant suggestions. Thanks in advance!

You may want to look into the Sands Beach Club or La Mer Hotel/Dewey House. Both do weddings and are on the beach. The Hyatt and both Wyndhams also have small beaches and do weddings.

Here's something else to consider: Key West is HOT and HUMID in the summer...and I do mean sweltering.

The nicest beach in Key West is Fort Zachary Taylor and it's the one most frequently used for weddings. There's a small entry fee but not enough to be a problem.

If you only have a handful of guests, you might also consider marrying on a sunset cruise. Floridays (it docks at the Hyatt) is a really beautiful sailboat and its crew is great.

As for choosing a person to perform the ceremony, do you want a member of the clergy or a justice of the peace?

Thank you both for your replies. I am prepared for the heat and humidity - we vacation pretty regularly in the summer (just got back from 112 in Vegas a few weeks ago) and I live in Pittsburgh, which is humidity central! We don't mind it.
Ft. Zachary Taylor seems to be what I am looking for. Not too crowded and I wouldn't mind the entrance fee, it's only a few bucks I think. I heard the beach is full of crushed coral, which is fine by me because like I said, this isn't a barefoot swimming type thing.
I really don't like the boat idea because I think we'll have too many people, plus I don't want to be all windblown.
As for clergy vs. JOP, I just want a nice romantic, personal ceremony. My experiences of late have been Catholic weddings where the couple is barely mentioned, and it's more of a mass than anything. That is not what I want. I want a ceremony about love and relationships and commitment. If a clergy member can do that with a few prayers as such, that's would be wonderful. Otherwise, I'd prefer a JOP so we don't get too heavy into the religious aspect.
Make any sense??? :)

Actually, you don't get married on the beach at Fort Z Taylor. Rather, you get married on a bluff overlooking the ocean. (Based upon weddings I've observed.) It is a pretty setting, particularly if you do the weeding at sunset.
Also, there's not a heck of a lot of room there for a big crowd, and I'm sure the Park Service will have some input.
I'll let someone else address your queries re: partying.

A bluff overlooking the ocean, huh? That still sounds very pretty. (hopefully boyfriend won't consider jumping as an option :P )I doubt we'll have a very big group. I'm counting on our immediate families, plus maybe a few friends who can make the trip...so probably 15 - 20 people at most.

Well, it's not a bluff in the truest sense. It's not a sand dune. They ran a jetty out, and the side of the "bluff" are medium size rocks to cut down on the erosion. In other words, the bluss is sorta manmade. (The cruise ships come into port along that route.)

make that bluFF not bluss. I have no idea why my fingers are not cooperating today.

There is a section on www.keywest.com website devoted to weddings etc in KW. This may give you some additional information to follow up on.

Also when we were there this past May, we saw a wedding chapel down by either Mallory Square or Front Street where lots of people were having weddings. There were boths with Photographers and food services right next door to help pull the whole thing together. Maybe they could provide you will some additional info. If you called Key West Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Information they might be able to tell you exactly what this "wedding" area was called since I can't remember the name.

It's really a beautiful setting, especially at Ft Zachary Taylor. Good Luck.

That's "booths". I seem to be having touble with my fingers today too.