I am getting married on the beach at fort desoto, is this a nice location or is there a better one? This is a second marriage for both my fiance and myself? Also, any nice, reasonable hotels nearby fort desoto, we will have 2 grade school children with us that love beached and water.

You might want to repost this query with where Ft. Desota is in the title. There is Ft. Desota Park in St. Petersburg, FL but there certainly might be others. Let us know where Ft. Desota is and we'll definitely try to help.

The beach is lovely, but it is a large state park, so nothing else around. My favorite section is the far north end of the park, the very last parking lot there. The closest hotels are in St Pete Beach--or you could camp.

You will be minutes away from any hotels located on St. Pete Beach and Pass-a-Grille Beach. Can't really tell you what hotels are reasonable since I am a local and don't stay at hotels on the beach, but there are very many of them, you may want to do a search for hotels on SPB and check rates and then post a question on several specific hotels to see what someone may have to say about it/them. Enjoy Ft. DeSoto Beach, it's a beautiful beach, also has a campground, family picnic area, lots of swings/play areas and stuff like that for kids, the little ones will enjoy themselves I'm sure! Have a great time, and congratulations on your upcoming marriage!

I don't think it's a great idea, myself. This is a public beach, a very popular spot. Wouldn't you rather have some place with a little more privacy? For instance, there are some houses on Sunset Beach that are Gulffront that rent out for parties such as yours. Then you and your family could also stay in the house and it might cost more but it would be forever memorable and indelibly etched in your memory.

Ft. DeSoto is also far from the other St. Pete area beach cities, except for Tierra Verde where there are absolutely NO hotels.

So Irishgirl, I suggest you re-think. I suppose you've heard that Ft. DeSoto is a nice beach and that's why you want to do your wedding there. But I think you will end up sandwiched between school picnics and family reunions and it will be (frankly) awful.

The north beach is huge. You can escape the crowds if you want--head to an area where there is nothing but beach, water, and scrubby trees. If you aren't doing a large group, just walk to the point or vicinity. You'll have it practically to yourselves. The office parties and reunions (not this time of year) are near the parking lot/picnic area where music can be blaring. A short walk away, peace! If you want serenity there, it's yours for the taking.

Oh, Tierra Verde has Tierra Verde Resort, which I forgot about, but I personally wouldn't want to stay there. That would be the closest. St Pete Beach and all its hotels is just a matter of minutes from Ft Desoto.

The Bonaire in St. Pete Beach has apartments of various sizes and configurations and is about as reasonable as SPB gets.

The north beach is huge, that's true, and hardly anyone goes to that side of the beach. When you come to the "T" on the main road into the park, you would want to turn left. It is almost always empty, it's true that everyone goes to the other side of the beach. What time of the year are you planning this?

Thank you for the HELPFUL posts. I will be getting married in February, towards the end of the month. I am sure I will find a beautiful spot. I have heard that a lot of Floridians don't go to the beach in February because it is too cold for them, so I am not too worried about crowds. Living in Michigan we are use to the cold so a 60-70 degree day to me will be just fine. Thanks to all!!