Need advice for Florida beach wedding
 

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I just recently got engaged and we're starting to think about wedding plans. We'd like to take a weekend in Late March 2007 and get married on a beach in Florida. So, we're looking for ideas of where to do it. We'd like something fun, casual, with good food and our immediate family there to help us celebrate. There will be 16 guests in total. When not at the wedding/reception we hope there'd be some fun things to do for the guests like watersports, walking on the beach, shopping, etc.

The final thing is we don't want to do it too expensive. We've already looked on-line at some hotels/resorts on Sanibel island and elsewhere and they were crazy expensive. Just for a room for us, the wedding ceremony and a few other things was like $4000. We'd like to do it for much less -- have to, really!

We're not from Florida so don't know much about places we should investigate. So, I toss it out for the experts! Thanks so much.

Liz and Jack

A friend of mine got married in Key west. Offered a lot of fun actitivites for guests, and a warm locale. If you want to get married on the beach - it will need to be southern florida in march. Also, little tip. Bride should wear a slip! All of the photos of the Key West girl's ceremony are basically ruined, becuase with the beach sun as a backlight you can see right through her dress!

Congrats on your upcoming nuptuals!

Unfortunately Florida beaches in March and inexpensive do not mix well. Bear in mind that your intimate family affair will be surrounded by spring breakers and snow birds. Can you get married on the beach in June?

Oh and steviegene, what's the problem? ;-)

Thanks for the good tip. Appreciate it. The Keys might be too far to go. Most of the guests will be arriving from New York so I think a place they could fly into directly would be better.

placeu2 -- we could put it off until May. Memorial day weekend could work well. Do you things will be cheaper then?

And thanks for the congrats! We're pretty excited and overwhelmed by it all.

May is much better than March. Our beaches are packed with tourist through Easter. I don't know about pricing but, Sarasota is a beautiful place for a wedding and Siesta Key Beach is one of the best white sugar sand beaches in the US. It's worth checking into the cost.
I found this website that looks like they'll do as much or as little as you'd like.
http://www.sarasotabeachweddings.com/

Congratulations!

My brother-in-law and his wife were married in early May 2005 on the Marco Island Princess. It was fabulous.

All the family and friends stayed at the Olde Marco Island Inn and it was very reasonable and quite nice.

It was a great weekend and very affordable for the guests. I can highly recommend.

Congrats! As others have mentioned, the time you are looking at is pretty high tourist season.

Sand Key is right south of Clearwater Beach. There is Sand Key park and many people get married there. Right next door is the Sheraton Sand Key Resort and I believe they do a number of beach weddings as well. I am not sure about costs but might be worth looking into. Here is the website for the park:http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/15_Sand_Key.htm

A friend of a friend just got married last April in Clearwater Beach and everyone said that it was wonderful. Lots to do and good nightlife. They got married on the beach and then took their guests on one of the local dinner cruises for the reception. I don't know which exact cruise they booked but everyone said that it was gorgeous and that the food was great. Check out some of the local cruises available at http://goflorida.about.com/od/dinnercruise1/

You might consider Lido Key as well. I had friends who got married on the beach a couple of years ago and it was very nice. My only caveat is that the closer to summer you get, the more likely to be in rainy season. Lido is nice because it is walking distance to St. Armands and a very short (5 min+-) to the mainland.
Congratulations and best wishes!

Check out the message boards on theknot.com They have a destination wedding message board, as well as a florida board. You will find a TON of information there. We had a destination wedding on Maui and that's where I got all of the info I needed to start planning our wedding. Congratulations! Enjoy every minute.

March is PEAK season for South Florida.

You can probably save 40% or more if you tie the knot after May 1st.

What is your budget?

For a hotel wedding, plan on about $60-$100 per guest for food and beverage (open bar), flowers, and fees. The sleeping rooms with be additional.

Agree with visiting www.TheKnot.com

Thanks to everyone who has posted suggestions. We're going to spend some time looking into them and see what we find. We're also looking at the knot.com. Some great places there but they tend to be pricey. Our budget is about $2000 for the wedding/reception. Alot of the places we've looked at are about that price or more but you don't get very much for your money. We don't want anything cheesy.

Liz and Jack

Hi coldwar27,

The Sheraton and Park look great but we can't find any info on weddings at either the park website or hotel website. I've emailed for info. Do you know how far apart the hotel and park are? Thanks!

Liz and Jack- you can sometimes save $$ by getting married and having reception on a Sunday. We did that on Memorial Day weekend. Also remember that when you say "wedding" some places want to push packages and planners at you. I know this well, I'm a musician. Treat it as a "party" and gp light on decorations and formalities. With a small group like that it's more fun. For instance, use sparkling glass candle votives on mirrors on your table instead of flowers. For your flowers, carry a single stemmed calla lilly or rose. Find an independant cake maker instead of a bakery. It will taste better too! I found a winner at the state fair and called her- our cake was awesome and cheap! Your guests aren't going to remember engraved invitations, cutesy napkins, wedding favors, etc...spend the money on good food and drink and focus on having fun. I'm sure you've been to weddings where they spend half the time taking posed pictures, running people from place to place for garters, bouquets, ad nauseum. Since it's a beach thing and small, keep it simple!

I highly suggest you have your wedding around 10AM and do a sit down brunch reception.

You don't need a bar (you can serve Bloody Marys and Mimosas), no DJ, no table arrangements, and it costs about 1/3 of the price of an afternoon reception.

PLUS, you can spend the afternoon on the beach with your loved ones and head out the next day well rested for your honeymoon!

I think GoT has a good plan. It's economical for you - AND your guests will have a chance to enjoy the beach too!

Or same idea for lunch as GoT. Appetizer receptions are common these days, with just punch, finger sandwiches, etc. Just be sure to put it on the invitation

A friend got married in Scotland. They took both sides of the family along for an extended vacation - not just a wedding trip. They made arrangements before hand. Attended regular services at the kirk and then after the service had a short ceremony at the altar. All caravaned to a nearby restaurant for a wedding lunch.

You may be able to do something similar in Florida. Rent rooms somewhere on the beach. Have a beachfront wedding or a lowkey wedding. Meet afterwards at a restaurant for a meal (for 16) and bring a cake in. I'm ordering two cakes for a niece's low-key wedding - regular layer cakes. With a bride's cake and a groom's cake there will be enough cake for 20.

The parents will throw a big reception "back home" when graduate school is finished. Simple weddings can be nice - and great for the guests.