North Carolina-Outer Banks

OBX Wedding - Where to begin? Can it be done? Help!

My story goes a bit like this -

My fiancee & I got engaged December 20, 2012. Orginally we began planning a grande & elaborate ballroom winter-wonderland wedding for December 2013. We realized (just this week) that that just isn't us. We had many problems with that theme figuring out what we wanted and we realized that we were trying to instill a sense of tradition and formality, but it really wasn't what we wanted.

So we discussed everything and came to the conclusion that what we want is a beach wedding at the OBX. We want the ceremony on the beach, and the reception either at a beach house or on the beach as well. We had everything figured out the day we changed our ideas to this - everything! We know what we want for the ceremony, the officiant, the flowers, the cake, the food, the music, everything.

The problem is that we are on a strict budget and we want it to be this year. This leaves 6-7 months for everything. We have no clue where to begin or even if what we want is feasible. We've contacted a few wedding planners but only one replied and the answers weren't very helpful.

We've finally figured out the wedding of our dreams and now we feel like it can't happen. It's extremely upsetting.

Any advice or suggestions would be so greatly appreciated

Re: OBX Wedding - Where to begin? Can it be done? Help!

  • Hi! And...deep breath!
    You can most certainly do this!!

    The best place to begin is number of guests and budget...that way, you can start with venue ideas.  Do you and your fiance have this figured out yet?
    once you set a date and a venue, you can really start planning and things will be a lot easier!

    Are you flexible for maybe early September? You can save on a lot of vendors doing it in the off season and it will still be warm.  It is Hurricane season, so its a minor gamble...but thats what wedding insurance is for!
  • For a point of clarification- are you still looking to get married in the OBX in December 2013? We had a bride get married in the beginning of November on the beach and it was cold for her wedding, so I'm not sure how a December wedding would work? I think it would be pretty inside an event home, some even decorate the houses for the holidays. One of my cousins get engaged at Christmas, and is planning her wedding for July, so I think it can be done. As PP mentioned, start out with number of guests you plan to invite, and what your budget is. With that info, we can help point you in the right direction!
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  • Our guest list averages around 50 or so, probably less because of travel, and the problem is our budget - it's very limiting. We're hoping to spend as little as possible, hopefully around 9k, plus the honeymoon. We can't seem to find venues that fit into our price range, though.

    We're flexible to an extend, in that we need it to be before August 16th. This is because we have a huge family of teachers & professors who couldn't really enjoy the wedding if classes were in session & because I'm going to nursing school & I can't miss classes.

    We definitely don't want to do a beach wedding in December, I apologize, I should have been more clear. We're hoping for the end of July/early August.

    It seems like so much, and so many places seem to be booked and/or out of our price range. We don't even know how to book a beach!

    (Thank you, also.)

  • Try looking into Beach Ball events for possible venue. July and August is going to be prime-time season for an event home, but try looking several houses back from the beach. You don't really "book" the beach, you just set up the chairs in the location you want, and hope for the best. We had someone walking up the beach access steps, as I was walking down.. so it isn't private for sure!

    http://beachballevents.com/
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  • Did you check out Adrianna's in Manteo? They have kind of a one stop shop...I think that they are or use to be associated with beach ball events? but i really loved the look of their dining room-super modern and a great view. Very defined spaces for cocktails, dinner and dancing.  I can not really remember the price, but I do know that they have their own sound system and if you do their in-house DJ it was really reasonable.  They were our second choice for venue. 

    I think 9K is a very doable budget...especially if you are thinking 40-50 people!  If you spend $100 pp on food, venue, and booze, then you still have half your budget left for all the other fun stuff.
  • Yes, when we met with Beach Ball Events, Mallards Marsh and Adrianna's were their 2 locations. The thing I didn't like about Adrianna's was that they wouldn't remove unused tables. I think there was seating for about 100, and we were only inviting 40, and they told us that all of the tables stayed there.
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  • I think it may be tough depending on what you want to pay for accomodations for that time of year but I do think you can pull off a wedding/reception in that range.  108 Budleigh might be a venue you want to look into.  In regards to Adrianna's, it is no longer associated with Beach Ball Events and there name is different.  I was on their mailing list when I was trying to figure out what I was going to do.  Here is the link to their new site: www.avenueeventsobx.com

    Good Luck!

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