HELP! In CA trying to plan a NC wedding!

kelsklink

So I live in CA, but we are moving back east in 2 weeks for my fiance's job.  His family is also back east, so we want to get married on the beach in NC. Here's the dilemma...

We are getting married in August (date flexible, but Aug.). I don't want to spend too too much, would like oceanfront, possibly all inclusive??  Do you ladies have any suggestions?  Any advice or suggestions would be great!  Also, has anyone heard of/seen White Doe Inn?

Thank you!

evenundomiel

hello!! My godparents own the White Doe Inn! I may be a little biased, but it's incredibly beautiful. They also do weddings there. Bob Woody, my godfather, is an officiant. He's marrying us, in fact! 

If you're doing a small wedding it's a fabulous option! 

sarahebrown

Hi! And welcome! NC is a beautiful place and you will not regret choosing it for your wedding destination! I'm also from California originally, and I think the beaches in NC are much nicer than California beaches. Congrats on your move and FI's new job!

Did you have an idea of what area of NC you like best? There are many all-inclusive oceanfront venues, it depends on what you are looking for. Do you want a ceremony on the sand? Or would you rather look over the bay at sunset? Our wedding will be at The Pearl Oceanfront Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills, they are all inclusive. Also, if you prefer the Duck, NC area, the Sanderling has great reviews. I hope this helps a little. I'm sure the other ladies on this board will have more great suggestions for you too. Happy planning!

LRPardy

This August??  Eeps... hope you can find a place.  I booked our beach house back in October and it had been previously booked by others but became available.  Good luck in your planning.  This is a great forum for help.  Also go to OBX Wedding Assoc site: www.outerbanksweddingassoc.org

KelseyBeth1186

So I couldn't log in to my old school email on that account so had to make a new account but ok...

Thank you guys for your suggestions so far!

yes this august haha i know right!? We were doing some research and found a few places we liked still available. 

We love the outer banks area.  My fiance grew up going on vacation to Nags Head, and I used to live in Knoxville in college and LOVVEE the east coast beaches.  I agree they are way awesome compared to here!

We definitely want something very small and casual. 

I was looking into renting a house and doing the wedding on the beach, but again I am not too familiar with all of that.  Do any of you ladies have any input?

mparwulski

I am getting married in August too.  Ceremony on the beach and smallish reception back at the house.  I just rented a large house in Duck where we will have the reception.  So, it needed to be a good size.  I originally had my heart set on oceanfront too, but there was not much available of the size I needed in the Duck/Corolla area.  And it was 3x the cost.  After thinking about it, I realized that I could have a lot more pool side space if I didn't do oceanfront because of the cost of the prime property.  The wedding will be on the beach anyways.  If you truly want oceanfront, you better find something now.  I booked about 3 weeks ago and stuff was scarce.  The other thing you need to make sure about is to find an officiant that is available during the same time you book the house.  I wanted to do it on a weekend so that people not staying the entire week, could still come.  I found a Saturday-Saturday rental and we are doing the wedding on Sunday.  Also, I thought I'd have better availability of the officiant, caterer, etc. on Sunday rather than Saturday because Saturday is a popular wedding day.  Planning so late, I had to consider all of these things.

KelseyBeth1186

yes I completely understand about the ocean front thing!  I was actually just looking at a house that is not ocean front, but still do the ceremony on the beach.  Totally fine by me! I definitely need to book soon!  I am nervous booking something I havent seen, but have  a friend who would go see places for me.  AH! lol where did you end up booking? When are you getting married?  That is also a good idea about Sunday!

OBX2011

Hello & congrats!

The White Doe Inn is very pretty....you may also want to look at The Cameron House which is also in Manteo.  Very small B&B and they have side garden that you can have a small tent in...they are alos opening a private honeymoon suite this spring/summer.

We booked through Village Realty and are getting married 9/16/11 on the beach and our reception is at 108 Budleigh in Manteo.  Have you found any houses that you really like?  I have been vacationing down there since I was a kid and my SIL works at Twiddy Realty so I know a lot of the houses....I even had a monster list of homes that we checked out during the wedding expo weekend so let me know which homes and I will let you know what they REALLY look like...those pictures can be deceiving sometimes on the true space you really have.

We chose to to a Sun to Sun rental and the wedding is on a Friday so that way we could all relax on Saturday and then check out on Sunday.

LRPardy

We're heading down on April 17th as our wedding it April 20th.  If anyone wants me to check something out in person, reply here.   Be happy to be your eyes!! 

Cheers,

Laura

KelseyBeth1186

So I am stuck!!  I was thinking of renting a regular vacation home (like 4-5 bedrooms) and doing like a backyard style reception...but I am finding that a lot of the homes do not allow that.  And the ones that do are pretty pricy and don't offer much space....Do you ladies know of any?  I was hoping to not spend over 5,000 for the week, but don't know if that is even possible.

Also, I was looking at the Saltaire House.  Any thoughts??  It is a little pricey and only a 4 day, but the pictures look gorgeous and I wouldnt have to worry about trying to pretty it up! Has anyone seen it in person?  And how far from the beach is it, would it still be convenient to have a ceremony on the beach?

tergi

We are renting this house in Duck for my daughter's wedding.  It is just a few houses from the beach and they allow up to 125 guests.  Works perfectly, we are renting the house next door. If you can go later in August, the price drops dramatically. They do charge an extra 1500 for the event and a 500 refundable deposit.  Good luck!  We are just about 3 months away from our trip, and have done all of the ordering and organizing ourselves, from Ohio.

http://www.paramountdestinations.com/rental/house.html?ID=26

princesskmp

I saw the Saltaire House during the wedding expo and absolutely loved it.  The only reason we did not book was because of the price tag before we even talked about food and drinks.  It is very well appointed both inside and out and you get the added plus of staying there.  They also have a weekly option, but I am not sure they would have anything in August available at this late date.  Good luck in your planning.

KelseyBeth1186

Thanks for your input!

The Saltaire house is one of the few places we are finding that actually has a few weekends in August open!  I have looked through some stuff online, and it looks beautiful!  Since we are having a very small and casual wedding, we thought it might be a good fit, since we won't have to pay their event fee, plus it takes care of lodging.  Do you know how close it is to the beach?  He said it is not far, but I am wondering if it is realistic for us to have our ceremony on the beach or if it would be a huge hassle?

laurenduva

I am getting married May 28th at the Saltaire. I did a TON of research on other homes and venues prior to choosing this one. Yes, the cost seems a little much, but it also includes a lot of things that you would have to buy/rent if you were doing it at a private beach home. After a lot of comparison, we found the Saltaire to be right in our budget after factoring in everything else we would have to provide on our own. I will say that the cost of the Saltaire goes up a couple thousand just one weekend after mine, so the time of year has a lot to do with it.

 I'm not sure why you don't think there would be an event fee....we are doing the partial stay and there is also an event fee on top of that to have the reception at the house. The house is about 300 yards from the beach...certainly walking distance, but maybe not so comfortable in August as it will be hot. Even though we are getting married in May, we did decide after all to provide a shuttle bus for us and our guests to and from the house to the beach. Let me know if you have any more questions about the Sataire....I am definitely a budget and DIY bride and I have never once regretted my decision.

KelseyBeth1186

Ok so I booked the Saltaire!  I am SO excited. Ok lol its not that we don't have to pay an event fee, we do, just not the $3000.  only $450.  Not too bad. Unless of course everyone decides they want to come and we have to up the number of guests.  But yes, I agree I was looking at everything that I would need to do at a rental house and not only was it adding up, but i was seriously stressing so bad!!

I would love to hear more about your May wedding!!  I definitely need help and ideas   and a shuttle bus is SUCH a good idea!!

laurenduva

Yay! Congrats with the booking...that is a huge decision to make and now other things can start falling in place. Please send me a personal message and let me know if you have any specific questions. My email is ladunnagan@gmail.com. I have been planning this wedding for close to two years so I have all major decisions out of the way...now I can relax a little more and work on the details :-) I have tons of great budget and DIY ideas if you need some suggestions. One thing I would suggest you look into is hiring a "Day Of" coordinator. As much as I am a DIY bride, I just felt more comfortable having someone in charge of the day making sure everything goes smoothly. I didn't want to put too many responsibilities on family members since they are guests too! The Saltaire has an in-house caterer (Culinary Magick) and they have a coordinator associated with them who I hired for my big day. She has been great so far and has given me help planning the logistics here and there along the way. Her name is Alyson Belvin with Magickal Events and she is super nice. The caterers have been great so far too! They are making a recipe that has been in my family for years :-)

FIY about the shuttle company...we are using The Connection Transportation since they offered a booking at a minimum of 3 hours as compared to others who required longer.
Hope this helps! Good luck!