how to plan a beach ceremony?

meefers60

the fiance and i are planning to get married on the beach in Ocean City next september and then to have the reception at a boardwalk hotel 9 blocks away. does anyone have any experience they can share about planning a beach ceremony?do we need chairs?do we need a microphone to combat the tranquil sounds of the surf?how do you make an aisle out of sand?who did you have set up/break down the ceremony site?any help would be much appreciated! thanks!

mikesboo23

Chairs depends on how long your ceremony is and how many older people you have attending.  If you have a long ceremony or elderly that cannot stand long then yes, you need chairs. A microphone would be a good idea because of the ocean noise. Seperate the chairs into 2 sections so that there is a isle between them.  You can line it with flower petals. If you can afford to hire someone to set up and break down then do that, if not then do it yourself.

MrsNFB

We had a beach ceremony in Hawaii. Yes, get chairs. Our ceremony was only about 20 minutes but our guests started arriving 30 minutes prior and that's just too much standing. I would suggest a small PA system so everyone can hear you. We had to also rent a briefcase-sized generator since our resort did not have power by the beach to plug the PA system in. We did just as pp mentioned, two sections of chairs with aisle in between. We lined the aisle with lanterns and sprinkled orchid heads down the aisle. We hired a day-of-coordinator with two assistants to set-up the ceremony site although our resort did the chairs. Our musicians provided the PA system and a local lighting company we were using for the dinner reception provided the generator. Good luck!

meefers60

How long is a long ceremony? Ten minutes?

meefers60

and thanks for the help! i really appreciate it.

mikesboo23

10min isn't that long but as PP said, people will start getting there at least 1/2 hr early and if anything causes delay your ceremony could start late. A long ceremony would be one of the ones that has all the readings and added stuff that takes forever.  My 2nd cousin's wedding was over 50 minutes long because of all the extra stuff.

LauraT25

I think PPs have answered most of it, just wanted to add that I've seen aisles lined with seashells on the beach, which is really pretty.  A friend of mine actually laid down blankeys for her VERY casual beach wedding, not sure if that would work for yours (if guests are wearing nice dresses, they may not appreciate that!). P.S. You should check out the september 2010 board

lyndausvi

It really depends on the town.  I got married in Cape May, NJ if I wanted to have my wedding on the beach near the center of the town I would have only had like 30 minutes for everything.  That means, setup, breakdown AND the ceremony.  For 10 minute ceremony I'm not sure it would have been worth itI had my wedding at a private beach club on the far end, so we had more flexibility with setup and breakdown.We were to have speakers so everyone could hear us.  The aisle was going to be lined with conch shells and gerber flowers in bright colored plastic sand buckets (like the ones kids play with).btw - I say 'was going to be' because a Tropical storm hit on my wedding day, so we had to more everything under a tent.here is a picture of my buckets:

Stephileigh84

Come on over to the "Beach Wedding" board... lots of help. : )