Please give suggestions for beach front wedding venues in Florida and Georgia

foxo

Hello everybody,

I'd be really interested to hear suggestions to help us choose where to get married in April 2014. We're mainly interested in a coastal location in Florida, but have also been told that Georgia has many beautiful locations too, so we wouldn't rule that out either.

We live in the UK but fell in love with Florida when we visited 10 years ago. We believe it to be the ideal place for us to tie the knot and as such, we are visiting Florida this June 2013 to hopefully find a suitable venue for the following year.

Not being locals we would really appreciate your help in suggesting some locations for our ceremony and also some good reception venues for us to check out. Any other advice or tips you could offer would be greatly appreciated. 

We have friends and relatives who would be flying with us from the UK and so we need to try and firm up our plans as soon as we can. We think 20-30 guests will make the trip with us.

Thanks in advance,

Hannah and Mark.

Courtney113

Check out Grand Plaza Hotel on St Pete Beach.
Also, If you have a tiny budget, try Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel in Sarasota.
Also, check out Honeymoon Island, Caladesi Island, Anna Maria Island (The Sandbar), Clearwater Beach, & Florida Keys!
I'm planning a destination wedding on Florida's West Coast from Michigan.

LAM524

We booked at an all inclusive resort in Ft Myers FL. The Sanibel Harbour Resort...for our wedding May 2014! Laura Lease is the wedding coordinator and she is just an amazing joy to deal with!!!!! She really worked within our budget Its a very classy, beautiful place. We are having many out of state guest and boy....all the amenities, including game room are just perfect for a weekend event!

The location is close to SW FL international airport and 3 seconds from Sanibel! A beautiful attractions! There are also other hotel within 5 miles from the resort so we are able to offer our guest less expensive accomadation choices!

Good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Blessings
Laura

http://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/sanibel-harbour-marriott-resort-and-spa-fort-myers/91b7ae03564c5bdb.html

LAM524

I obviously cant say enough about this venue. They have inside and outside ceremony locations and if you book ceremony outside in courtyard (theres a beautiful fountain) they also reserve the inside ceremony site in case of bad weather (incl. in our cost).They have many restaurants and lounges on site and a Starbucks!!! My fav!!!! They also have many reception ballrooms to choose from!!!


Let me know what you think!!!
Laura

WiscDoll322

We are from the US but also doing a destination wedding and in Florida in November of this year. We looked at Sanibel Island and Clearwater Beach (both on the Gulf coast) and LOVED the Clearwater Beach area! Fairly easy for guests to fly into (even interational guests -- my cousin is flying from London Gatwick direct to Tampa International Airport) with a beautiful, wide beach area that is about a 20-minute drive from the Tampa airport. The Orlando airport is about 2 hours away and Fort Myers airport is also within a couple hour drive. We are doing a resort wedding, but there are wedding companies that have been recommended to my fiance and me that do non-resort weddings right on the beach -- Weddings on a Whim and Clearwater Beach Weddings are two in the Clearwater area that have been recommended. If you're looking for a resort wedding, the Hyatt, Hilton, and Sandpearl Resort on Clearwater Beach are all beautiful. You can complete RFP requests for information on their websites.

Such a good idea to travel to visit venues. We did that and it really, really helped us make a decision on a venue that we're comfortable with and excited about, as the rest of the planning is all being done from a distance.

Hope this helps some! Good luck deciding! There are lots of beautiful places in Florida.

(This response is also posted to your question the Reception Ideas board.)