A Mermaid's Wedding

Planning your beach wedding

Bella — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:35:35 +0000

January through March are the biggest wedding planning months and offer great bridal shows where you can get ideas on everything from invitations to favors and honeymoons. Keeping this in mind, if you have your heart set on a particular venue for any part of your ceremony: the family church, or favorite restaurant for the reception, book it sooner rather than later and use it as your starting point for the rest of the plans.

At the beach, consider holiday weekends when setting a date. Many accomodations will require a minimum night stay at certain times of year. Like wise you may be able to negotiate discounts in the shoulder months of April and October, May and September.

The weather here in March, April and May can be gorgeous as can September, October and November. Keep these months in mind for a destination wedding as better rates may apply for accomodations and catering.

A beachside wedding is a perfect venue for some, but it is not for everyone. The weather must always be kept in mind. Hurricane season is June through November. The humidity is high in the summer months. The beach in general is usually breezy, weather can be unpredictable. I highly recommend everyone to have a plan B; tents, chapels, restaurants any port in a storm so to speak.

Elderly or handicapped reletives may need special assistance getting through the sand. Chairs and tents are not allowed in certain areas, but plan ahead to have a few fold up chairs on hand for special needs if no seating will be provided at the ceremony site.

The privacy factor. There is no way to cordon off a section of the beach for your ceremony or party, so there may be others passing by, sunbathing in the background, looking on, etc. Plan to leave adequate space between the dunes and the ceremony site for emergency vehicles to get by.

The Sand Ceremony

Bella — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:44:35 +0000

A Sand ceremony is a beautiful expression of your vows to each other on your wedding day and a unique addition to your beachside wedding.

The bride and groom each have their own individual vial of sand that once poured becomes mixed together into a third larger decorative container. This represents the intermingling of the two separate lives blended together as one. Each person pouring all of themselves into the new union with all that they are and all that they have.

Hawiian Luau

Bella — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:03:18 +0000

Polynesian Luau

This is a casual style that can be beautifully done at the beach. I can see the men dressed in white linen shorts or casual pants topped with tropical colored shirts that compimlent the women wearing gorgeous hawiian print dresses.

Adorn your guests with a lei of orchids as they arrive at the wedding site. The entrance marked with tiki torches, a path lined with conch shells leading to a wedding arch covered with tropical flowers beside the ocean.

A menu of fresh local seafood is perfect beachside fare, an oyster roast, or a very popular southern style pig-pickin all work great for outdoor parties after the wedding. A buffett can be served beneath tents beachside or around the pool if you are renting a private home for the occassion.

Accomodating Your Guests

Bella — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:50:56 +0000

This is a family oriented beach with beautiful beach home vacation rentals mixed with mom-n-pop style motels. The beauty of this is that I have rented out entire motels for past brides. For example a small motel with 16-25 rooms may accomodate a group of 60-80 people.

Perfect for your out of town guests, close to ceremony and reception location and a true reunion where the bride and groom actually get to mingle and visit with their out of town family and friends who have travelled to share this special time with you.

The beach vacation homes are also a great value for groups of families travelling together. Many of these are set up as duplexes where families can rent both sides or both top and bottom to accomodate 16 to 20 people in one location. Many of these offer private beach access, oceanfront pools and three levels for privacy among large parties.

Top knotch appliances and gourmet kitchens make these special homes perfect for the whole family to cook and eat together.

Beach Weddings

Bella — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 02:02:00 +0000

If you are looking for a romantic ceremony with your feet in the sand and the wind blowing through your hair, than I can assist you with your Pleasure Island Wedding.

Pleasure Island is a small barrier island about five miles long, just outside of Wilmington, North Carolina. It is made up of two towns; Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. Fort Fisher is located at the very end of the island and considered a part of Kure Beach.

Still very much a small island untouched by traffic and commercialism with pristine beaches. Some gorgeous natural settings for your beach side ceremony could be right on the sand in Carolina or Kure Beach, in the gazebo at Fort Fisher over looking the coquina rocks or amidst the forest of live oaks at the Fort Fisher Historic Site.

The Bridge

Bella — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:43:00 +0000

Separated from the mainland by a half mile bridge, it feels a world away. It is no surprise that this island, Pleasure Island, has been a favorite beach destination since the 1920s. Coming to Carolina Beach is like stepping back in time. Things move a little slower here. The style of life is laid back and casual; most business conducted in Rainbow flip flops and a polo shirt, the favored mode of transportation a Beach Cruiser bicycle.

There are no billboards, neon lights or high rises to ruin the natural beauty. It is a very small place, most of the businesses here are locally owned and operated. The motels are “mom and pops” as are the best restaurants. Run by the same families, multi generational passed down from one to the next. There is a feeling of roots here.

It is no wonder the people who settle here do not move on. The beaches are beautiful, wide, clean and un-crowded. On any given day you can watch the pelicans swoop down into the ocean or the dolphins jumping just off shore. There are great parks, bike trails and piers. There is bird watching and nature hikes at Carolina Beach state park, home to the Venus Fly Trap. Even the lake has a token alligator. Everywhere nature abounds.

On my first trip here, what really stole my heart though was the North End of Carolina Beach. With the pick up truck in four wheel drive we headed for the very end of the island. We picked our spot right beside ocean and parked it. Settled into the beach chairs for a wondrous sight. Surrounded on three sides by water, so easy to be lulled into a state of deep relaxation by the lapping waves. The sunset though was the main attraction. A sky of orange, pink, purple and blue colliding. A look backward revealed the rising moon. As the sun set the sky afire in a riot of colors before my eyes, it had also decorated the moon in a deep orange red as it rose from the ocean. Yes this is one of my most amazing evenings ever.

That sunset inspired me to make Pleasure Island my home. Life is better on this side of the bridge. And every time I return to the island and cross Snow’s Cut bridge I let out a sigh of pure joy and contentment, because there is simply no place like home.