Having a wedding on the beach can be a marvelous and spectacular experience if you plan effectively and are well prepared. Charleston, being a place of many beautiful venues, offers its beaches as an option. Here we’ll talk about words of advice whether you are considering a beach wedding or are in the process of planning one. I have been playing weddings for seven years, doing plenty of beach weddings here in Charleston.  I hope this will prove helpful for those ladies out there planning their beach wedding.

Please also look at my next article in my Beach Wedding Series,  Beach Wedding Planning – Ceremony musicians

So lets consider….

1. Backup. This is the one word or mantra you shall think when planning a beach wedding. Planning a wedding out in the elements can be risky and you may have to deal with high winds, rain, lightning, blowing sand, and the tide coming in. But not to worry, if you keep everything backed up, just like backing up all your information on your computer, you will be perfectly fine and the wedding day will be the best it can be.

1a. On the topic of backup, you need to first consider the beach location and the backup location proximity. It is best to be near a building nearby the beach where the ceremony could take place just in case. When the guests park where the beach ceremony is taking place and it starts raining hard for awhile, then there can be someone that can direct the guests indoors to the alternate location.

2. The months of the year. January, February or March may not be the best months since its rather COLD and on the beach combine that with wind and it won’t be pleasant. The best times runs from about April through early October.  If you are set on your Christmas or Valentine’s Day wedding, the beach obviously may not be the best choice.

3. Who you want to invite. If you have many older relatives you had in mind to invite, make sure there is a ramp or easy accessibility to the beach and consider if they will feel comfortable walking on beach accesses and sand.

4. If you plan on having a beach wedding not through a resort,  definitely consider a professional wedding coordinator. Many planners offer day-of services when he or she can be there to help setup decorations, direct the guests, line-up the processional, give cues to the musicians and so forth. Here’s an example, I have experienced beach weddings that were done at the family’s beach house  and when there wasn’t a coordinator or anybody to direct things and nine times out of ten it was VERY unorganized and the weddings would many times run late and people would be confused on what to do. Unless your super organized Aunt Rose steps forward and offers to direct the day of activities, consider hiring a day-of coordinator. It will minimize headaches for everyone..

If you are ready and understand all the considerations listed above:

-First thing to do is figure out which beach you can see your wedding taking place. If you’ve lived here long enough, you see that every beach and its town has a certain vibe or quality to it. For example, Folly Beach attracts younger people and families, but they are also known for a steady surfing community. Folly has a laid-back and carefree vibe as you drive down the main drag and see surf shops, casual eateries and bars. Nothing really too upscale or luxurious about Folly, but possesses a great relaxed appeal to it.

-Before you settle on your location, check the town calendar and make sure there aren’t any public events going on that day. Nothing is worse than trying to setup your ceremony when a contestant for a local sandcastle building contest tries to convince you that this is their spot to build on. One of our musicians had the privilege to do a wedding ceremony while a beach run was in progress and the ceremony spot was right where the turning point of the race was. Just cannot imagine the dismay of everyone! Anyways, enough horror stories! Just be sure to do your research and be prepared fully prepared.

-Which brings me to my next key word, flexibility. As you get closer to your wedding date, keep in mind there is no need to make a final decision on how to place the ceremony chairs or where to place the musicians until the day of or even an hour or two before the ceremony. Its always helpful to check out the wind conditions right up until the wedding starts.

-Check in with the tide forecast!!! With tides, you can check that several months ahead to a year. Besides determining if the wedding will be during high or low tide, it can help in where and how to set up the ceremony chairs and decorations.

- Finally, I would recommend having a wedding website. It doesn’t have to be big but it is there to provide valuable information to the wedding party and the guests. TheKnot.com and other wedding resource sites offer a free website builder. There you can lay out your wedding day as well as provide tips for the guests such as recommended attire, no guest would want to come in their Manolo Blahnik stilettos!

Well, its a good place to start. I will be back on if any first hand experience brings me back to write more things NOT to do. Good luck in your planning process!!