At this point in my life I wouldn't consider any wedding. :-) But I like the idea of outdoor weddings, especially if the place has meaning to the couple.

My daughter got married on top of a mountain--and then they skied down. This was perfect for them. My son got married in front of a beautiful historic building in Florida.

We hear of lots of beach weddings or ocean view weddings. It is a pretty location and a practical solution to the sky high costs of weddings these days. Our son's friend had a beach wedding. He said that the problem was that the guests could not hear the ceremony itself because of the noise of the crashing waves. Our daughter attended her sister-in-law's destination beach wedding on St John, which was certainly not inexpensive for the wedding ceremony or the guests. Our daughter wanted to see the ocean from her outdoor wedding and reception site, so she was married on the gorgeous lawn of a resort hotel, which looked across the marina below and the ocean. That was not inexpensive either, but she had attended so many business events in hotel ballrooms and meeting rooms that she did not want to be married inside.

I'm not sure about the title of this thread - I presume there were beach grooms too?

I've been to a few weddings at or just adjacent to a beach - I thought they were great. Along with the natural beauty, the sea air and the sound of waves crashing provide an atmosphere that's hard to beat. As for hearing the proceedings, the use of a PA system is a must for all but the most intimate of ceremonies, whether indoors or outdoors.

I am doing a beach wedding! In a few months I'll be getting married in a park overlooking the ocean and marina here in southern California. The beach will be used for pictures.

We picked it due to the beauty of the location. It was also a steal at $20 an hour to rent. Similar private locations were in the thousands.

Here's a pic I found from our officiant's website of our location.

Brides get more attention than grooms. The parties here prefer calm winds and flat seas, no crashing waves. A park will do, but not the same as barefoot on the beach with sand in the toes.

Chi......$20 an hour overlooking the beach in SoCal? Wow!! Is that a typo?

My son will be the best man at a resort destination Caribbean wedding next year....it looks beautiful, but man....so expensive for guests!

I think on the beach can be awkward for guests in terms of seating, dress, shoes, etc. Also beaches tend to be windy so veils tend to get blown all around and in the bride's face. But it is a pretty setting....especially at sunset!

Yeah, Chi, I was thinking maybe you misplaced a decimal point! ;-)

Joanie, nope, not a typo. It's a public park, so it's really cheap to get a permit that basically says we're allowed to set up wherever we want to during our time frame. There are some limitations - no music or alcohol but we're having our reception elsewhere so it's perfect.

The little area where we are having the ceremony is cement so no worries for shoes, etc. which was a concern for me because I am accident prone. :)

This is in Dana Point.

Chi83, I think you picked one of the locations we considered. I thought the view looked a lot like DDs wedding view! Congratulations to you! DD married on the Regata Lawn at the Marriot Resort and Spa in Dana Point. It was a wonderful afternoon and evening! I have been told they don't do late afternoon/evening weddings with receptions there any longer, so we used it just in time.

Thanks Sheila! I know the Marriot - it's so pretty there. If we were having a large wedding I probably would have considered that but we're only inviting 20 people.

We also considered Lantern Bay park right next door to the hotel but when we visited, there were way too many people utilizing the park. Our location is Heritage Park, which is nearby but much quieter.

Chi....in Dana Point no less! I am speechless! Deal of the century!

Sheila...kind of weird the Marriott won't do late afternoon/evening weddings...isn't that when most people want to get married? Bet they lost a ton of business!

Dear friend used to manage the Blue Lantern Inn in DP.

I love the Blue Lantern Inn. So pretty and quaint. We listed that inn for our wedding guests to consider.

I meant to communicate that they don't want events that go into the late evening. The hotel guests want to sleep while a wedding party is dancing on the lawn below to music for all to hear. At our wedding, we had a fabulous band, and if you looked up to the rooms and balconies, most people were dancing there too. It made it all the more delightful for us that the bar patrons were dancing on the patio and people in their rooms too.

This post was edited by sheilajoyce on Sun, Jun 15, 14 at 17:32

I would love to have a beach renewal of our vows next year for our 25th anniversary. Complete with the big bride's dress and ceremony plus reception and dancing...but I guess I just missed out on all that 25 years ago..oh well

Our daughter was getting married on a private beach on Galveston Island. Our 2 families went in together and rented a 3 story (with an elevator!) 6 bedroom mansion on the beach to stay in the night before and night of the wedding, and to have the reception there.18 of us stayed there. It rained ALL day of the wedding, which was scheduled at 1 pm. Their vows finally took place at 5 pm on the landing of the 1st floor staircase. Then we partied.

Laura, we eloped, so we had nothing fancy at all. When it came time for the first child to marry, our only daughter, she had a big wedding because she and her fiancee wanted one. And I reminded DH that I had done without and we were doing a nice wedding this time. The groom's parents had eloped too. Nevertheless, the 4 parents gave them a wonderful wedding weekend. His parents did a cruise dinner for the rehearsal dinner on Newport Bay.

When our older son married 5 years later, we treated them to a small, intimate wedding that they wanted in Big Sur for about 50 people, the size being set by the venue locations they wanted.

Molly is getting serious with the guy she is daing and he is getting her serious too.Wouldn't surprise me if he proposed at Christmas. It is hard to look at David's Bridal Dress and want her to wear one I like. She wont even look at anything bridal, she is afraid to jinx the whole thing. She has promised once he proposes she and II will be looking online all the time.haha

I remember my daughter being reluctant to talk about plans at one point too. She too was afraid to jinx it. They are married 9 years this August, and they have two darling little boys.