The bride and groom (and/or their parents) are expected to pay for:

The wedding reception (whether it’s a five-course meal or hot dogs and burgers on the grill)

A rehearsal dinner (Typically hosted by the Groom’s parents/family)

A welcoming (Can be as simple as meeting at a bar/restaurant for a drink before checking into hotels)

A morning-after brunch (a friend or family member may volunteer to host this for you as a gift)

Optional items the hosts can cover:

Selected activities (a group boating trip, a tour around town)

Transportation to and from the ceremony and reception sites

A shuttle to pick up your guests at the airport when they arrive

Attendant hotel rooms. According to tradition, the bride and her family should cover lodging for the bridesmaids; the groom or his family should do the same for the groomsmen. If these expenses will burst your budget, tell your attendants their presence is a gift to you.

Travel expenses for VIPs with no other means to make it to the wedding (think: elderly relatives or your brother who hasn’t found a job after college yet)

Guests should expect to pay for:

Their plane ticket to and from the destination

Their hotel room stay

Any meals or beverages that are not part of the wedding festivities

Any non-wedding activities that choose to participate in

Attendants should expect to pay for:

Travel to and from the destination

Formalwear and accessories

Hair and makeup or spa appointments (unless considered a bridesmaids gift)

Food and drinks that aren’t part of a wedding event

You’ve decided to get married and forgo the traditional getting married at home wedding. A destination wedding can be a great vacation, a wonderful experience bonding two families together, and a great way to celebrate your wedding with those you love. Here are some tips to pull off a flawless destination wedding!

1.Pick a Place that Fits You. Choose a location that has some meaning to you, is within your budget, and that will best match what you want your ideal wedding to be. If you want to get married somewhere exotic or far away, plan for a much smaller wedding since you can’t assume everyone will be able to spend the money and the vacation days to attend. People do love a destination wedding, especially at a beach, since they can use as a nice vacation too, but not too many of your guests will be able to fly to Fiji.

2. If you plan to have your wedding at a hotel or a resort, make sure you check out the venue as well as the hotel amenities, room prices, group discounts, and activities for your guests. If you plan on inviting guests from far away, you want them to get a deal and have a good time too.

3. Don’t factor in your guests cost for travel in your budget. Guests should pay all their own expenses — it helps if you insist they not buy you gifts, and ask your travel agent or wedding coordinator about group discounts on air and hotels. Sometimes offering to cover the room bill for your bridal party is acceptable, but not necessary.

4. Start Early. Unless you’re doing a drive-through in Vegas, start researching and planning your destination wedding as soon as possible. Not only do you have to reserve your venue, but vendors also fill up quickly for prime seasons and days.

5. Ask as many questions as you can. No question is stupid and you’ll never know unless you ask. Write your questions down and ask them all when you meet or speak with your event coordinator. Even the most common sense questions will help you feel more at ease when the big day gets close. Also, the closer you get to your wedding day the more people will start asking you questions, and it’s always good to have an answer for them.

6. Be a little flexible, you may want a long veil, a six-foot train, or white doves to be released as you say I do, but some things may not be practical for your big day. A long veil will get caught in the wind, a long train will be heavy dragging on the sand, and who wants the threat of birds who have been cooped up in a cage all day released over your guests. Your vendors and planners have been through all of this before and they know what works and what does not. That doesn’t mean that if you really want something that it can’t be done.

7. Work with local vendors when possible. You may have a cousin who is pretty good with a camera or an Aunt who makes cakes, but these people are going to a new destination where they may not know what angles work the best for sunsets and traveling very long distances with a cake in the trunk is incredibly nerve wracking. The vendors your coordinator recommends have more than likely done numerous weddings similar to yours and know what works.

8.Consider your guests and place a gift basket in each room that is full of essentials for the trip (suntan lotion, bug spray, etc.) and goodies that will make the trip easier for them, snacks, bottled water, a map of the area and maybe a good restaurant or two.

9. Plan to get to the destination a few days before the wedding to make sure everything is covered, greet your guests, and to nail down any final details. This may help you recover from the trip there if you are coming a long distance.

Add in some color: The beach is all about bold bright, tropical colors so don’t be afraid to throw some pinks, oranges, yellows, blues and greens in to your wedding.  It’s a great way to make your wedding stand out without going over the top.

Do a Sand Ceremony: The unity candle became a symbolic way of uniting two lives and two hearts in to one. Flames on beach will generally blow out almost as soon as you light them, so why not do a sand ceremony? You pour two different colors of sand into one vessel uniting them and giving you a unique wedding favor.

Jump in: Although this may not be for every couple, we have had several brides and grooms get in the water for some great photo ops after the wedding! So hop on in wearing your dress and get some wonderful pictures that will last a lifetime. Any good dry cleaner can clean and preserve your dress for you; a little salt water won’t hurt it.

Ditch the Extra Décor: You picked the beach to get married because it’s beautiful and scenic. You don’t have to go over the top with tulle, floral arrangements, or an aisle to make your wedding look great, it already will be! Just remember simple can be beautiful.

Kick off your shoes: There is no need to wear shoes for your wedding when you can say your vows with your feet in the sand. There’s nothing like feeling the sand between your toes, so leave the dancing shoes for the reception! If you still want a little something to go with your dress, try barefoot sandals (jewelry for your feet that resembles a sandal.)

Don’t Forget the Beach: You chose the beach to get married because it means something to you as a couple or it’s just a place you both enjoy being, so don’t forget that! Tie in some beach-y things for your wedding: use sand dollars for place cards, put umbrellas in your drinks, or have some beach chairs on your cake.

Flip Flops

An easy and fun beach wedding favor to give your guests is a pair of flip flops! They’re actually fairly inexpensive and come in a variety of sizes and colors. You don’t have to be exact on the size – just grab a wide range of both men’s and women’s sizes and everyone should be able to find something that fits
Tie each set to a guest’s chair or throw them in a big basket at the entrance to your reception for guests to pick up.

Beach Favor Boxes

An inexpensive and fun way to create beach wedding favors is to find bulk beach favor boxes or bags and fill them with whatever you want! Fill them with flower seeds, birdseed, chocolates, Jordan almonds, scented soaps, bath salts or anything else you can come up with! Tie the finished product with a color coordinated ribbon and you’ve got a creative beach wedding favor that was easy and simple to make and just as thoughtful!

Drink Mixes

A beach wedding is practically synonymous with chilled mojitos and cool pina coladas. What’s more refreshing at a hot beach reception than an ice cold cocktail? Let your guests take home the magic of cocktails on the beach with a personalized packet of mojito or other cocktail mix. When your guests get home, they simply follow the mixing directions and in just a few minutes they’ll have a drink as delicious as they did at your reception!

Sunscreen

Everyone needs sunscreen at a beach wedding, but many people forget to bring it! Don’t let your guests get burned at your ceremony or reception. You don’t have to make everyone share from the big bottle of discount sunscreen you got at the supermarket though – turn this opportunity to give your guests unique and useful beach wedding favors! Many online warehouses and wedding favor boutiques offer small bottles of sunscreen that you can have personalized with your names and wedding date!

Pass these out at the beginning of the ceremony to keep your guests from getting crisp! Use your beach wedding favors as an opportunity to let your creativity shine. Find something unconventional that is beach related and get a ton of them to give your friends and family at the wedding! No matter what it is, as long as it’s thoughtful and something that came from the heart, your guests will love them. You don’t have to stick with the expensive and traditional to let your guests know that you appreciate their presence on your big day.

Getting married is a magical time in anyone’s life. Ocean Isle Beach weddings can offer a beautiful and romantic setting, plus much more to make your dream day truly dreamy!

As you may or may not know planning an beach wedding isn’t an easy task so this web site is here to offer some great tips and ideas to get you started on the right path.

So, let’s get started right away and discover how to plan Ocean Isle Beach weddings on any budget easily.

Our top tips to get you started:

**Choose your Ocean Isle Beach location hotel or resort and come up with your budget. You need a place and an amount to make future decisions and get the ball rolling.

**Work with an experiences Event Coordinator who knows the local beach rules and regulations, and set a date so that a specific area of the beach is just for you. Nothing like sunbathers or other beach folks hanging out and walking by as you say your vows. An Event Coordinator also who knows the area and local vendors that will be a must for your dream beach weddings. The price you’ll pay may be completely worth it in savings elsewhere and headaches.

**Advise friends and family about the wedding so they have time to plan accordingly. One tip is to ask for wedding and honeymoon packages and discounts when booking your accommodations.

**Finally, choose a theme and honeymoon destination. Sometimes its a great idea to plan to honeymoon right at the property where you get married. As for themes, let’s discuss a few fun ones below!

** Ocean Isle Beach Weddings theme ideas – these are our favorites, so this list is by no means all-inclusive:

**Do anything around what you both love. I’ve seen some crazy themes, but it made both the bride and groom happy.

**You could do boat themes, nautical themes, and other themes that go along with the beach. You’re in the perfect setting for it.

**Do a casual beach party theme. Have everyone wear sandals, sun dresses, and other fun, relaxing stuff. Do the party right there and just let loose. It doesn’t have to black ties just to be a great and classy wedding.

**You could do Caribbean-style, Hawaiian-style, or other creative style. Have fun with it and keep it simple.

**Finally, you could do a classy wedding right on the beach. The setting may be different than a church, but you could still do the classical black ties and wedding dresses around the gorgeous Ocean Isle Beach setting.

**When it comes to wedding, the couples are apt to move around to welcome their friends and relative, walk along the shores and go dancing and partying. The comfort of the footwear they choose for the occasion is very important. Men need to avoid wearing leather shoes and cover-ups, instead choose a sandal or a slip-on and women choose to wear simple slip-ons or flip-flops. Comfortable beach wedding shoes are a very important part of a beach wedding. One thing to always bear in mind is get a slip-on that is made of easy-drying material like satin or any synthetic and do not make your foot stuck with the sand.

Remember to be creative and have some fun planning your Ocean Isle Beach wedding. It is a magical day and Ocean Isle Beach offers a perfect place for this type of event.

Again, this is only a start to get the ball rolling on planning the wedding. There are many details you’ll want to go through even for the simplest weddings. We hope this helps get the mind running as you get ready for the big day!