You don’t need to be rich. You don’t need to hire an expensive planner for the big day of your beach wedding. You probably have seen in movies and magazines where couples said “I do” in a beautiful tropical beach where sparkling water, sand, wind and glorious sun make the environment so relaxed, yet romantic. So why can’t you be the same?

With a little creativity and good planning, you can have a beautiful beach wedding that will envy of your friends and family. I mean, your friends and family will be weeping tears of joy. Believe me, you can actually experience the same emotions that you see the movies and magazines with a beach wedding and it is much less expensive than holding the ceremony in a hotel or church. Here are some tips for achieving your “picture perfect beach wedding.”

Take steps to make your wedding different: Religious wedding ceremonies in the United States are typically held in a house of worship. But there are many wonderful beaches in the US, along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts that offer much more unique and different wedding experience. You’ll be the envy of all your friends and family because you took the steps to make your wedding so different from one held in traditional churches and parks. The uniqueness of a beach wedding will surely make you the envy of all of your friends and relatives.

Choose comfortable beach attire: A beach wedding gives you a chance to play with water and sand. So, rather than dressing up in more expensive, elegant clothing you’ll probably wear only once, think about a lightweight wedding gown which dries up soon — you may get wet while paying around water. A dress for a beach wedding should fit the general theme of the wedding. There are many options to find a great casual beach wedding dress. Check the bridal magazines at the grocery store and don’t forget bridal shops.

Consult your hairstylist for a style suitable for beach: If you don’t want to be a laughing stock before your guests, consult your hairstylist to make a suitable hairdo so that you can look good after the wind and sea spray have been through it. This doesn’t mean that you should pin your hair as tightly as possible and use up an entire bottle of hairspray to keep it all in place. Beach weddings need more casual hairstyles.

But you should first get your hair in its best possible condition. If you’re at a loss, a stylist can help here.

After choosing your hairstyle, you should select the hair accessories you want to wear on that special day. You can choose between tiaras or headbands, veils, decorated combs, hair jewels, hair pins, bun wraps…. The list goes on and on. But remember that beaches can be very windy. You can adorn your head with flowers instead of a veil.

Don’t wear high heel sandals: It is very important to give attention to your feet. A wedge heel sandal is great for beach weddings because it’s easier to walk around. You don’t have to worry about your heels getting stuck in the sand. Some brides prefer to put on stylish satin and jeweled flip flops.

Don’t ignore the food: If you don’t want to feel embarrassed before your nearest and dearest, you have to pay attention to the menu being served at your wedding. The food should be delicious and fresh. If the wedding is scheduled for sunrise, you can offer a breakfast or brunch of omelets made to order, smoked bacon, smoked salmon, fresh squeezed orange juice, mimosas, Bloody Mary’s and champagne. If the beach wedding will occur closer to sundown, light appetizers and appropriate liquid refreshments can be substitute for a full meal. But if the budget allows, consider a casual buffet rather than a more formal meal where uniformed servers handle everything. Instead of a traditional wedding cake, opt for a cupcake tower with tropical fruit flavored cupcakes.

Take care of your guests: The couple should assign someone from their family to take care of all guests. It becomes more important if seniors and little legs are among the attendees. This is to be your day. So delegate, delegate, delegate so that you can try to relax.

At last, don’t forget to pick some good beach music for your beach wedding theme. You can play Jimmy Buffet or your favorite reggae artist. Music will work miracles to reduce your stress and nervousness.

It’s a celebration of new wedded bliss and a welcome vacation for everyone in attendance. Keeping the mood and atmosphere as festive as had been imagined would require several tricks up the beach bride’s sleeve.

Have the wedding planner or wedding partner devise a program. This way, the whole program or show is properly facilitated and the reception flows smoothly.

The band fires everything up. It doesn’t matter if the beach bride has flown them in or settled for house entertainment from the beach wedding destination. What is important is to be able to discuss with them the event’s music requirements because they would surely have their own playlist. To prevent probable clashes (sometimes they think their set is the most romantic repertoire on earth), the beach bride should reach a compromise by handing over a list of songs she would prefer but also considering what the band suggests. After all, they have probably been doing this for a long time. The beach bride should give the band ample time to prepare for her choice of songs.

Breathtaking forms of entertainment should wow the guests. Fire dancers, fire eaters, magicians and the like may be included in the beach wedding destination package, but if they’re not, a permit to hold fire acts in the area should be secured beforehand.

DJs usually charge a hefty fee, but some of them are not even good at it. So if there is no need for mixing music on a turntable and or turn the beach wedding reception into a club scene, ditch the professional DJ. Surely a friend or two would like to play Dj for a night. However, there really are ones who are that good. A twist to the usual upbeat music is hiring a bevy of percussionists drumming to the beat.

People want to dance, but immediately shy away from doing so for fear of not being able to strut it well. Hire professional dance instructors to encourage a lot of dancing. The dance floor will slowly be filled out in no time.

Do not invoke all of the spirits. Sure, every host of a party wants to satisfy the guests by stocking up the bar. Eventually, guests become too drunk to be entertained or too drunk and become the “life” of the party. Hiring exceptional bartenders to do a showcase of their bartending skills can also be a form of entertainment in the beach wedding party.

Who says that entertainment is limited to music and partying? Another way of keeping guests entertained is by signing them up for activities such a snorkeling, scuba diving or perhaps an island tour.

Being invited to a beach wedding is a treat in itself, and there are so many ways to letting guests enjoy the rest of their stay. The beach bride can pull this off with ease.

The last beach wedding that I attended was a real nightmare. It didn’t start out that way.

It began in the early evening down in South Florida. The bride had timed things so that she and her husband-to-be were framed by the setting sun as they each said “I do.”

It was about then that my left calf started to itch. Then my right. I scratched discreetly, and noticed grandma doing the same thing. She looked at me and we both looked at the bride, who was standing barefoot in the sand. Holding her new husband’s hands, she balanced on one foot while ever so slowly and delicately, her right foot started to stroke her left ankle and calf.

We had all been attacked by something that we couldn’t see. Or hear. Or even feel, until it was too late.

We now know that the culprit was sand fleas (sometimes called no-see-ums or sand flies). Although none of us had thought to take precautions beforehand, my cousin Sue who considers herself something of a bug expert, sent somebody to the nearest drugstore to get some liquid Benadryl that quickly soothed everybody’s skin.

After that wedding was over, I decided that I wouldn’t want to face that nightmare ever again. The best way to prevent that, it seemed, was to educate myself on preventative measures.

I learned that sand fleas are found up and down the Atlantic Coast, from Greenland through the United States and to the southern tip of South America. You can find them on Caribbean beaches and even on many beaches on the west coast. One notable place that has – so far – been spared the presence of the critters is Hawaii.

These tiny insects have no wings but, they have powerful hind legs that enable them to jump 12 to 13 inches and then give their fierce bites. And because they are so small and quiet, we got bitten before we were even aware that sand fleas were in the area.

Covering up would have helped enormously, but who wants to wear knee-high sox to a beach wedding, no matter how informal it is? It would have been a no-brainer to spread a beach towel on the ground beneath the chair I sat in during the ceremony, but that would have protected me only during the time that I was sitting. The sand fleas are most active around sunset, but that time can stretch to maybe an hour.

The bride, if she had only known, could have placed the wedding site a little better. Because the sand fleas tend to breed and live in organic material (such as seaweed on the beach), everyone would have been safer if the festivities were held well above the high tide mark. Sand fleas don’t wander more than about 350 feet from their breeding area.

The advice we’ve received from insect experts is that our best sand flea protection would have been a good spray of DEET to our feet and legs. The product, which is available at garden supply shops and even many beach area drugstores and supermarkets, comes in various strengths. The very diluted forms are not going to give enough protection to last more than 30 minutes or so. So I’ll be looking for a strength recommended for deep forests, even though I won’t be near many trees the next time I attend a beach wedding. But as a free bonus, I’ll have protection against mosquitoes, too!

Great news! You can still save big bucks on many aspects of your wedding without sacrificing your style.

Because it’s a beach wedding, forget about the full wedding entourage. The laid back quality of a beach wedding immediately changes the wardrobe requirements. Think about mini-dresses, flip flops, chinos, and the like for your beach wedding. They’re cheaper than gowns and tuxedoes for a traditional church ceremony. Another great tip would be to scour outside of the bridal stores in searching for your wedding dress and that of the wedding entourage. If the store has the word “bridal” in its name, it’s likely to be more expensive than if it doesn’t.

Recycle family jewelry. You don’t have to have designer wedding bands. Moms and grandmothers are often delighted that the next generations will be wearing jewelry that has meant so much to them.

Plan your menu so that it’s appropriate for a beach wedding venue. You don’t have to choose a five course menu for your flip flop clad guests. Embrace casual and laid back by opting for a barbecue or a sit down buffet. This would not only be less labor for the caterers, but would also prove more beneficial to your budget.

Have some of your guests role-play dj. Not only will save on dj’s fees but your guests will have fun getting into the act.

It’s safe to downplay one aspect of your beach wedding so you can splurge on some other.

Forget about the gourmet cake so that you can hire that top photographer. Simply, think about what is more important to you and enjoy the luxury of spending more on that. Even if that means ditching the traditional, it’s your beach wedding and it’s always your call.

Be well read when it comes to wedding ideas and feel free to innovate. Do your homework on supplies, suppliers and most importantly: bargains.

Think about seasons, availability of materials, weather and the like to minimize extra expenditure. If you think about how fabulous your bouquet would look with some particular exotic flower, you might want to think about the extra buck you would shell out for a special order. It would also be sensible to get to know your beach wedding venue as well as you can. This way you could take advantage of what is abundant and inexpensive in the locality.

In the end, it is always wiser to have a budget, stick to it and live debt-free after getting married. Now that makes for the perfect beach wedding.