How to Plan Your Beach Wedding in Virginia
Beach weddings in Virginia are remarkably affordable, fun and so easy!
Virginia beach may be the perfect wedding destination for you! After all, the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia is noted in the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest stretch of pleasure beach in the entire world, and the city is well known for serving as a resort location with mile after mile of luscious public beaches,and hundreds of stunning resort hotels, fabulous restaurants and many other exquisite attractions scattered along its oceanfront.
If you want to enjoy a stunning beach wedding before retiring in a lush beach resort, then Virginia Beach, Virginia is the wedding location for you!
And if you’d rather have all of the amenities of a grand destination wedding, but would prefer to not get sand between your toes, there are dozens of spectacular resorts nearby that can accommodate your needs.
The Virginia Beach oceanfront has plenty of regular attractions and some excellent special events too to keep your guests busy so that you don’t have to worry about entertaining them.
The Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, American Music Festival, East Coast Surfing Championship and the Holiday Lights at the Beach are just a few of the happenings that draw thousands of people to the city.
You will get tons of additional free info about Virginia Beach when you visit the links I display below in my “Location. Location. Location” panel.
If you and your groom are looking for adventurous fun, by all means give some consideration to the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Take a boat trip three miles off-shore to the islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore. Here you can enjoy remote beaches, watch wild horses and other wildlife, or visit one of the historic districts.
In considering which of hundreds of potential beaches to site your wedding ceremony, keep in mind the nearest airports, accommodations and “civilization” (caterers, wedding cake bakers, musicians, photographers, and restaurants to provide for your guests before and after the wedding itself). Also, think about whether it is important to be on the beach at particular times of the day (such as sunset) and where the sun is likely to be at that time.
Huge beach houses can often be rented more affordably than putting up most people in a resort hotel. They also often offer large decks or entertaining areas that would be great for the rehearsal dinner, the wedding reception, and even the post-wedding breakfast.
So, explore! Enjoy! And relax!
Sarah Forrester
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Check out these links to fabulous beach areas that Virginia Beach offers.
Wedding sites in Virginia Beach In general, larger cities and towns are going to have more choices of hotels, motels, and bed &breakfast inns (as well as restaurants, bars, and entertainment for your guests) than remote locales. But don’t avoid considering those remote beaches.They are often far less populated, which will give you more privacy and fewer worries about gawkers and potential party-crashers. BEACH PERMITS: Some municipalities may require you obtain a special permit in order to hold your wedding on their beaches. A few may also ask you to show proof of liability coverage before issuing a permit.The permits are generally very modest in price, but vary widely among communities (starting at $0.00). |
Virginia has no waiting period between obtaining the license and the wedding. Since you’ll have plenty to do in the days before The Big Day, it’s a good idea to take care of this about a month beforehand.
Marriage licenses are issued by Clerks in each Virginia county and independent city, but the licenses can be used anywhere in the state. The bride and groom must appear in person and present a picture ID (driver’s license, passport) and a certified copy of a birth certificate. Previously married folks may need to document the date of divorce or of their spouse’s death. The license fee is a $30.00 donation. The license is only valid for 60 days. No blood test is required. Virginia requires that there be a religious ceremony. The clergy will sign your marriage license, which must be sent to the State Division of Vital Records for the marriage to be legally recognized. Because marriage license requirements can change, please do not regard this guidance as legal advice.
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Planning so far in advance for a beach wedding means that you need to equip yourself with facts about the weather (temperature and possibility of precipitation) for the beach location that you have in mind.
Although there certainly are exceptions, when it comes to weather, the past is a pretty good predictor of the future.and it will almost always be better than a wild guess. This link provides historical weather data over nearly 50 years for thousands of locations in the world. You won’t want to have the bridal party standing at the water’s edge for the ceremony if the tide’s coming in. But when will that be? Find the time of the high tide for your beach location for any day in 2009 with this link. |
What if a major storm occurs or the groom has an accident that requires the wedding to be postponed or even canceled? What if an important vendor goes out of business before the wedding and you can’t get back your deposit for the cake or the music?
Consider wedding cancellation insurance. It is available online for as little as 1 cent for every dollar of insurance, and it can cover the honeymoon, too. Here’s one site that has designed a special insurance policy just for coverning wedding -related events: http://www.wedsafe.com/ |
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING
To help you through the sometimes mind-boggling decisions that you must make,
I discovered an inexpensive and highly readable book that spells everything out for you.
I mean everything! Click here and check it out for yourself!– Your host, Sarah Forrester
