I always dreamed of getting married on the beach. It was not a way to “elope” in the traditional sense of running off to get married without any family or friends around. Quite the opposite–I just imagined being barefoot in the sand and sun–by the ocean with all my family and friends there.
I even made sure to go with an ivory dress so it wouldn’t look washed out in beach pictures. Besides the beautiful environment, there are many benefits to a destination wedding.
Most resorts will do the basic wedding for free if a handful of your party stay at the resort for a minimum number of days.
You also have the option to upgrade to a larger party and can tweak the details. In a gazebo or on the sand? Live or recorded music for the ceremony? Full dinner, or cocktail party reception? And so on…
Most resorts have a wedding planner on staff. This person does this all the time and will take care of everything. No need to stress over any details.
Indigenous flowers in a tropical locale are incredibly affordable and beautiful. Use this to your advantage. This means you can get a LOT of great tropical flowers for a very affordable price.
We wound up, for a very awesome rate, getting married on the beach at the RIU Negril in Negril, Jamaica. We had 30 of our closest friends and family there, most of them for the entire week! It was a great time to get to spend time vacationing with everyone for longer block of time than we usually get to spend with them.
The staff at the RIU, from the wedding organizer, to the hair stylists,
the florist, wait staff, even the steel drum quartet were absolutely wonderful. The planner and I set up everything prior via email. My hubby and I filled out all of our legal paperwork for the marriage certificate before going down to Jamaica. She also arranged everything else with input from me. I didn’t even meet her until the morning of the wedding. My best advice, trust that your wedding planner will plan an awesome wedding. Even if any details fall through the cracks, your guests won’t know it. Don’t sweat the small stuff!
My dad walked me down to the gazebo on the beach, where I kicked off my fancy shoes and met up with our officiant and soon-to-be-husband.
Don’t think for a minute that it wasn’t hot out! It was, especially at midday in Jamaica. A steel drum quartet played during the ceremony and we had a champagne table ready for our guests after the ceremony.
Once our vows were exchanged, we were given a few minutes to mingle, then it was time for pictures. We used a resort photographer, who took some great shots of our day.
After pics were done, we bussed our crew over to Rick’s Café to kill time until our reception dinner. We munched on appetizers and partook in some Red Stripe before returning to the RIU for dinner.
Our dinner was wonderful. I had the rib-eye steak and hubby had the shrimp. But even better was that all of our friends and family were there. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
If you’re considering planning a destination wedding, with a little research and a good wedding planner, you can have the day of your dreams while still keeping your sanity.