Wedding reception decorations ideas

Destination weddings – An Introduction

 

More and more couples are planning to move outwards when it comes to their wedding. The most common way to do that is that you think of any outdoor location and get married there.

That outdoors does not have to your own backyard and it can be a different city or a different country for example India or Mexico. If you are selecting a particular city or a place then definitely it is known as the destination wedding.

 

Destination weddings are not easy to plan as invariably you have not been to the place and also you do not know what kind of arrangements will be needed for having a wedding in a new city or a country. It is here the wedding planners enter the picture. Believe me they are worth the money :- )

 

Are Really Beach Weddings For You?

 

Once you have decided that you need to have a destination wedding then the next big thing to be decided is what kind of destination are you interested in.

 

The most favored one are the Las Vegas wedding which are always in vogue nowadays. Next are the absolute outdoors in the sand and those are the beach weddings.

 

Do not just say OK to a beach wedding but think hard as a couple would you be able to able first of all afford a beach wedding and also if you are Ok with sand and water and air to be blowing when are exchanging your vows. The whole thing can be totally out of sorts for you if you are not prepared for it.

 

Beach Weddings

Photogragh by justjennifer

 

You may love the idea of a beach wedding but when it comes to reality things may be really different. So think and say yes to a beach wedding. There are other outdoor weddings also available like the wedding on a mountaineous area like the wedding in a European destination. A good example of that is Switzerland. I will come to those destinations in my next few posts but I will stick to everything you need to know about beach weddings. That way you will be able to decide whether you need the beach wedding destination or not.

 

Step By Step Planning For a Beach Wedding

 

In this post of mine I am going to detail each and everything including the questions you need to ask yourself regarding the beach wedding. Beach weddings can be arranged for a small group of people or for a large group of people the only difference being the set up of the decoration as well as the cost

 

Finalize a Beach wedding destination

This is the most important or rather the basis of a successful beach wedding. You need to pick a destination which is affordable or rather based on your cost. You need to make sure that you know the number of guests that will be arriving for the beach wedding ceremony as well as for the beach wedding reception.

 

If you have large number of guests coming for the beach wedding then a private resort or a beach side hotel with a nice lake or private beach will be perfect.

 

Get views from people and also look for weather

 

Whenever you are getting to finalize a destination then make sure that you have actually talked to a few wedding planners and also your friends or acquaintances that have been to a beach wedding. They can tell what beach was better or what they know about a particular location.

 

Also make sure that you check the weather forecast as that may strike out a few beaches out of your shortlisted candidates.

 

The beach destination also will be based on the fact that majority of guests are coming form which place. It may so happen that all your guests stay near a particular beach area or town whereas you are the only one who will be coming from far or vice versa.

 

The most common beach wedding destinations within the country are

 

The most favored destination is Florida beach weddings and some of the locations for in Florida are

 

Miami

Ft.Lauderdale

Tampa Bay

Key West

Port Canaveral

 

Hawaii beach wedding destinations

 

The favored destinations are

Oahu

Maui beach

Kauai

 

The list of most common beach wedding destinations outside the country is

 

Caribbean beach weddings

St. Thomas

Tortola

Grand Caymans

 

Other islands are Cancun

Puerto Rican Islands

Dominican Republic

Bahamas

US Virgin Islands

 

 

Finalize the Wedding planner

 

Once you have swooped down on a particular location then you need to do things according to a particular plan so that all things come together on the given wedding day.

 

You can get all arrangements done on your own and or take the help of a wedding planner in the beach town where you have decided to hold the wedding reception.

 

The wedding planner will help you get all the necessary permits as well as the necessary arrangements done. These wedding planners usually have all the required contacts with local vendors for flower arrangements and decorations as well for wedding arches etc and many more items which you cannot even fathom.

 

Use a Checklist

 

There are so many small things that you are likely to forget in the stress of planning a beach wedding that you will definitely need to make sure that that each and every item of note should be on your spreadsheet with a date attached to it as well as the name of the person responsible for it. Make sure that you have that person’s contact number on it.

That way you can easily manage using the fact sheet as well as you will be able to plan based on timeline.

 

 

Finalize the beach wedding ceremony Décor

 

Once you have finalized the destination as well engaged a wedding planner then the next step is to finalize the kind of wedding decoration that you want for the beach wedding.

 

There is huge number of things that you along with your wedding planner will need to think for the decorations.

 

Beach Arch Wedding Decorations

Photogragh by andreap83

 

Select a Theme

 

If you really need to decorate a wedding ceremony properly then make sure that you have theme selected as that will help you easily select the wedding decoration pieces and mind you there are varied decoration that you need to take care of which I will be explaining one by one in the next few articles.

 

A few examples of themes can be the balloon theme or the sea shells theme or the only glass theme or the sand theme.

The theme can also be based on your personality and can be a bold theme representing a multiple of colors and yes if you really want a out of sorts theme then you can choose a native theme based on the beach town where you are having the wedding.

 

For example in Florida you may have different theme than you would have in the Caribbean Islands. You can have a music filled theme for a Caribbean island wedding or even a bamboo theme wedding.

 

The positive side of these weddings is that you have a goal and decoration idea in mind for everything ranging from the centerpieces to the arches and even the tables.

 

The negative side that is that you may have to put in a little more effort and planning for the wedding decoration. Hey but what the heck it is your wedding so why not have the best!!!

 

 

Finalize the beach wedding Reception Decoration

 

The wedding reception ceremony is equally important and that means again as I explained earlier selecting a theme for the reception.

 

You can have the same décor as the wedding ceremony or you can change the wedding reception decoration.

In terms of saving the cost it is a good idea to have the same décor as the ceremony and only the items will change but not the basic underlying theme.

In this blog of mine I will keep giving out various wedding reception decoration ideas from time to time.

 

 

 

Beach wedding Dresses

 

The most important part of the wedding is the dress and if you are getting married on a beach then you need to have dress that matches the theme of the wedding.

 

The wedding dress fitting and finalization takes a lot of time and if it is the marriage season then you need make sure that you book the wedding dress designer well in advance.

 

Get all the dates for the trial fittings as well as the final delivery well in advance.

The same goes for the bridesmaid gown and dresses as well the tuxedo or dress for the groom. Usually the dress for the groom takes less of time as well as fitting trials than the bride and hence this advance booking.

 

 

 

Beach wedding Invitations and Save the Date

 

It is very important that you give the information about the venue well in advance to the guests. You can send the save the date cards to them and follow that with a good invitation. Needless to say it will have to have the theme of the wedding as the basic idea.

 

The guests can make their arrangements for arriving at the venue whether by air or by road. Also you will know based on the invitations accepted that how many guests are likely to arrive.

 

That number will help you making stay arrangements for the guests as well as you can them plan the venue decorations and make food and drink arrangements accordingly.

 

 

Have a back up plan ready

 

As you are having your wedding outdoors that means that you are the mercy of Mother Nature.  As I suggested in #2 that you definitely need to check the weather before finalizing the destination but things can go wrong easily.

           

For example the wind can blow so strong that it becomes impossible to have the wedding outside or it suddenly starts raining.

 

There can be some other unfortunate things that can happen which will prevent you from having the wedding outside and that will mean that you need to have a back up plan ready for the unfortunate eventuality.

 

Make sure that you have covered portion of nearby resort already booked for such type of circumstance or best even get a venue which has resort or a beach hotel attached alongside so that the arrangements can be shifted inside at the last minute. Most resort hotels which cater to weddings will have alternate arrangements and backups ready.

 

 

Wedding day arrangements

 

On the actual wedding day itself you cannot run around looking for minute details so here are some tips for that day. Remember wedding day for you is to enjoy and absorb the essence of the occasion

 

Delegate

Start delegating the work well before in advance to family members so that they can take care of everything well in advance.

 

Arrive In Advance at the destination.

 

It is always better to arrive in advance at the wedding destination. You can come a day or two early along with your family members so that you can do a final checkup of all the facilities.

Also call up the various vendors as well as the wedding planner to make sure that they know of the date and are working according to the directions given.

 

Final Checklist walkthrough

           

I know it will look like pure project management but yes you need to go through the checklist that you prepared initially night before the wedding day and make sure that you have not missed out on anything.

 

 

            Congratulations on your wedding day!!!

           

 

 

 

 

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.