When it comes to being romantic, no one can beat the French. If you are looking for a quaint and picturesque destination for your beach wedding, Seignosse is an excellent option. The beach town lies nestled in the woods, just a half-hour from the Pyrenees Mountains, and is typical of the older Landes coastal villages, with a church, some small bars and hotels. It is famous for its brilliant surf spots such as Le Penon and Les Bourdaines.

The beaches at Seignosse have been drawing surfers for years; the sands are sparkling white, the waves are big, the water’s clean, and best of all – surprisingly few souls have discovered this magnificent haven. But once you’ve had your fill of sand and surf, explore some of the town’s other offerings. Seignosse lies on the outskirts of the heavily forested Pyrenees, and just north of the village are two large lakes, the Black Lake (Etang Noir) and the White Lake (Etang Blanc). The lakes are tucked into the woods, where travelers can find some good hiking and excellent views. Hidden down the lanes surrounding the lakes and nestling in the pine trees, are a few very isolated Landes style Restaurants with views over the lakes.

If surfing is not your idea of fun, then check out the amazing Golf course which is between the village and the sea.  It has been constructed with lakes & ponds creating hazards for the most discerning golfer, with the most beautiful modern Landes style houses nestling between the pine trees and the fairways of the Golf Course. However if you are looking to rock the night away after the wedding, a quick trip to the town of Hossegar, some 2.5 miles away, will give access to bars, piano bars, discos and even a casino. Seignosse is truly a perfect place for the perfect French wedding!

If you are looking for something really unique and special for a winter beach wedding, then you should just escape to Fraser Island for a romantic and memorable wedding. This island stretches over 123 kilometers in length and 22 kilometers at its widest point. With an area of 184 000 hectares it is the largest sand island in the world. World Heritage listing ranks it with Australia’s Uluru, Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef. Fraser Island is a precious part of Australia’s natural and cultural heritage, it is protected for all to appreciate and enjoy.

Fraser Island is the only place in the world where tall rainforests are found growing on sand dunes at elevations of over 200 meters. Ancient rainforests grow in sand along the banks of fast-flowing, crystal-clear creeks. With its long uninterrupted white beaches flanked by strikingly colored sand cliffs, and over 100 freshwater lakes, it is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world! The 120 km beach runs along most of the east coast of Fraser Island. It is noted for its beauty and has a number of highlights such as Champagne Pools, Indian Head, the Maheno Wreck and Eli Creek. Eli Creek has its own unique and varied wild life. Tiger Sharks are known to inhabit the sea in the area.

There are several options for a wedding at Fraser Island. From three great resorts offering different venues and accommodation or to private homes where a less formal and more personal wedding can be arranged you will be spoilt for choices. You can also choose to have a wedding in the beautiful rain forests or on the shores of crystal clear lakes. With so many beautiful places, Fraser Island can be tons of fun and frolic. You can also indulge in some really crazy antics like arriving on a beach plane or celebrate your wedding in a yacht or a boat cruise.

Beach weddings can be a lot of fun and a very unique experience for everyone involved. There are certain factors which makes beach weddings very unique and extremely special. These factors don’t crop up in an indoor wedding and so we can be fully aware of them when we attend or arrange a beach wedding!

The most important consideration is the weather. When on a beach, weather is just about the only thing that can ruin your well laid plans. No amount of preparation and forecast can help you there. So just ensure that you pray hard and in case the weather plays truant – make the most of it. Just remember to have an alternate plan and things will be good. Another consideration is of course the tide. You need to check if the tide is incoming or outgoing. On a sea shore wedding, it can make a lot of difference from the arrangements to the timing of the ceremony.

Another thing which is unique and needs to be accounted for are the food arrangements. Remember that there are no refrigeration facilities available on the beach. Having said that, you can get really creative with food arrangements on a beach wedding by arranging barbecues and other theme foods! The best thing about beach wedding is that you can be assured of the best wedding photographs that indoor weddings will not even come close to.

Also remember that the beach is a public place and you may have more than your share of wedding crashers. Similarly, for older people, accessibility may be a little difficult as there are no special ramps and the uneven terrain can cause problems. So, here are the top five things which make any beach wedding unique.

1. The Weather

2. The Public

3. The photography

4. The Food Arrangements

5. The Accessibility

The Cayman Islands are actually three islands consisting of Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. They are blessed with exotic beaches and temperate weather throughout the year. Having your beach wedding in the Cayman Islands in winter is a fabulous way of avoiding the cold and gives yourself and your guests a wonderful break before preparing for the New Year. Along with its natural beauty, there is a certain aspect of civility and commitment which give these islands a kind of “Barefoot Elegance” which makes your day truly memorable. Irrespective of a wedding ceremony for 12 or 120, you can have your intimate winter beach wedding in this corner of the Caribbean and the legion of wedding planners and professionals will ensure that your day is perfect.

The size and scope of a Cayman Islands’ wedding ceremony is limited only by the imagination. Couples can opt for a traditional wedding in a quaint chapel, stately church or luxury resort. To add a bit of Caymanian flavor, consider marrying amidst the pageantry of the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, beneath the gazebo at the Grand Old House, (a stately 1900’s plantation manor), or overlooking the azure waters of the Caribbean on the grounds of Pedro St. James – the birthplace of Caymanian democracy.

For a more intimate ceremony, couples can choose to marry on a stretch of sugar white sand along famed Seven Mile Beach, or just above the enchanting crystal clear water on the pier at legendary Rum Point. Seafarers can choose to marry aboard a luxurious catamaran, or replica 17th century galleon as it takes to sea on a spectacular sunset cruise.

There are certain customs and festivities that will completely take you by surprise. Be sure to visit during the world-renowned Pirate’s Week celebration held each fall. Or strut your stuff with the costumed street musicians of Batabano, Cayman Carnival. You’ll also find scores of culinary and music festivals, including the Cayman Cook-Out (an epicurean event sponsored by Food & Wine magazine and the Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman) and the Cayman jazz fest, as well as a myriad of other local celebrations throughout the year.

We all agree here on weddingtropics.com that beach weddings are the best way to take your vows is to the sound of crashing waves.  Unlike traditional weddings, planning for a beach wedding can be really exciting. One has the option to choose from several themed beach weddings to several exotic locales for a destination beach wedding. Let us have a look at Bahamas as a setting for your destination beach wedding.

Choose any one of the islands on the Bahamas and you can’t go wrong. Its clear sky, powdery white beaches and crystal blue waters is the perfect setting for the biggest day of your life. No wonder some of the world’s most famous celebrities choose these islands for their wedding. You can join the ilk of Cindy Crawford, Mariah Carey, and Google’s co founder – Sergey Brin among several other celebrities.

The fact that these islands are just a short flight from Florida will ensure that the most special people in your life are there to celebrate your big day.  Just make sure that you give them enough time to book those tickets and schedule their time offs.

You can opt to get married in the US officially and have a purely ceremonial wedding on the Bahamas or get married officially in the Bahamas. While the latter sounds   exotic, the former is more practical since you don’t have to bother about requirements such as minimum residency, fees, citizenship documentation etc.

Of course, after your last dance is over, you can continue your Bahamas experience by choosing to stay on for your honeymoon. With over 700 islands, you can have a yearlong honeymoon and go island hopping and discover secluded beaches and explore underwater caves.  While you are at it, you can also spend some time swimming with the dolphins or trying some Bahamian rum punch. It’s one of the best ways to start your new life together.

You have chosen your beach and are delighted with the natural beauty of the ocean and the sand. You are starting to plan the seating for the ceremony and the reception and you want things simple. Suddenly you are assailed with doubts about things looking too drab. Flowers as part of your décor can help you hit the right note between simple and blah. Flowers will show you cared to decorate and, if you choose carefully, they won’t take away from the beauty of the natural setting. They can well serve to enhance it.

Since you are in a tropical setting, tropical flowers and greenery should be part of your plan. The drama of flowers such as Bird of Paradise or Anthurium works particularly well for centerpieces. Ginger and Heliconia are also recommended by florists for their ability to stand alone. These are flowers with vibrant colors and you don’t have to have large bunches of them. They can add the right touch of the tropics to each table. You can also experiment with using grasses or other greenery just by themselves or as interesting background for your flowers.

Now there is the question of the bridal bouquet. You can choose roses or daisies but it seems unlikely if you are the bride who picked the beach. You can go tropical style and wear a lei; or if you prefer the flowers held in your hand, consider a small bouquet of star shaped lilies or Cymbidium orchid. Both these can stand the heat and should stand well without wilting. Plumeria is another great choice to be included in a bouquet because it looks stunning and can add a lovely fragrance to your special day.

Flowers are festive and beautiful and are associated with good cheer; with their pleasant fragrances they can be a big part of creating just the right ambience for your big day. Have fun with making use of the tropical flowers available at your location and just remember that less can be more.

Beach weddings and beach-themed weddings are definitely all the rage now. So, many newly engaged couples find themselves wondering what their options are for having a beach wedding. Well, it all depends on where you live and how much you want to spend.

Remember that a beach can be simulated near any body of water – it would be wonderful to make it happen near an ocean but a quiet pond may work amazingly well too.

Let us explore the range of available choices. You may want to pick a beach that is particularly meaningful to you as a couple either because you have already spent time there or because you want your life together to start in this beautiful locale. And as far as beautiful locales where it will be great to have a honeymoon right after the wedding you have to consider the Caribbean islands and Hawaii. The Caribbean and Hawaii are broad choices because even within that you have so many islands to pick from – also in both these cases you will still have to decide whether you want your ceremony in a quiet tucked away nook or in a resort’s gazebo or garden.

For reasons of time and money if you want to stay in the continental US you can decide between the beaches in Florida, California and Jersey Shore. These are all places with spectacular beach options and great scenery and may have the benefit that more of your friends and family can attend you wedding ceremony. Season and weather will affect the East Coast wedding venue choices, of course. You are not going to find it easy to have a January wedding in the Jersey Shore!

If all these destinations are not for you and you still want a beautiful ceremony by the water, feel free to explore your area thoroughly. You are more than likely to find a lake or a stream and with a little help and imagination you should be able to create the setting of your dreams.

So, start with a mental vision – where do you see yourself saying “I do”? And build your wedding around this image. It is totally worth following your dream for this special day in your life.

The notes you send out to your guests to save the date and the invitations are the earliest stages you can let your guests know about the kind wedding you are planning. So, what better time to bring in the beach theme?

You can choose an invitation that sets the tone of your wedding – casual, formal, elegant, laid-back, funky or romantic. It is amazing what all you can convey with that card. Yes, there will be the information about  the who, where and when of the wedding itself. And make sure that this information is conveyed clearly and in an easy to read manner. Sometimes so much thought is spent on style that the substance is diluted. But once you have this piece anchored, you can let your imagination run wild!

There is the whole range of options from custom designer wedding cards, store bought themed cards and personalized hand-made invitations. Whatever your budget, there are options. You can pick one element of the beach idea like the water or a sea shell and make it a part of the embossed background, if you are going with a formal look. You can use the muted colors of the ocean in your cards and make a discreet statement.

You can play around with glitter paint and stamps if you are doing a casual wedding. You can even spray some glue and blow sand on top if you are making your own cards and just want to give them the dipped in sand feel. If you want your wedding to be a beach party, you can get the mood going right from the invitation and use bold colors of the tropics.

Just as you have a wide range in what you choose to wear to your beach wedding, you have a wide choice in the way you invite people to attend. If you want to work with a complete picture find an element that can run from the invitation to the wedding favors and that way you will have a cohesive package. Some thought, some imagination and the confidence to show your personality – these are all it takes to have a striking wedding invitation.

You have been married for several years now and want to celebrate the relationship by renewing your vows. This is a great way to recommit to each other and to acknowledge how much the relationship means to each of you. A beach wedding or cruise wedding is a great idea for this renewal of vows ceremony. It takes you away from the daily grind of your life and reminds you of all the fun you have had and hope to continue having as a couple.

You may have had a traditional wedding ceremony with much input from family a while ago and you can make the renewal ceremony more casual and fun. Here is your chance to experience a more relaxed and informal wedding. The ceremony can be intimate and meaningful without it seeming like you are re-creating you wedding day. If there is a beach that holds special memories for you as a couple, you can choose that. You can also try out a new cruise and make the renewal ceremony part of your promise to always be open to exciting adventures in your marriage.

Since this ceremony is inherently a celebration of the family and friends you have together, it is a perfect idea to plan a vacation wedding. You can let your near and dear ones know that they can plan their vacation around this by asking them to save the date in advance. If you have children and grand-children they will enjoy the chance to relax in a ship of beach while celebrating with you. You can find a way for them to be part of the ceremony, get matching beach wedding attire and make it a truly special family occasion. This quality time spent with friends and family can be a memory that will last a lifetime.

When we think of beach weddings, we imagine the golden sun, the turquoise water, balmy breeze and lush green palms and daydream in Technicolor. While this is how the ideal day should be, when planning for a beach wedding you have to prepare for the less than ideal also. Remember that this is outdoors by the water and have a Plan B. This is not about panicking about things that can go wrong but being smart enough to be prepared for anything that can happen.

First thing is to have an idea of the weather patterns in the area you are choosing. It is obviously a bad idea to have a Caribbean wedding planned in the hurricane season. That would be classified under “Asking for Trouble.” But even if you do choose the right season, you may get a rainy day. So, if you are using a public beach, position your wedding so that you can move it into a protected area, if necessary. Or plan on some shelter arrangement that can hold the couple and the guests. If you are having a destination wedding where a resort is offering a package deal, talk about it with your wedding coordinator and ensure that they have a back-up plan for bad weather. And make sure it is a back-up that is attractive to you because you should not feel like you are getting cheated.

Educate yourself about the tidal patterns of the beach you are choosing and work on placing your ceremony appropriately. While “At the Water” sounds charming, you don’t want to be splashed by a big wave. It will also be worth considering foot traffic in the area and to choose a setting a bit away from the waves to ensure privacy.

The balmy breeze can turn into a gusty wind, so choose decorations that will hold. Make sure to anchor flowing materials that you choose for decoration. While you want the organza fluttering in the breeze, you may not want it blowing around and interrupting the ceremony. Choose lighting that will hold in the wind and make sure to have covered lanterns rather than open candles.

If you are choosing mid-day for the ceremony, even if the temperature sounds pleasant, the sand can get hot. Advise your guests to consider this in choosing what to wear. Some wedding planners even recommend getting a portable floor for the occasion so as to get the beauty of the setting without getting the sand in your shoes.

If you are arranging your wedding at a public beach, have a plan for restroom access for your guests. If necessary rent some, and place them a discreet distance away from your wedding location, preferably demarcated by some trees or sand dunes.

Keep a supply of sunscreen and bottled water handy for the wedding party. It is a small detail that may make a big difference in the wedding experience. Now that you have thought of everything, sit back and slip into your daydream again…..