Pristine beaches for miles. Gorgeous spring and fall weather. Vacation homes for every desire and budget, from grand ‘hotels’ to charming cottages. Breathtaking sunsets, and highly experienced wedding professionals that know how to make every detail of your wedding as perfect as can be. There are many reasons to choose the Outer Banks to celebrate the love of your life with your family and friends. Here are a few tips for planning the beach wedding of your dreams!
- Make your decisions on what, who, when, and where, as soon as possible. The Outer Banks is one of the top wedding destinations in the country! That means that the best of the best planners, hairstylists, makeup artists, manicurists, officiants, florists, etc, all book up fast. Do your research, read the reviews, talk with the people who interest you, and sign that contract as soon as you are sure!
- The Outer Banks is a magical place, it’s true. Unbelievable beauty is around every turn. It is also a highly unpredictable place, where the morning can have clear blue skies, and the afternoon turns into a windy rainstorm. If you plan to have any part of your ceremony or reception outdoors, you must have an ‘inclement weather’ back up plan. Ocean Atlantic Rentals has every sized tent available, and it is absolutely better to rent a tent and not need it, than to not rent one, and need it!
- Familiarize yourself with the locations of the ‘who’ and the ‘where’ you decide on, before booking. For example, if you rent a beautiful ocean front home in Nags Head, and schedule your bridal party to have their manicures and pedicures done in Corolla the day before the wedding, well, that’s nearly three extra hours (or more in July and August!) of travel time that could have been spent attending to other important details, or just relaxing with your favorite people. Google Maps is your friend.
- Which leads to the next tip: If you plan your wedding for July or August, add at least a half hour to anywhere to plan to drive to. We recommend decreasing any traveling to its absolute minimum. That means making sure your vacation home is close to your ceremony and/or reception sites, that your hair and makeup stylists come to you (most, if not all, offer on-location services. It’s more than worth every penny of the travel fee!) and that you are absolutely prepared with everything you could possibly need at least one day before the ceremony. Send someone out ‘quick’ to get tea lights or sandwiches, and you might not see them again until after the ceremony. No joke.
- Our peaceful island is populated by some of the most wonderful people you will ever meet: brilliant artists, skilled service providers, and business owners passionate about what they do. We strive to provide you with everything you may need. But, if you are very specific about the exact items that you want for your wedding, and you forget to bring a garter belt, well, your choices will be limited. We are a small island, after all, and that’s what makes us so special. Unless you are a laid-back, go-with-the-flow kind of bride, bring everything you are specific about, with you.
- When you dream about the perfect wedding ceremony, and it makes you smile to yourself to imagine sharing your vows with your toes in the sand as your guests have tears of joy in their eyes as they gaze at you with gentle ocean waves as your backdrop, then be sure to hire a company to do the chair and arbor set up for you. Ocean Atlantic Rentals provides beautiful, quality chairs, arranged according to your specifications. And, the most important point we’re making here, they know when the tide will be coming in. You do not want your entire wedding ceremony to be swept away by an incoming tide! (Yes, this has happened.)
- Lastly, make time to enjoy the most memorable experience of your life. Relax on the beach, lounge by the pool, go to the sound and watch the sunset as the most vibrant oranges and pinks you’ve ever seen take your breath away. Your wedding is about celebrating and expressing the love that you and your fiancé share with your family and the friends who love you like family. Your guests will remember the smiles and laughter, not what your plates looked like. Remember that everything will always work out, there is a solution for every problem, and even though everything will probably not be exactly as you planned, it will still be perfect.
