Alternate Locations - Eden State Park

If you are looking for alternate locations to getting married on the beach here in the Panhandle area, I would recommend looking into Eden State Park.  I have done a few weddings there (including one this afternoon) and it is a beautiful location.  It is a true Southern location.  There is a big plantation style home (I think it is a museum) with a porch and rocking chairs.  There are beautiful trees and gardens.  Most people get married under the "wedding tree".  There is a also a dock overlooking a small bay.  It is very picturesque, and usually very private.  I believe that you have to book the location if you would like a wedding there.  It is a very nice alternative to the typical beach wedding.

http://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/eden-gardens-state-park-santa-rosa-beach/587ac0e40c0f185f.html

Rip Tides

A lot of the couples that I perform wedding ceremonies for are from out of state and may not be aware of the danger that the rip tides are.  There are flags on every beach area along the Panhandle.  Please take a look at them when you get to the beach...
Red flag means stay out of the water- there are riptides present or the surf is very high. 
Double red flag means that it is very dangerous to be in the water, even at ankle depth. 
Yellow means use caution and a floatation device. 
Green means there are no riptides present and the surf is calm. 
Purple means that there is marine life in the area that can bite you, such as jelly fish.
What this means is if the flags are RED... stay OUT of the water...ankle depth or knee depth is NOT safe.  The riptides can pull you off your feet and take you out very quickly.  In the past week, we have had at least 5 drownings that I have heard of ... all of them while red flags were flying. Not only is this dangerous for you, but you are also putting our lifeguards or any other person who attempts to rescue you in danger. 
Everyone is here is for a good time and to enjoy the beautiful beaches, please, don't turn it into a tragedy.  If you think you are a strong swimmer or that being up to your knees is ok, it is not... enjoy the beach, but swim at the pool.

Hurricane Season

Hurricane season began on June 1 and on June 6th Tropical Storm Andrea hit Florida.  That didn't take long.  This may be a long summer of storms if we are starting this early.  The gulf is a little cooler than it usually is this time of year, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.  I am not a meteorologist.  Usually around Labor Day is an active time for storms here in the Panhandle.
Luckily for us, the storm went east of us and didn't affect us other than a bigger surf and stronger riptides. This is a reminder though that storms can hit anytime, although we do usually have quite a bit of warning.  Brides need to have a backup plan in case of bad weather though.
Sometimes we can alter the time of the ceremony in order to get ahead of a storm or wait one out, when they are small, quick rainstorms.  When it is a bigger, longer storm, we need to have a plan B in place.  Some of the options that I have used in the past are: at a pavilion at the beach when it is available, on the balcony of the condo that the couple is staying at, in the livingroom of the condo or home that the couple is staying at or a few times we have actually got out the umbrellas and had the ceremony in the rain!  The last option is only workable when the rain isn't too bad and the wind is pretty mild and of course, when there is NO lightning.  We certainly don't want an electrified wedding!
So if you are planning a beach wedding in the next few months, think of a backup plan and keep an eye on the weather.... just in case!

Memorial Day weekend

Here we are at the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend! I hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend. :-)  Also take a few minutes to remember what the weekend is really about.
I have had no weddings this week ... zero... and none this weekend.  Normally I would be a little concerned about this but I am going to take advantage of the little break especially when I am looking at my calendar for June... it is busy!!!
I have been a beach bum this week and enjoyed every minute of it and I will be out boating this weekend.  For those of you who have been here on vacation, you know what I am talking about and for those who coming here... you are in for a treat.  The beaches are perfect and the weather has been wonderful.  The water is a little chillier than normal for this time of year, but that is a good thing.  The water is cool enough to be refreshing but warm enough to be comfortable.
We haven't entered hurricane season yet, and are thinking of those in Oklahoma who are suffering this weekend after the tornado this week.   Tornadoes are a lot scarier than hurricanes, because they come with little warning.  At least with hurricanes, we have lots of warning and can evacuate or prepare for these events.  Let's hope for a quiet weather weekend everywhere in the country.
I will be back here after the weekend is over... in the meantime... be safe, everyone!

How long ahead of time.....

If you go by all the websites about planning a wedding, they will tell what you should be doing a year in advance, 9 months in advance etc... If you are planning a large beach wedding with chairs and arbors etc, you probably should plan that in advance as much as you can.  BUT if you are planning on a simple wedding on the beach with a few close friends or family.... you can almost get away with planning it the day before (providing you can find an officiant available).  I have had people call the day before and luckily I was available and the ceremony turned out beautifully. 
In the last few days I have booked 2 weddings into 2014, so these brides are thinking ahead. 

If you decide that you want to do the wedding at the last minute, you can usually pull it together pretty quickly.  Your officiant should be able to help with any last minute details that you need and you will save yourself months of stress!  LOL

Beach wedding variations

On Saturday I had the pleasure of officiating a wedding for a wonderful young couple.  They had, what I would call a formal beach wedding.  The house that they had rented was on the beach with dunes between the house and the beach.  The house also had a large patio and sandy area between the house and the dunes.  They had set up the patio area for the reception, with lights and tables.  The mother of the bride provided all the decorations herself and it was absolutely beautiful.  They had an arch  and flowers creating an aisle and then an arbor for the ceremony.  The groomsmen met the bridesmaids and escorted them "down the aisle".  The father of the bride escorted her to her groom.  The entire group had tears in their eyes at this point.  When the bride and groom exchanged vows, there wasn't a dry eye anywhere, including them.  It was so emotional and so sweet.  After the pronouncement, the groomsmen escorted the bridesmaid back down the aisle and as there was an extra groomsman, he escorted me up the aisle.  That was the first time that I had been escorted at a wedding that I officiated. :-)
The point of this blog was that they chose to have their beach wedding, not on the beach but on the sand behind the house.  This was a good decision - as it was a very windy day and the dunes and the house blocked most of the wind.  It was a beautiful ceremony and set up. 
Don't be afraid to think outside of the box when planning your wedding.

Interesting call of the day

I get lots of interesting calls and I will share some of them with you.  I am not making fun of anyone just sharing the variety of calls that come my way.
I had a call from a lady who is looking to get married on the beach on a Sunday evening.  She asked if I was an ordained Baptist minister.  I am not.  She wanted to know if I knew of any ordained Baptist ministers.  I have not attended a Baptist church since moving to Florida so I do not know any Baptist ministers (at least that I know of ).  In order to assist this lady, I looked up the Baptist churches in the area and gave her some numbers and suggested that maybe they could help her.  I would think that most ministers would be doing their evening services on Sundays but what do I know? 
The lady thanked me very much and said that I had been very helpful and that if she was unable to find an ordained Baptist minister that she would call me back.  I guess she found someone as I haven't heard from her.
You just never know what people are going to ask for. :-)