Beach Wedding Etiquette: Not So Formal
How to - and what to - do about beach wedding etiquette
Beach wedding etiquette is an interesting topic to explore, because beach weddings are a fairly modern addition to marriage choices. In many ways, beach wedding etiquette can follow all of the age-old traditions -- for example, in regard to seating arrangements, and customs like 'something old, something new...,' there may be no need to change anything.
BEACH WEDDING ETIQUETTE: SOME DIFFERENCES
There are, however, some aspects of beach wedding etiquette that will be quite different than in a traditional church wedding. There's no aisle for the bride to walk down, for one thing! You'll have to decide what you'll substitute, or how you'll arrange the standard 'processional,' given that it's a wide open space, and sometimes it's even public -- you may have to make allowances for total strangers crossing the path, or dogs coming along uninvited, for example. ;-)
Beach wedding etiquette is focused more on comfort and practicality than on tradition. For example, it may be difficult for guests to walk on the beach terrain with dress shoes on -- and beach wedding etiquette says, "Well, then, take them off!" (Alternatively, you might want to provide some temporary carpet runners in the area).
Beach wedding etiquette calls for lots of water for everyone to drink, and perhaps even organized 'breaks' in the events to drink it - whether or not you are serving alcohol. It's a good idea to have coolers full of bottled water so that guests (and the wedding party) can help themselves. (And if the wedding is an informal beach party, expect lots of water spraying, too!)
Beach wedding etiquette requires that you ignore the smell of mosquito repellant - because guests should be encouraged to bring it, if necessary - or even provided with it when they arrive.
Flowers, hairstyles and food can all wilt in the heat, so beach wedding etiquette suggests that each of these things needs to be dealt with differently than at any traditional wedding.
Other that these things, there's not much to beach wedding etiquette -- except to make sure that you, your wedding party, and all of your guests have a fabulous time at your beach wedding. So create whatever sort of beach wedding etiquette you need to ensure that happens!