first landing state park Reviews

Couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop for our special day!!

First landing is an excellent choice for your events and or your camping trip! My fiancée and I stayed here a few years back; it's nice and peaceful, you don't have to see the park rangers everywhere. There is a beautiful natural beach that views the bridge lights. My fiancée and I are also reserving a separate part of the beach to hold our wedding. It was quite affordable. The park event coordinator is very nice and easy to work with. And we're holding our reception at the park as well. So I definitely recommend this park to any family or anyone who wants to host an event. The park has many differant areas to do whatever your looking to do, and it's only 5 mins from the ocean front boardwalk!!

Beautiful place to have a wedding. The event coordinator was easy to work with order what was needed for setup. He made ordering, invoicing and parking easy. They worked with us to make our group feel welcome.

What a perfect setting for our wedding ceremony! No decorations were needed when we had the perfection of the ocean's waves crashing in front of us, and green, grassy dunes behind us. We got married on a Sunday so the beach was packed with people, but that made it really fun! Everyone was congratulating me along my walk out to my waiting groom, and the crowds were considerate in staying a way's back while still watching. It was really fun! We had the perfect day and would recommend this site to anyone looking for an on-the-shoreline beach ceremony.

Beautiful place and rain backup (stone gazebo)...all for under $100! That's impossible to find elsewhere in Virginia Beach. The only negative, as you will find anywhere during peak season, is not much privacy during the wedding. Our ceremony was at 5pm so I thought it wouldn't be very crowded, but I was wrong. We just had to set up down the beach a little bit which was fine..it just meant a longer processional walk and further for the guests to go. I would definitely recommend this location but probably would suggest a 7pm or later wedding. Other than that, it was a lovely setting and pictures turned out beautiful!

We got married on the Boardwalk, overlook facing the beach. It cost $10.00. It was a beautiful site and a beautiful wedding. Many other features are also offered, but we wanted a small, simple wedding.

OMG this place was amazing! The staff was extremely professional and courteous! Communication was excellent and we got to take our pictures on the beach! The photos came out magical and everyone compliments them to this day! They even gave me a 24kt gold musical merry go round as a wedding present! They are just awesome!

First Landing was a beautiful location for my wedding. There are different areas to be married at located at the park. My husband and I chose to be married on the beach. It was beautiful to walk down the boardwalk to meet my husband in the sand at the waters edge. I could not have picked a more perfect location!

We had our ceremony on this beach and it was beautiful!!! Cant wait to visit again!!!

Kim, the event coordinator at First Landing, did an amazing job. He was incredibly professional and accommodating to all of the last minute questions that came up. We had some issues with parking on the day of, but there was no way to reserve parking at this venue so that was to be expected on such a beautiful day. If you are looking for a inexpensive oceanfront venue for a small wedding, this is the perfect place to go.

I States my planning process with Kim Lamarand, who was great with all of my questions and sending me the information that I needed. When Kim retired, the new Events Coordinator, KJ Lee, was extremely responsive to my phone calls and emails and was always willing to help me out. We had the threat of Hurricane Matthew looming over our wedding day and she made sure that I was up to date on any and all possibilities! I could not recommend First Landing if you're looking for a amazing backdrop full of beautiful scenery and of course history! Thank you so much to everyone at First Landing who helped make our day perfect!

The ampitheatre was an amazing place to have my wedding ceremony. I gave this place some 3.5 because it is a park that I used for a wedding venue so I was not expecting the service that I would receive at a high end hotel. First Landing served it's purpose and I loved the transformation.

I chose First Landing because I wanted to get married on the beach. Also, they offer a budget friendly reception area to rent as well. I am SO happy I chose this venue. I definitely took a risk planning an ALL outdoor wedding with no backup plan, but I ended up having a BEAUTIFUL DAY! First landing has tents that you can rent. Also, they will set up the chairs and tables for you as well. You can go there first thing on your wedding day to set up the reception area. Now, remember this is a public place, so people may be creeping in on your reception and ceremony. That didn't bother me; however, it may bother some. They allow dogs at the park, so my dogs were in my wedding which was so amazing!!! If you plan on having alcohol at the wedding, you will need to get an off-duty cop on premise. This wasn't a big deal to us either. And, the cop stayed in the background and didn't hassle anyone. KJ- the event coordinator- is awesome. She is so friendly, professional, and caring. She met with me a couple times to go over everything with me and answer all my questions. If you are willing to take a risk- for a GORGEOUS ceremony on the beach with a spacious, convenient spot for a reception- First Landing is the place for you. I wouldn't have wanted I any other way. ALSO, I had tons of out- of- town guests, so we rented a whole bunch of cabins across the street. The cabins were fully equipped- bathroom, kitchen, AC/heat. And SUPER affordable. It was like a big party the night before the wedding and the night after my wedding with all my friends and family. It was incredible! I cannot rave about my experience enough!

This was a beautiful location to have a beach themed wedding! The dock leading out to the water was newly rebuilt and the beach is kept nice and clean.

Not generally a place where tourists go during warm weather seasons; however, LOTS of locals go!

First come first serve on the beach... but you can reserve a venue or structure by the main building.

I was a very laid back bride so I loved the location and did not mind the idea of the "lack of privacy."

Random people will watch the wedding... kind of interesting though!!

This was a very affordable venue and a beautiful location. My only issue was that the event coordinator, Kim, was not very organized. He rented our tent out to another bride and then had to take it back from her because my mother had the paperwork proving that she reserved it first. I visited the park a few times to speak with him and he never wrote anything down, which made me very nervous. On the day of the wedding, the park had set up another bride's wedding in our ceremony location and they had to switch them around at the last minute. However, Kim did allow us to come in and decorate the day before because no one had rented the room, which was a life saver! He also offered to let me use his ipad the day of the wedding because I was having issues with my music. It all turned out good in the end, but there were definitely some bumps in the road.

This has been one of my favorite state parks since moving to VA 6 years ago. I later decided I wanted to be married there and support state parks at the same time, yeah!! Like any responsible bride I have booked the court yard area a year in advance at NO help to the coordinator Mr. Lamarand. I emailed and left two phone messages for him in advance asking questions about how to access this venue. I finally figured out on my own how to get the application online and proceed, mailing it in, with no help from him. I got en email once he received the packet stating my date was reserved. I have since emailed him trying to ask question to plan more in advance and have heard NOTHING. He is only in the office during regular business hours and is difficult to get ahold of. I have since started looking for other venues because I am getting anxious that this wont run smoothly or be the best choice. I know that this is a state park, not a formal wedding venue, and that is what I liked about it initially; but I am a frustrated bride to be now!

This is the worst place to work with. They went through 3 coordinators from the time I started my planning until my actual wedding. Apparently no one kept good records because the tent I booked in February for my reception was given away in August (2 months before my wedding) even though I had an email reserving it and a copy of the invoice. The most recent coordinator was exceptionally unprofessional and rude. While the park itself was pretty the staff are horrendous. After paying a ton of money to rent the courtyard they still charged all my guests for parking, the linens from the other tent company I had to use were stolen after my reception.