Found my reception venue, but unsure where to hold the ceremony

Why was the intimate wedding scratched? It depends in what kind of pics you want for the ceremony. I think 100 on the beach may work but could be a lot. Have you checked the venuea here in WW?

My sister got married in Point Pleasant Beach ten years ago, and they had a tough time figuring out the ceremony. They got married in my brother in laws church (he grew up in town), but had to jump through all kinds of hoops because they wanted to keep all outsiders away (including my sister). They couldn’t have it on the beach because the township wouldn’t allow them to reserve a space that large for their guests, and would not close the beach to anyone else. Fortunately they were able to go to the beach after the ceremony and got some amazing pictures. Somehow it was timed just right that the beach had just emptied out. So even if you can’t have your ceremony on the beach, you can totally still get pictures on the beach.
My best suggestion would be to ask your venue where they recommend. I would find it hard to believe that they haven’t had couples in the past needing a larger outdoor ceremony area. I would also check the local city and state parks. They would probably be a little more lenient with allowing a wedding ceremony of 100 people. Just keep in mind that if you have the ceremony outdoors at someplace that is not already set up for weddings, you will have to pay to bring in chairs and whatnot.

View Quoted Comment Intimate was not scratched! More so we understand we are doing our ceremony in a public place, but at the same time we don’t want 2000 beach goers in our ceremony pics. I think 100 on the beach is definitely doable in our area. Even if on the boardwalk, there are gazebos we can get a permit to rent with some seating available. Just trying to figure that out, and visualize how we can get it done and what it will actually look like without all of our guests crammed.


The other issue we have is that in NJ, all beach access requires beach badges from 9 am-5:00 pm. If we hold it after 5, there is no entry fee.
I have plenty of time to figure it out, I just want to figure something out that makes sense and be able to visualize it in my head.

View Quoted Comment Hi Jeanie,


Thanks for the insight + great advice. Point Beach is only a few towns over from our venue.
Our venue provided a few ideas, specifically Allaire State Park. That might be the route we end up taking. it’s just hard to figure how we could swing A beach weeding between 5-6 pm and get pictures done within that time frame. maybe I just need to see it myself with a planner to get a better idea of how it could be accomplished.

Is this Breaker's on the Ocean? We looked at that venue. For a summer wedding, parking will be a nightmare for guests at that venue since it's all street parking if I remember correctly, and in June, there will already be a ton of people down there. We had the same issue as you regarding headcount and opted for a different venue entirely. Also, for a hotel block, they required a 3 night stay, which we did not think was reasonable.

My in-laws went to a wedding at Ocean Place Resort and Spa in Long Branch, and they said it was beautiful. The venue is directly on the beach rather than across the street, so it may be easier to plan a beach ceremony. Since NJ is only public beaches, it is very difficult to get the intimate setting without a bunch of strangers. We only looked at Breaker's and Doolan's Shore Club and then abandoned our beach wedding vision because everything else was out of our price range down there for a July wedding, and we weren't sold on either of those venues.

View Quoted Comment We’re actually booked at the breakers, and we quite liked it as it was ocean side and fits in our budget, many of the other places we looked at were astronomically expensive.


Parking shouldn’t be an issues because they offer complimentary valet for our guests. My biggest challenge is locating a space for an outdoor wedding reception, looking at Bradley beach gazebo. If not we loved the reception crystal ballroom so we can fall back on that if need be.
If worst comes to worst we can do that, and do a first look at spring lake park/the beach after 5:00 pm

View Quoted Comment Ha ha understandable. You'll sort it all out. Good luck.

I know there is a gazebo right across the boardwalk across from The Breakers. I am guess you wouldhave to hire someone to set up chairs and such and maybe look into the city for a license. Not sure, but we were originally going to do our reception and wedding there but decided on FL instead.

I totally didn't see you were going to be at The Breakers! We thought about it there because it is so cute the the owners are old family friends...I hope you figure it out and post pics. I love Spring Lake area.

Hi! I live in NH now but I grew up in NJ and am somewhat familiar with Spring Lake because my mom and I would always go there in the off season during school vacations. We love the ocean but hate crowds, so we never went in the summer or on the weekends, and Spring Lake was always our favorite spot because the houses, neighborhoods, and beach there are so pretty!

I think having a beach ceremony on the Jersey Shore in the summer is going to be tough. Unless you have access to a private beach, I think you will be overwhelmed with crowds. A Friday evening in early June may work, but I imagine later in the month once schools are out will be quite busy.

Is it super important that all of your guests are present for both the ceremony and reception? You may want to consider doing a ceremony on the terrace with your closest guests (maybe just family and wedding parties) and then inviting the rest of your guests to the reception only. A couple summers ago I went to three wedding parties where the ceremony was on an entirely different date, and the parties still felt like a celebration of marriage, even though we didn't witness the vows.

If you don't mind guests driving, maybe consider Island Beach State Park? I'm not sure about NJ state parks, but many states have really inexpensive permits for events on park land and have heard of many couples doing quick ceremonies at them before relocating elsewhere for the reception. It sounds like most couples who do this have said parks usually don't allow you to bring in chairs and limit decorations and time you can spend there, but if you have a beautiful natural setting, your ceremony isn't too long, and your guests are OK with standing it may be a nice option. If you go to a bayside beach you may have less "Jersey shore" crowds than at the more popular public beaches.