No Reception for a beach wedding

Anna - I think the sandwiches and cool drinks is all that you need for this informal wedding celebration. That way, no-one wanders off looking for food and drinks and you have maximum amount of time with them.

Good luck with your wedding - make it what you want!

I agree with the other posters. We're having a destination wedding, inviting about 120 and expecting around 70 and we're providing food, entertainment, etc. on a beach. I think there is some middle ground you can find between not having ANYTHING and having a $150 a plate sit-down wedding.

If you try, you can figure something out.

Can you get a burn permit for the beach and have a bonfire where you purchase the stuff for s'mores and get cut logs for benches and have a stereo set up with an ipod play list? this would be a lot of DIY and super cheap. You could get some of your immediate family to bring a finger food dish and set up one table with some snacky foods and drinks. that way everyone wins. Guests get to eat and dance, bride gets to keep cost down and stay outdoors. I know for around here, burn permits are easy to get, it would depend solely on your beach though.

I thought about not having a reception at all... we are doing a casual beach wedding too just before suset. Now we are just finding a cheap buffet place in the area. Nothing special but if people want to go then they can. Is it a bit tacky... sure but I honestly don't think people will care. Food is food and if they want something nicer they can get something after.

A couple of other ideas were to:

-Have a tea party

-Have a campfire on the beach with s'mores

-An inexpensive buffet that's about $5 a person

-Have cupcakes and punch in the park

-A beach picnic with lemonaide and sandwiches (I thought this was super cute but the beach closes at 7pm where we are )

http://www.wedonthebeach.com/BeachFreeIdeas.html

@ Stephanie C - Oh I totally love some of the pics but I'm kinda treating those inspiration boards like Pinterest. It's a bad habit Pinterest started... A girl can plan her dream wedding that will never happen!

@ Reenski - I didn't see snarky in that. So far I haven't seen snarky in anyone... Potluck has been rolling around in my head a bit.

My nephew would LOVE the tea party. He's determined he is going to have a tea party one day and I'm sure I would make his day. I've been researching the burn permits and it looks like I'll have to find a different beach because I could totally make a bonfire work. I've been working on my playlist on Spotify and have a good bit of beach music lined up for several hours of entertainment.

@ MSP thanks for the link!

The way I see it is you aren't really having a wedding anyway.. if people would be upset with you eloping, I imagine they'd be upset with this just as well (if not, more).. If I'm a close friend or family member, I might come out of obligation, but I would not find this pleasant..
Reenski's suggestion of a potluck is good too.. you may as well make it an event for them rather than unleashing them after a 5 min ceremony to do whatever... otherwise, what's the point? you may as well elope.. that's just my opinion though..

**FYI it tooke me FOREVER to type this and didn't see the other suggestions before I posted... lol

Anna, I actually love your original idea. A simple wedding on the beach sounds beautiful. The guests are there to witness the ceremony and they can choose to come if they want. I like the casualness in that really, it's just a day trip to the ocean to have fun and play in the ocean. Your wedding day should be about you and your FH and you shouldn't worry about making this a "traditional" wedding if that isn't what you want.

Jen...did you get all TK on her??

I officiate a LOT of small beach weddings. Here are what some of the couples have done after the ceremony:

Catered beach reception

Catered drinks & cake

Have a cook-out on the beach with each family group in charge of their own

Go to a nearby restaurant for dinner

Go to a nearby reception/banquet hall for a full-blown reception

There are plenty of options!

I agree that if your guests are driving 4 hrs., you need to offer something so they aren't standing around in the sand waiting to talk to you as 99 of your other guests want to do so too. Even if it's at a nearby restaurant where they pay themselves, so let it be, or even some snacks would be a nice gesture. I had a destination wedding last yr, sunset on the beach, toast, cake, dancing etc--you don't have to do any of that but something to say thank you for coming to our a wedding celebration. Good luck!