Photo: Get Hitched Virginia
Did you get engaged for Valentine’s Day? Congratulations! Now comes the fun of planning the wedding!
Welcome to Part II in a series of blog posts about Getting Married in Colonial Beach, Virginia.
Perhaps the first order of business when planning a wedding is deciding where to tie the knot. If you live in Virginia or it is where your family resides, the decision may be easy. Virginia IS for lovers, so you can’t go wrong! (Click here for an earlier blog post Weddings Part I: Getting Married in Virginia if you’ve already decided to marry in the Commonwealth of Virginia.)
Image: Virginia.org
Many couples dream of a “destination wedding”, which simply means a location away from where one lives. Destination weddings can be in a European castle, on a cruise ship or any place where you and/or your guests have to travel to attend.
Photo: Bobby Hooker, Hooker Studio
In most cases, a destination wedding is more costly–to the couple and guests. (The exception may be if you live in a metro area but hold the wedding in a nearby suburb.) Planning the wedding could require multiple trips by the bride and groom to the destination or hiring a wedding planner to handle the arrangements. Guests, of course, are usually responsible for their own travel expenses.
Photo: Get Hitched Virginia
An alternative may be to plan a close-to-home “destination” wedding. Colonial Beach, Virginia, boasts the second largest sand beach in Virginia, with unique options for wedding ceremonies and receptions, including 18th Century Victorian mansions, themed facilities and venues with breathtaking water views.
Located just 65 miles from Washington, DC, and 70 miles from Richmond, Virginia, Colonial Beach is easily accessible yet feels worlds away.
Should you ultimately decide on a destination wedding in another country, be sure to check the select country’s marriage laws. Countries may require residency for marriages to be considered legal. To play it safe, some couples opt to marry legally in their hometown, in which case their international ceremony is solely symbolic.
Bryce Hall, founder of Get Hitched Virginia and a court-appointed marriage commissioner and wedding officiant, performs “secret” courthouse style, Civil Marriage Ceremonies at the Colonial Beach Chamber of Commerce, Fridays, 11 am-2 pm, for couples who want to ensure they are legally married.
Photo: Get Hitched Virginia
Learn more about specific wedding venues in Colonial Beach in Part III of our series on Weddings in Colonial Beach.
Photo: Get Hitched Virginia