MARRIAGE ON MARCO
You would
think that having a wedding on the beach would be easy. You and your wedding
party should just be able to saunter onto the sand and have some officiant
mutter a few choice words, exchange your rings and get off to the reception and
start drinking soon thereafter.
It ain’t
that easy.
Oh, I’m
sure you can do it commando style and just show up and do the dirty deed, but
I’ll bet somewhere down the line the powers that be will balk about it and you
won’t get that marriage certificate because the whole thing wasn’t done proper
and legal.
And, I
don’t think there’s a bride out there that’ll just want to get ‘er done just to
avoid fussing with the logistics. It’s best to go through the right channels
and procedures to make her most important day a reality. Believe me, in the
long run you’ll be happier. Remember happy wife....happy life....
PERMITS AND PACKAGES
Our beach
wedding took place on Marco Island, Florida. This large barrier island on the
southwest coast has white powdery sand and is lapped by the tranquil waters of
the Gulf of Mexico. It is a beautiful place and it is very easy to get to the
island. The closest airport is at Ft. Myers, less than an hour’s drive north.
Getting a permit to hold a wedding ceremony is quite more involved.
Wedding
permits are sold by the Collier County Parks Department on a first come first
serve basis to one of the two public access beaches on Marco Island. One is at
the north end at Tigertail Beach and the other is the South Marco Beach Access.
The rest of the shore is controlled by the many condos and hotels along the
three mile stretch of sand.
Here’s
the process: First, you must request the permit, but only two months in
advance. If the date and your time is available, then you have the right to
apply for a permit. Once notified you then send in a check and if yours is the
first one to arrive then your wedding bliss can begin.
A couple
of notes with this permit: Attendees are limited to just 50 people, any more
and liability insurance must be purchased, and parking for our chosen location,
the South Marco Beach Access, is across Collier Boulevard and costs $8.00 per
car.
LIKE A HURRICANE
You would
think that getting the permit was enough stress, but our planned wedding date,
September 15, was during hurricane season. We fretted over the time of day and
opted to have the ceremony in the late afternoon, hopefully avoiding the
typical daily spritzing Florida always seems to get and kept our fingers
crossed that Hurricane Florence would miss us. Looming dangerously as the date
approached Florence instead hammered the Carolinas and our wedding was dry, and
by Floridian standards, cooler.
SHOES OPTIONAL
Believe
it or not the rest of the wedding ceremony was relatively easy to plan. We went
with Platinum Florida Beach Weddings and we picked out the color scheme and
shape of the arbor and they provided the chairs and water for guests, a pastor
and a photographer. We did have to write up our wedding vows, although we could
have used one from their list. We also had to come up with a list of songs that
were to be played throughout the event and make up a list of pictures we wanted
from the photographer.
We were
pleased with Platinum and they took care of little details like having a place
for people to leave the shoes if they decided on going barefoot in the sand,
flower petals for the flower girl, water for the guests, a very jovial and
engaging pastor, and a very competent photographer.
As part
of the wedding we had some sort of sand unity ceremony where we had to scoop up
sand where we stood and joined our scoops into one container, thereby showing
the world that we were truly conjoined. Despite hedging on hokey the sardonic
hearts of your traveling duo embraced this and melted into one. That’s a corny
line huh?
Looking
forward to traveling to other beaches with this woman.
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| BAD MARRIAGE |
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| GOOD MARRIAGE |
Thanks
for reading!
Love Janet
and greg
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