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My fiance thinks she read somewhere that we can't get married on the beach in Ft. Morgan. We are looking to book a beach house in that area and were hoping to just have the wedding/reception at the house but if we can't we'll go another route. Any info on this would be awesome. I can't find anything online that says we can't but she swears she saw it somewhere. Thanks, James
my niece did it 2 yrs ago
We did, in May 2006, in Morgantown. So did 2 other couples just in that subdivision that weekend. Luckily, we were all far enough apart not to be in each others photos.
That said, you need to rent a house to make sure you have privacy and access to the beach right behind the house.
Just pulling up to a public access spot and having a wedding is a recipe for disaster, interruptions, strangers dropping in, drunk tourists, etc... And access spots may have restrictions, depending on who owns it, city, county, feds, state, etc..
And make sure you have an official (preacher, judge, etc..) willing to do the ceremony to make it official and sign the paperwork. Or get married in the courthouse and have a wedding on the beach, with a friend officiating. That's what we did.
As a professional photographer, I've photographed a number of FT.Morgan beach weddings (I no longer shoot weddings). Carl F gave you a ton of good advice---it's also real nice to have a rented house there as a backup in case of foul weather. If you want some detailed tips, shoot me a PM.
We got married on the beach at Ft Morgan last April. Used a local Fairhope guy to set it up. Something Blue Beach Weddings - Chris. I've seen several ceremonies this last year on the sand in the Buchannon Ct area.
My son got married on the beach at the Fort last August. We had the Fort after it closed for the day. I'm not sure what it cost him but there was a fee involved. The wedding pictures taken in the fort were spectacular. They had a professional photographer that made those pics as unique and special as any wedding pictures I've ever seen.
We used Renaissance Photography out of Fairhope. They were fantastic. The photography & albums turned out to be the most expensive part of our wedding, but other than the marriage (hopefully :) ) and any kids produced, the album will be the part lasts a lifetime!
We rented two houses side-by-side. One for the wedding, my wife & I and her family from Japan stayed in that one. My siblings and Mom stayed in the one next door.
Had the reception on the decks and under the house, my buddies helped put on a low country boil, cooked shrimp, sausage, taters, corn, etc.., under the house for the reception.
Attire for guest was khakis & collared shirts & sun dresses, no shoes required, no ties allowed. Wedding party was in formal wear but no shoes. Kept it informal. Everyone had a blast.
Made a raked path with sea shells lining it from the house to the upper beach. Preacher had his back to the surf, guest facing us & the water.
Keep the number of guests small, you wont have a lot of space. We capped it at ~50 expected to attend.