If you are like most people you'd like to have a destination wedding but it's not possible to get all your family and friends over to Hawaii or Jamaica. Even having your wedding at a destination like Florida can be a challenge if you live in the North East America.

Some of the best beaches are here in Delaware and Maryland, like Dewey Beach with its fun night life, Rehoboth Beach and its artistic community and boardwalk, and you have all of Ocean City beaches, all seven miles of it.

Banquet Halls

Starting with Delaware beaches because it's the first state and all, when getting married you'll often times need a permit. Me as a photographer or any other professional photographer would need their own permit as well to photograph your wedding event. Keep that in mind, because a lot of times the Rangers who patrol the beaches will stop and ask to see it. They are nice about it, often catching you during your setup phase, but just wanted to get that out of the way.

Cape Henlopen State Park is really nice because it has a very large area to get together and get lost in. So if you are thinking of getting married in the State park, definitely have a map for you and your guests. There are so many romantic spots to get married there, on the jetty of rocks, or perhaps at sunset with the lighthouse in the background, or if you have 4 wheel drive you can drive right up on the beach and get married with the towers close by. I was photographing a wedding near the towers at sunset and it was beautiful, and there was no one around for miles.

Lewes beaches are nice because in Lewes there are quite a few places close by that make for great wedding reception areas. There are also a lot of hotels for family members to stay in, I've found that a lot of brides / couples liked the Hotel Rodney in Lewes. I often times go there to get those getting ready shots and found this place to be very beautiful. There is also a bridge leading to the beaches near the busier part of Lewes, and my friend Rob who is a photographer, took his whole bridal party up on the bridge for a photo. A Lewes police officer saw what was about to happen and helped stop traffic. I just happen to be in the area and thought, what a cool town.

Rehoboth Beach and the boardwalk area makes for a very wide range of places one could get married. With all the hotels and restaurants lining the boardwalk it's so easy to get ready nearby and pop on down to where your guests have gathered and say your "I Dos" on the beach and you with your guests can go close by to any number of wedding venues. As this is a more populated area for people if you are having your wedding at Sunset, don't be surprised to find various people stopping and watching the festivities, because they will. If any are close to where you planned on getting married, often times they will move for you, and they become more wedding witnesses. And after you kiss, the cheering and clapping start to happen. It's a lot of fun.

Just further south you'll hit Dewey beaches, Bethany Beaches, and Fenwick Island. All great beaches off Route 1 and pretty easy to find. Parking is usually not a problem and there are still many possible wedding reception locations close by.

Going a little further south right after Fenwick Island you'll come to Ocean City, and well now you'll have that you gotten married in Maryland instead of Delaware. A different set of rules and advantages, to name one, No permits, just your marriage license is all you'll need. All the beaches in Ocean City are public beaches and there is nothing, no where saying you can't walk out on the beach with 200 of your guests and get married. If you have that many guests to join you on your wedding day, you are in luck because Ocean City has tons of hotels to choose from. Big hotels like the Carousel with its indoor Ice Rink, the Clarion with its many wedding reception halls, the Golden Sands with its wedding reception area on the 22nd floor overlooking the ocean. On the flip side of that, if you are looking for a small more cozy place to stay with a few guests check out the "Inn on the Ocean" it's a very cute bed & breakfast that I photographed a wedding at.

Some good important thoughts to keep at the forefront of your mind, the further downtown you go, down around the boardwalk the more crowded it's going to be. So allow for more time, time your guests will need to get through traffic, more time for parking and parking downtown Ocean City is mostly meters and so if you can car pool with other wedding guests try and do so. It may not be a bad idea to get a Limousine to take you and your bridal party to the inlet get married, and allow for some time for you and your photographer to snap some photos, because there are so many photo opportunities down there, like the pier, the boardwalk, the inlet with boats passing by or with the sun setting, or the jetty of rocks.

Getting married further north, you are making out ahead of the game with it being less crowded, more larger hotels and wedding venues, and the beaches are general not as packed around sunset. Parking, "That was Easy" is what you'll be saying because they have all kinds of side streets to park on and a lot of Ocean City Hotels have their own parking area. Another think I like is that a lot of these places in north OC have their own mini beaches like the Golden Sands, Clarion, and Ocean Pines Beach Club. Now even thought the Ocean Pines Beach Club is more mid range on 49th street, it's definitely worth mentioning because every wedding I've photographed there has been awesome. Its great with its mini beach there, and the main beach right over the dune area for more photos, and the Ocean Pines Beach Club is a great wedding venue both the upstairs area or downstairs is really great for you and your guests to party the night away. And for late, later night partying you can cross Coastal Hwy and be right at Seacreats, Jamaica USA. Now you're talking a destination wedding and not too far away.

If you are looking for various Beach Wedding Services in Ocean City or Rehoboth Beach areas, you won't have to look much further then Google. There are many wedding professionals proficient at weddings on the beaches and know a lot of the ins and outs, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.