Coastal towns offer free wedding venue with a view

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) - Looking for a free wedding venue? Try the beach.

Couples can get married free of charge on almost all beaches in New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties. Wrightsville Beach is the odd one out, charging couples a special event permit application fee based on the number of participants in the event.

The town of Oak Island recently faced a small uproar from the community when the subject of charging for beach weddings was broached.

Alecia Davis-Geddings, who operates Oak Island Photography and Weddings, said she saw no reason to charge couples for getting married on the beach.

“My whole thing was, where is this money going,” she said. “What service are you going to provide if my bride is paying $300 for a permit to get married on the beach, are you reserving her an area of the beach? No, they couldn’t do that because it’s a public beach. Are you going to have officers there, cops there to control traffic or tell beachgoers they’ve got to move? No.”

The town council voted unanimously against implementing the fee.

Jennifer VanBallegooie, a South Carolina resident, got married on the beach at Oak Island in 2011.

Had there been a fee to get married on the beach, VanBallegooie said she likely would’ve paid it.

“After going there, absolutely, I would’ve paid to get married there because it’s the most beautiful beach anywhere,” she said.

Wrightsville Beach charges couples a permit fee ranging in price from $125 for up to 25 participants to $350 for 200 to 400 participants. The fee is a way to keep track of what’s going on at the beach, said Town Manager Tim Owens.

“It’s really not a profit thing, it’s more to keep everybody in the loop of what events are going where so you don’t have multiple people at multiple times trying to compete for the same area,” Owens said. “We have events most weekends, whether it be a wedding or birthday party, there’s a large volume of events on public property.”

In 2016 the town issued 125 wedding permits alone, said Katie Ryan, recreation program supervisor. In 2014 the town issued 170.

Amy Frazier with Do Me a Favor Weddings has been a wedding planner for years. She said beach weddings are typically her favorite to plan.

“I feel like people have a really intimate relationship with the beach and, outside of a church, I feel like that’s the most spiritual experience you can get for a ceremony,” she said. “It’s always beautiful, your view is always great. And I feel like whenever people are at the beach they’re in a better mood and have more fun.”

Frazier said she rarely runs into a couple deterred by a permit fee, which she considers “pretty cheap” when looking at the beach as a venue.

“You’ve got this entire beach with a gorgeous view you’re getting for free basically,” she said. “A couple hundred bucks means nothing when you get what you get on the beach.”

Paying a small fee to get married on the beach is one of the last things Matt McGraw with Matt McGraw Photography said he believes would affect a couple’s decision to get married on the beach. Beach weddings can come with more burdensome challenges that need to be considered, such as parking, especially at Wrightsville Beach on a Saturday during the high season, which he said is “next to impossible.” Summer storms, which pop up all the time, and hurricanes are always a threat. Noise ordinances, the tide, brutal wind and bugs can also present challenges during a beach wedding, he said.

Sarah Williams-Scalise got married on Holden Beach in 2015. She said if the town had charged a fee, it likely would not have affected her decision to marry at the location.

“I think if it was $100 or $300 then maybe you cut back on something else, make room for that additional fee,” she said. “But I would still do it.”

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Information from: The StarNews, https://starnewsonline.com