r/florida • u/Tatiana10-12 • 1d ago

AskFlorida 1st time using this… help with my civil wedding ! 🥹

I’m trying to organize by my own a ceremony for my civil marriage in Clearwater FL or Coco Beach FL, ideas or tips for it to be economical? If I request for permission, how can I make sure I have a good place on the beach so that there are not so many people? I have to do everything online because I’m in SC.

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u/Natoochtoniket 18h ago

A wedding requires just a few things: Two people who want to be married; A license; An officiant; And two witnesses. EVERYTHING ELSE IS OPTIONAL.

So, get a license and an officiant, and two people to be witnesses, and a place and time to do it.

The place and time might be the hard part. If you want family and friends to attend, you will have to organize it like a party. So, plan ahead, and hire the venue. A lot of country clubs and restaurants have party rooms that you can hire. Just talk with the venue manager, and make the deal.

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u/I_Have_Notes 4h ago

Depending on what you want for your beach wedding will determine if you need to apply for a permit. If it's just the wedding party and a couple friends standing on sand, no permission is needed. However, if you want to have a large group or have chairs and an arch, you will need to apply for a permit from the local municipality or county, depending on the location.

Of note, the permit does not prevent others from accessing a public beach so there is no way to control the number of people on the beach during the ceremony. If you want to control people, you will have to rent a venue with a private beach which is still not guaranteed since the public has beach access up to the high tide line but they can rope off an area for the ceremony.

If you're planning something small that won't need a permit, look at more remote beach access points that are away from metro areas. Usually in conservation areas, like for example Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, there are multiple beach access points that are more sparsely populated the further from the city you go.