Questions about getting married on the beach

I have a couple questions about how getting married on the beach "works" exactly.

First of all, how do you hide from the groom? My fiance and I aren't going to see each other before the ceremony, but once we're down at the beach how is it avoidable?

How do you play music if you don't have someone doing it live? Do you go without music, or bring portable speakers or something?

As you can see, I've never actually been to a beach wedding!

Thanks in advance

In terms of hiding from the groom, I think this will depend on where the area you're having your ceremony at is located & how it is set up. For instance, my ceremony location was on the beach, but where I walked from was 1 level above the beach. So I walked by the pool & down some stairs to get where my walkway was. DH knew from the music & from the guests standing, that I was on my way and he didn't turn around to see me walking from that direction until I was at the top of the aisle.

In terms of the music, my WC was in charge of playing the songs at the appropriate times. I was able to use the resorts CD player & I just gave her a CD of my songs in advance & she took care of the rest.

If you're having your ceremony on the beach, I'm sure that everything can be worked out the way you want it! Hope that helps!

Thanks! When you used the cd player, were there proper speakers set up, or was it a portable machine? The problem is that the beach I'm getting married at is just a beach (not connected to the resort itself) so I'd need a portable option. The hotel I'm staying at may have a portable option available (and they're setting everything up) but I don't know for sure.

It really all depends on your location. i am going to come from a bungalow i'm getting ready in which is only feet from the ceremony location. Our ceremony is right next to the palapa we are having our reception in so we are just turning the speakers outward for the ceremony.

Thanks Yolanda, helpful info.

We bought the Bose portable docking station that you charge and is good for hours. I worked out well and used it at the reception for our music. It was great in our Ipod we had a dinner music playlist and a dance/reception playlist. The system cost between 350-500 depending if you get it on sale. But for us it was well worth it because now at home we use it everyday to play music, and it cost about what a DJ would have cost us.

As for the beach ceremony, you will have to find out how it is set up, I came down stairs to the beach so my aisle was extra long.

Did the Bose docking station just go in your luggage? That's not a bad option if we can fit it and afford it!

I'm going to be getting married on a beach with no stairs or buildings, so it looks like I may have to hide behind a tree or a rock! Should be interesting :S

Yep it fit into our luggage easily. It isnt' huge, but the sound quality is fantastic and it can fill a room loudly with music. Our guest knew we had it and brought their ipods to us to charge over night or for the afternoon if we weren't using it. We never put it away in a safe or anything and it was fine.

Ok, so I talked to the hotel and they definitely don't have a portable system.

So basically, my options are to buy a portable system, or to go without.

Has anyone else gone without music? I'm not sure if it's worthy buying and bringing something just for a few songs (we'll have music and a band at the reception spot).