Have Beach Wedding Ideas? The Most Memorable Outdoor Weddings are Jekyll Island Weddings!

If your perfect beach wedding ideas include dreams of outdoor weddings, check out Jekyll Island. Weddings here include sun, sand, and salt water!

Photo by Andrea Peverali

Jekyll Island weddings are staged in an intimate setting. Maybe your wedding plans include beach wedding ideas - Jekyll Island's 10 miles of uncrowded beaches offer the perfect venue for sandy nuptials.

Or you'd rather tie the knot under the sprawling limbs of ancient live oaks, or within a Historic Church. Jekyll Island offers all these opportunities and more, and Jekyll Island based wedding planners can put together the perfect combination of venues for the ceremony, the reception, and the wedding photography - even the honeymoon!

Faith Chapel was built in the early 1900's by Jekyll Island's millionaires. This beautiful chapel is now available for weddings and special gatherings.

The building was constructed from Tidewater Red Cypress shingles. The floors are adorned in rich red carpet.

Faith Chapel's distinguishing feature, however, are the two magnificent stained glass windows. One is a Tiffany original, and the other was crafted by the father-daughter artistic pairing of David Mattland and Helen Armstrong.

Faith Chapel seats 110 guests, and the rental covers a 2 hour ceremony.

One of the most popular beach side venues for ceremonies and wedding photos is Driftwood Beach. Huge trees, uprooted by erosion, dot the surreal landscape of this beach. The massive root structures are weathered and worn, their gray patina resembling haunting driftwood sculptures.

Located on the northern end of Jekyll Island, Driftwood Beach has perfect light for wedding photography.

For the bride with big beach wedding ideas, check out these outdoor wedding or reception venues:

• The Beach Pavilion - spacious, open to ocean breezes, fronts the Atlantic.
• The Beach Deck - 3 levels (lower, main, and upper). A large parking lot. If rain threatens, their backup is the Convention Center.
• South Dunes - it has a serving gazebo, 2 covered picnic-type pavilions with family-style seating for 75 each, and one uncovered pavilion. It sits among a grove of live oaks, but 20' dunes effectively block your views of the ocean.

Of course, Jekyll Island's professional wedding planners can help you bring your unique beach wedding ideas to life with creative suggestions that mix and match several venues, both inside and out. Ask your planner of choice for their suggestions.

Your most ambitious beach wedding ideas can be realized with the help of these fine Jekyll Island hotels, all well-seasoned in wedding planning.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel -

One of the best venues for Jekyll Island weddings. The historic Jekyll Island Club Hotel staff can work with you to plan the perfect wedding. Features:

• The Club Ballroom - can hold 250 for a reception, or 130 for seated meals. Four sets of double doors open onto the Club's veranda and the Annex courtyard. With the doors open, the veranda adds extra space for a cocktail bar, and allows guests to freely circulate inside and out.
• The Crane Cottage is part of the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. It has 13 guest rooms, a Fountain Courtyard with anarcaded loggia that seats 90 to 120, and a formally landscaped Sunken Garden, complete with fountains and an upper terrace. It can handle 250 guests.

Photo by Rick Freeland

• Cherokee Cottage - this building is smaller than Crane. It has 10 rooms and suites, and a great room than accommodates 40 guests.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel also has

• Event Rooms - these 4 rooms hold 30 folks each, or up to 200 if used together
• The Pulitzer, Federal Reserve, Morgan, Aspinwall, and Alexander rooms - they boast 12' ceilings. Some have bay windows overlooking the Marshes of Glynn. The Pulitzer Room especially is a charming venue for a small formal lunch or dinner.
• The DuBignon Room - holds 75 for a sit-down dinner, or 110 for a reception. It opens onto the Fountain Courtyard.

The Beach Pavilion -

The Jekyll Island Club can put you in their Beach Pavilion for your beach weddings. Fronting the Atlantic Ocean, the Beach Pavilion is an open-air venue which will hold 60 dinner guests, or 150 for a reception.

The Jekyll Island Club has wedding planners and catering staff on-site, an Executive Chef and a Pastry Chef renowned for delicious and creative wedding and groom cakes.

They also have several Wedding Packages brides can choose from. Their beach wedding ideas range from all-out extravaganzas to small, intimate gatherings.

Depending on the package, you can have beachfront, riverside or courtyard ceremonies; banquet rooms for receptions; outdoor receptions; indoor dance floors; access to florists and photographers; a local minister or judge to perform the ceremony; musicians for the ceremony and the reception.

The bride and groom can also get deluxe accommodations for 2 nights with a Jacuzzi, bedding turn-down service, and champagne with strawberries for their wedding night - plus breakfast for 2 in the Grand Dining Room. Happy honeymoon!

Reception services may also be included.

Call Cricket Elrod at (912) 635-2600, ex. 1029, for further info on services and current pricing.

The Beachview Club -

This family owned hotel is known for hosting Jekyll Island weddings with professional flair. They provide experienced event planners and a stable of expert caterers - including Straton Hall, Halyards and Vickery House - who can take your best beach wedding ideas and run with them.

The Clarion Resort -

The Clarion boasts 14,000 s.f of meeting or banquet space, along with catering and event planning. Their 4000 s.f. pool-side pavilion accommodates 300. The Pulitzer Patio (2240 s.f.) holds 190. Morgan Terrace (at 2100 s.f.) includes a dance floor and fireplace and handles another 160. They also have an on-site health spa, and offer wedding packages.

Oceanside Inn and Suites -

Utilize their Oceanfront Pavilion and Ocean Conference Center, which seats 350.

Uillas-by-the-Sea -

Bring your beach wedding ideas to fruition by working with their Wedding Consultant. Have your ceremony in their Oceanfront Pavilion and Garden area. The offer catering, as well as a photography package. Talk to Tammy Young, their wedding coordinator.

For large parties you might want to consider using Atlantic Hall, in the Jekyll Island Conference Center. It has 15,000 s.f. of flexible floor space and will accommodate 1200. Their in-house catering staff can meet all your needs.

Another plus - the Center sits on the beach, and has an 180 degree view of the sea

A footnote - the Conference Center is slated for demolition soon, and a new Conference Center will take its place, planned to be finished around 2012 on the same footprint as the old one.

But don't let that deter your Jekyll Island wedding plans. The historic J.P. Morgan Indoor Tennis Court is being re-born as a temporary convention center, helped out by a covey of event-sized tents and out buildings.

Return From Beach Wedding Ideas to Celebrations Page