Blair Adams (brother and man of honor), Linda Adams (bride’s mother), Brittany Adams Manimbo (bride), Daniel Manimbo (groom) and Dave Adams (father of the bride) celebrate the couple’s wedding at Harbour Island in the Bahamas. Family photo
By Jane Smith
Warm sand squishing between toes. The soft sound of waves lapping at the shore. The gentle kiss of an ocean breeze.
For those reasons and more, brides often choose to get married on the beach.
Linda Adams’ only daughter had her choice of South Florida resorts for her wedding venue. But Brittany picked Harbour Island in the Bahamas because it had special meaning to the Hypoluxo Island family.
“We’re boaters,” Adams said, “and it was a family vacation spot for many years.”
For the price of a 250-guest wedding extravaganza in Palm Beach County, the Adams family had a more intimate but still elegant affair for 74 guests. The wedding lasted four days. Everywhere they went on the 3.5-mile-long island, the Brilanders (residents born there) greeted the bridal party, turning them into mini-celebrities.
The only thing they had to bring was Brittany’s wedding ensemble. From Boca Raton Bridal, she selected a Jenny Lee Couture silk taffeta gown in ivory blush with a James Clifford Swarovski crystal belt embellished with hand-sewn fabric flowers. She wore a Cheryl King halo cathedral veil with sprays of Swarovski crystals along the edges. “It was just lovely in the candle light,” said her mom.
Their wedding planner, Ben Simmons and his partner Charlotte Phelan of Little Island Design, did all of the rest, including setting up a large white sailcloth tent that covered the guests as they ate, drank and danced on the beach. They also set up discreet portable screens nearby to shield the commodes and sinks from passersby.
“The restrooms felt like we were in Morocco,” Adams said.
That similar type of all-inclusive wedding package also is available at oceanfront resorts in South Palm Beach County. The Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach; the Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach in Manalapan; and the Boca Raton Resort & Club are among the properties with wedding packages. Even ElevenSpa in Delray Beach now offers wedding consultations.
A couple can marry overlooking the ocean at the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach. Photo provided
Four Seasons
At the Four Seasons, they host only one wedding couple at time, “so the Four Seasons becomes your wedding destination all your own,” said Laurie Zuckerman, public relations director.
They also host wedding weekends that include “fun rehearsal dinners like a Friday Night Clam Bake, the oceanfront reception and a beautiful brunch on Sunday.”
Its signature wedding package includes a cocktail reception with passed hors d’oeuvres, three-course plated dinner, custom wedding cake, Champagne toast and complimentary night in an ocean-view room for the bride and groom. The packages start at $179 per guest in the summer and $190 per guest during the season.
June is the most popular month for weddings at the Four Seasons, Zuckerman said. While it has an expansive beach, most couples prefer to get married on the resort’s oceanfront pool terrace, with its 180-degree views of the beach and ocean, she said. The resort likes to work 12 months in advance to give the bride her preferred wedding date.
The photographers, flowers, wedding officials and music are all extra. The resort has a preferred vendor list to match its five-star reputation.
Weddings take place in the courtyard of the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach. Photo provided
Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach
At the Ritz-Carlton, they don’t host weddings on the beach because it is too narrow, according to Nancy Deigan, senior catering sales manager. The weddings take place in the courtyard with its infinity pool. That space can accommodate between 50 and 350 guests. The resort also has a pre-approved vendor list that matches its five-star reputation.
Intimate weddings can be planned 30 days in advance, but larger ones with 350 guests are often planned one year in advance to schedule the couple’s preferred date, she said.
Brides can expect to spend between $2,500 for an intimate wedding to $150,000 for weddings with 350 guests, Deigan said. She estimated the average cost per guest at $200, but again that depends on what the bride chooses, from buffet style to a plated, sit-down dinner.
Couples can marry at the Boca Raton Resort & Club’s pool cabana, which offers ocean views. Photo provided
Boca Raton Resort & Club
At the Boca Raton Resort & Club, the four-diamond Beach Club is a popular wedding venue.
The resort can work with only two months of notice, but prefers 12 months to ensure the bride gets her choice of date.
First, they ask the bride about her wedding plans. “Some have been dreaming of this day since they were 6 and have it all planned out,” said Jillian Stevens, the resort’s wedding specialist. “Then others have no idea of what they want.”
Its beach weddings start after 5 p.m. mainly because that stretch of beach is used by the resort’s guests. “That way, after all the activities are done, it’s a nice, intimate experience,” she said.
Brides who come for destination weddings prefer that “toes in the sand experience,” Stevens said. But most of the local couples prefer to get married on the pool deck so that guests don’t have to take off their shoes. The sand also can be difficult for older or disabled guests to walk on, she said.
After Hurricane Sandy passed by last October and the resort lost most of its beach, it brought sand onto the pool deck for one couple who wanted a beach wedding.
The resort has its own onsite planning and décor consulting firm called Boca by Design, which can assist a bride with the whole ceremony and reception. It also has an onsite floral shop where they direct brides. A preferred vendor list for photographers and music also is available.
Depending on the type of food chosen, brides can expect to spend at least $250 per guest, which includes a five-hour reception in the Dunes Ballroom with a Champagne toast, four-course dinner, custom wedding cake, service charge and tax. The cost can go up to $350 per guest for a more upscale menu. The resort also charges a $2,000 ceremony fee for the use of the space.
ElevenSpa
ElevenSpa in Delray Beach also is getting into the wedding planning business with its new Marry Me program. Monte Durham of TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta fame is the creative director of the spa’s full-service bridal experience.
Durham visits the spa once a month where appointments are set up for consultations with the bride and her family, said Ileani Garrido, spa director.
The Marry Me service starts at $250 for a one-hour consultation, then goes up from there depending on what the bride and her family want, she said. He’ll advise the brides on the best color lipstick to wear on the big day to the perfect chandelier earring. Plus, he can help the bride select her wedding dress, she said.
ElevenSpa works with Boca Bridal for this service.
When planning a beach wedding, the spa, which opened on Nov. 11, 2004, has an in-house person that can arrange tents to be set up on the beach.
Bahamas island wedding
For weddings on Harbour Island, which is accessible by boat from nearby Eleuthera with an airstrip, Little Island Design provides a one-stop shop, Simmons said. A Brilander, he hires local residents and vendors to fulfill the bride’s dream wedding.
Depending on the type of food, his company charges from $60 to $160 per guest and $15 to $30 per head for drinks. Setup costs are extra, as are other services. They may include full sit-down service for dinner under a tent on the beach, someone to officiate the ceremony, music, flowers and photography, he said.
Wedding planners erected a tent for the Bahamian nuptials of Brittany and Daniel Manimbo. Screens to the left mask bathrooms. Family photo
For Linda Adams, the four-day celebration was “just magical.” Even a year later, she gushes about her daughter’s wedding and how relaxing but elegant it was.
The island is known for its pink sand, “inhabited by roosters and royalty,” Adams likes to say.
Simmons flies the flowers in from Nassau for his events. Brittany chose to go with white orchids for herself and garden roses for the groom and the “man of honor,” who was her brother Blair, said their mom. The bride didn’t have any female attendants but selected her brother for the supporting role he played in her life.
The guests arrived via golf carts to the tunes of an island band playing. The seats for the sunset ceremony were white-washed benches with linen cushions, which Adams described as “so simple, yet so cool.”
The band played during the cocktail hour, where wedding guests could sit on white couches and chairs, with candles and lanterns providing the light outside the tent.
“Ben had local chefs at cocktail hour preparing fresh ceviche, seafood shots and famous conch salad next to the open bar (which also featured) large glass containers of Island Rum Punch,” Adams said.
After cocktail hour, the reception continued under the white sailcloth tent filled with white candles and giant Japanese hanging lanterns with a sit-down dinner of rack of lamb and hogfish snapper, she said.
Later that night, about 11 p.m., the Adams-Manimbo wedding guests congregated on white linen sofas that were placed on beach “around one of Ben’s giant bonfires.” After-dinner liqueurs were served, cigars were smoked, and the sweet sounds of ocean waves provided the background music.
A full moon lit the beach that night. “It was soooo pretty with perfect weather, too,” Adams said. “I’m so grateful!”
Brittany and Daniel Manimbo’s wedding at Harbour Island
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