Update - we have booked the Wedding!

A deposit has been put down at the Sandbar on Anna Maria Island for Tuesday 30th August. We will arrive on the island on the Saturday before, so it gives us a few days to prep!

I have been in contact with the wonderful Amanda and Molly from their events team and we will have a very simple ceremony on the sand followed by a meal on the Beach View Deck which is just along from the main restaurant so we get a bit of privacy.









They have given us a choice of choosing our food from a set menu or just ordering from the main one on the day. We've opted to just let everyone choose what they want, with one vegetarian, a few fussy eaters and kids its just far easier.

Now anyone who has been to Florida in the summer will know that the weather can affect even the firmest of plans so we will move inside the restaurant if the rain does become biblical! They also have an under cover area for the ceremony too.
I'm not going to get too hung up about it as there is absolutely nothing I can do about Mother Nature. We may also be able to move the day to further in the week too, so that's another option. I, however have my fingers and toes firmly crossed we don't get a repeat of the Red Tide that we had in 2018

If anyone is interested in cost, the Sandbar charge a $500 fee for the use of the Deck complete with servers and decorated table and chairs then we have a $1500 minimum food and alcohol spend. These figures don't include tax or service. With 16 confirmed guests including us we'll have just under $100 per person therefore many cocktails will be consumed on the night! If for whatever reason we haven't bled the bar dry, they have confirmed we can takeaway a few bottles of wine and Key Lime Pies!

For the ceremony they have various packages depending on how much you want to spend. They all include a

Wedding Officiant

Sand Ceremony with Heart of Glass (this sounds slightly cheesy to me so the jury is out on this one!)

Professional Photographer

Ceremony Coordinator

The basic White Sands Package includes seating for up to 20 plus a personalised chalkboard sign and this is $1199 but if you want to upgrade to the Wedding Waves Package which adds a 2 post bamboo arbour and ribbon tiebacks on the chairs it would be $1499. I'm not sure a wooden post and some tiebacks are worth $300 but it does look a bit bare without. What do you guys think?







They do more elaborate packages but these are aimed more at weddings with more than 20 guests which we won't have.

We don't have to decide yet which is good, will see how the savings go over the year!

Now onto the honeymoon part of the trip. If you read my updated pre trip report for this year (which can be found HERE) you'll know that we cancelled our July holiday to the Smoky Mountains and Hilton Head Island and have rebooked a similar road trip for the end of August instead. Our AirBnB booking that we had for Hilton Head Island didn't have availability for our August dates and as we had already paid a £700 deposit which is non refundable we didn't want to lose it. We have decided to drive up to South Carolina for our weeks honeymoon instead of doing the Florida Keys. I'm a little gutted to be honest but they will still be there in a few years and we WILL get there one day!
Our condo on Hilton Head looks really gorgeous and is in the exclusive area of Palmetto Dunes right on the canal and a short cycle ride to the beach or Disney's resort they have there.











We'll have 5 nights on the island so that leaves us a day to drive up and a day on return. We obviously don't have our flights booked yet so will need to wait to see where we'll be flying home from before I book anything else.

It's all starting to feel very real now that the wedding is booked! The major diet needs to start soon as there is not a chance in hell I'm going wedding dress shopping until I've shifted the Covid stone I have put on

Will be back with any further updates when I have them

Look gorgeous very exciting now that the plans are coming together. Think I would pay the extra as it does look a bit plain without the extras. Still if you can go with plain more money for cocktails.

Just caught up with this thread. Many Congratulations. Every thing sounds amazing. Love Anna Maria Island. Will be following along with your posts. So exciting!

Thanks Macca! I think you’re right, we will probably end up paying the extra. We would have paid thousands for the holiday so what’s another few hundred pounds 😆. I will always make sure there’s money for cocktails 😂

Thank you Jo! With all the uncertainty over this years travel I’m starting to really look forward to what next year brings now 😃

Sooo exciting Alicia, the time will just fly by. Anna Maria is a perfect location, think of all those amazing beach wedding pics! I would go for the arbour and tie-backs if it doesn’t eat too much into your budget. Being able to order directly from the menu is a bonus, think of all those fancy cocktails. 😁 I will have to get planning for your ‘practice hen night’ in Orlando! 🥳🍾🥂 xx

Thank you Michelle! I really hope it all goes according to plan, I’m trying to be relaxed about the whole thing as I want it as casual as possible but I’ll admit to being slightly gutted if we don’t get any beach wedding photos. You know how much I love my sunset photography 😂
Yes the practice hen night will be a blast I can’t wait! We definitely need a ‘planning’ meet up beforehand 😬

Your wedding plans sound amazing, such a beautiful place to get married 💕
Many congratulations 🥳

It's just the most beautiful setting, made even more special by the fact you've had some amazing holidays there. Your plans sound fab. I hope you do make a massive dent in the bar bill by all enjoying lots and lots and lots of cocktails. It seems like they are really going to take care of you and the information and help they've given so far sounds great.

It's so exciting!

Thank you so much! It really is a beautiful place, have you been before?