Today we’re sharing Tips + Tricks from our own Destination Wedding in the Outer Banks! It’s officially been eight months since we said I Do, so better late than never to share our secrets, right?

To be honest, when we were first planning our wedding we immediately thought of getting married at the beach. But, we scratched that idea almost instantaneously because we thought it was too far fetched + knew some of our family/friends wouldn’t be able to make it.

Fast forward a little while into our wedding planning and we had decided on a local venue to the Richmond area. Sure, the venue was gorgeous- located on water (one of the things we really wanted) + best of all close by.

However, the deeper and deeper we got into wedding planning we realized we weren’t completely happy.

So we spent an entire night Googling, researching, reading reviews of other venues anywhere from NOVA to the Outer Banks. We had an ENTIRE list of places. In fact, my organized self saved it, here it is:

Sierra Vista Blue Ridge, VA
Big Springs Farm Lexington, VA
Rassawek Vineyard Rockville, VA
Mountfair Vineyard, Charlottesville, VA
BayVue Estate Susan, VA
Dover Hall, Goochland VA
Pippin Hill Farm Charlottesville, VA
Celebrations at the Reservoir, Moseley VA
Keswick Vineyards, Keswick, VA
Veritas Vineyard Afton, VA
The Inn at Warner Hall, Gloucester, VA
Mount Ida, Charlottesville, VA
Jennette’s pier, OBX, NC
Roanoke Island Aquarium, OBX, NC
Delfosse Vineyard, Faber, VA
The Meadow Event Park, Doswell, VA
The Cousiac Manor, Lanexa, VA
Southern Pines Manor, Richmond

Let’s just say it was BEYOND overwhelming. So many different ideas, locations, STATES, etc. When finally one night we both broke down + decided to look at venues in the Outer Banks AND luxury vacation rentals. When finally I found Croatan Ridge.

Imagine angels singing. It was the Holy Grail. The venues of all venues. It was perfect.

We planned a trip + I was head over heels (and so was Matthew!!) And BAM! We finally had our venue!

Tip #1: Take a TON of photos of each venue you tour so you can go back + look through them later on to compare them. PLUS once you have your venue, you can go through + plan without having to set foot on the venue multiple times.

Tip #2: Find the locals! If you actually have the chance to visit your wedding venue/area prior to your big day- GO EXPLORE! Literally after we toured our venue we drove around the island trying to find somewhere to go sit down, decompress + eat lunch. We stumbled upon this HOLE IN THE WALL place. I mean dive-bar at its finest. Turns out, it had the BEST food. And BAM! We now had a caterer! They had the best smoked-fried chicken (yes- I know it sounds CRAZY, but sooo good!). Shoutout to The Point in Buxton restaurant! Same exact thing happened with our florist (who was recommended to us), who then recommended us to servers + a lady who made the best chicken salad for the girls while they got ready!

Tip #3: Think outside the box! Look at what your venue has to offer! Who the venue has worked with before. The greenery around the house, the seashells nearby at the beach! Just because you want a beach wedding doesn’t mean your wedding has to be ON the beach!

Have questions about your destination wedding (on the Outer Banks or off) let us know!

Stay tuned for Part 2