My fiance and I had dreamed of a destination wedding long before he popped the question. We come from different religious backgrounds, and each had different expectations of what we wanted our special day to consist of. His family is from the... Mid West and mine is all in the Northeast, so where could we have this wedding to stay reasonably within their budgets....this was a simple question to answer....The Outer Banks, NC. We have been vacationing there for a few years and have fallen in love with everything they have to offer. Now where to have it, also an easy answer, The Sanderling Resort and Spa. I wanted a beach background and still wanted a traditional reception, DJ, flowers, great food and drinks and of course a breath taking view. Well, rest assured that is what we got. I worked very closely with my coordinator Debbie for the 4 months leading up to the wedding to plan every detail. We didn't want to wait until next summer so we pushed to make this happen in August of 2012. Planning officially started in April of 2012. Talk about quick....but that was no task for the crew I worked with. Debbie presented a list of preferred vendors, so I had the flexibility to chose who I was most comfortable with. I chose everyone from the florist-decorator, to the DJ and photographer. I also was able to chose every item in the reception site, to each item on the menu and every drink at the bar! There wasn't a detail we were not the decision makers for, which was fabulous! If you have looked into a destination wedding, you know a good portion of locations present their package with their vendors...not much wiggle room for the people paying for the event.
We made a trip down in June to finalize some details with all the vendors and with the resort. We had an amazing tasting with 5 star quality! We had a wine tasting...champagne...you name it, we tried it! We opted to keep our wedding small and intimate and went with their elopement package. We had a maximum of 40 adults permitted and that did not include the children. The wedding was held on the beach directly behind the resort, with the most amazing background for pictures. The reception was held in the new Pavilion on the sound-side, where you will never see a more amazing sunset in all your life! I was a little frantic leading up to the big day, as we reside in PA, so everything I chose and decided was left up to Debbie and all of my vendors to pull off. There was no time for last minute changes, so I put 150% trust in her and her team to make this happen, and they DID.
How many weddings have you been to where the guests remember the food? Have you ever walked away raving about how fantastic a meal was or how well the filets were cooked for such a large group? Not one person on our guest list did not rave about their meal. We started off with cocktail hour with amazing spring rolls, pulled pork and slaw sliders, tuna tar-tar, hush puppies and a variety of mini quiche. If they had room left for the main course, which was wine paired, it was the most delicious 3 course meal. It started with spinach salad followed by prosciutto wrapped asparagus and the grand finale, the filet and crab cake..AMAZING.
Debbie and her team truly made my dream wedding come true. My husband and I as well of all of our guests have the most amazing memories made at the Sanderling because of her hard work and commitment to us.
If you are looking for a beach wedding, look no more...THIS IS IT