Supporting Cast: Ring Bearer, Flower Girl and Pets
If you are going to be enlisting the help of children or pets for your beach ceremony, remember — they may elicit plenty of “Awwwwww”s, but don’t give them too much responsibility and be ready if they don’t perform as promised.
Ring Bearer
The number one piece of advice I have for anyone using a ring bearer: Decoy, decoy, decoy.
A toddler should not be expected to carry a $7,000 ring down an aisle of sand with dozens of adults staring at him.
And unlike an indoor ceremony, if he drops the ring in the sand, it is a much tougher task — remember, that superfine sugar sand is why you are getting married on the Gulf Coast to begin with. It can swallow a ring in no time.
Years ago, one ceremony ground to a halt five minutes in because toddler Kennedy dropped the ring (the real ring in the sand), the entire wedding party and guests spent the next hour looking (without success) for the ring. Not fun.
So, if you are going to have a ring bearer, buy a fake engagement ring at the dollar store, attach it to the pillow using some thread and if the adorable tyke has a meltdown and throws it into the Gulf of Mexico, no big loss. Many ring pillows come stocked with a plastic artificial version. Use it.
In addition to always using a decoy ring for the ringbearer, don’t put too many expectations on children that will be involved in your ceremony. Best to have the parents nearby for some ‘incentive’ options to keep everything smooth and happy.
We’ve had couples who wanted their three children (all under the age of 5) to be pulled in a wagon down the aisle by their 9-year-old brother.
We don’t tell people “No” to ideas like this — it is your ceremony after all — but we encouraged them to get their pictures of the kids in the wagon ahead of time, and to do a practice run to make sure the 9-year-old could handle the load.
Flower Girls
While beach weddings require a tweak to most elements of the ceremony, the flower girl is one area where not much changes. A cute little girl, walking down the aisle — it’s straightforward.
Our one piece of advice — be careful about her tossing flower petals.
Florida birds can be similarly aggressive. When beachgoers toss food to the seagulls, it is training these loud, large birds that a human throwing ‘stuff’ in the air = feeding time.
So, you will want to be careful about the flower girl tossing rose petals in the air, especially if it seems like the beach is filled with birds.
We had one ceremony where an already-timid flower girl was dive bombed by seagulls as she tried to make her way down the aisle. She was not a happy camper, although I hope she one day watches the video and finds it a funny.
Further, certain locations no longer allow wedding parties to scatter rose petals on the beach, so that is one thing for you to ask us about beforehand.
Pets vs. Service Animal
More and more people are looking for ways to incorporate their beloved pooch into the ceremony. We’ve seen dogs as ring bearers, often with a cute vest that says, “ring security,” and one fellow even had his dog stand in as his “best man.”
Technically you are not supposed to have dogs or pets on any beach, but certain beach locations enforce this less than others. In our experience, if they are well-behaved, and are registered service animals you probably won’t have any issue. You can get your dog registered as a service animal online before the ceremony.
As an alternative, there is a company in Tampa called Fairy Tail Pet Care® that does dog sitting for special events. If you hire them, they will come out and be your dog handler for the evening. Typically, the dog will perform some role during the ceremony, then the handler takes them, and they may make another fashionable appearance during the reception too.
If you don’t hire a dog sitter, you will need to make sure someone has the sole responsibility of taking care of your dog or pet throughout the event. This person shouldn’t have any key role in the ceremony. You don’t want to be worried about where Lucy the lab ran off to during the reception when you should be dancing with friends.
