Phuket beach weddings sound like a dream come true, don’t they? Just you, your loved one and your friends and family, surrounded by love and the paradise that is Thailand. If only it were that simple. You thought planning a regular western-style wedding was hard? Here are some extra things you need to think about when planning for a beach wedding in Phuket.
Public or Private Beach
The advantage of getting married in a religious or secular building expressly built for the purpose of hosting weddings is that you don’t end up with random strangers in their swimming trunks watching the proceedings from the sidelines, walking through the background of these special moments and generally getting in the way.
The bad news, if you’re planning a Phuket beach wedding, is that all of Thailand’s beaches are, by law, public. However, not all of them are easily accessible to the public. A select few hotels dominate the sand in front of them and, while they can’t actually stop public access, random strangers tend to stick to the bigger, more easily reached beaches.
Permits and Legality
As beaches are public land, you need the right paperwork to use them for a private event like a wedding. While it is not impossible to obtain this yourself, it certainly isn’t easy. Fortunately, most good Phuket wedding packages include this permit.
What many packages don’t include is the wedding certificate. This, too, is not easy to get hold of and involves meeting with officials in Bangkok as well as local authorities. As a result, many Phuket beach weddings are only ceremonial and couples will generally follow the event with a quick formal signing of documents in their home country to make it official.
Thai or Western Ceremony
This is not so much an obstacle as it is an interesting choice: do you want a Thai-style wedding or a western-style one? They both follow pretty similar themes, though the Thai version does include a blessing from the monks of the local temple. Don’t worry – you won’t be expected to convert to Buddhism!
Tides and Weather
The time of day and the time of year both have a massive impact on Phuket beach weddings. With the whole show being out in the open, even a light rain shower can cause untold chaos, as can a stiff wind. Stifling heat is also a concern. Generally, the best time of the year to aim for is December to January, when the weather is at its calmest and coolest.
As for the tides, you have the choice of a wide but ugly beach at low tide, wet ankles at high tide or perfection somewhere in the middle. Figuring out the timing on that is a question of good coordination and keeping to your schedule.
The Easy Way
If all of that sounds like way too much hard work and you are starting to go off the idea of Phuket beach weddings, fear not. Help is at hand, in the form of wedding packages provided by experienced teams from excellent beach resorts. They will take the majority of these considerations off your hands, along with others like the catering, accommodation, entertainments, photographers and more.
