A beach is the perfect place for many couples to exchange their wedding vows with soft warm sand underfoot and a gorgeous view of the ocean. Many wedding venues such as All Smiles Sorrento Ocean Beach, on Victoria’s South East Coast, as well as the various Peppers resorts such as Peppers Palm Bay in the Whitsunday’s, offer ceremonies and receptions directly on the sand.

Think of a wedding dress that is strapless wedding dress, gauzy bridal gown and white wedding dress. Before you head out, hit the tanning beds, and then show off your tan in a casual rayon sarong or two-piece Caribbean wrap.

These informal wedding dresses look great with bare feet and simple jewelery. Find them at Party Pop. Not that much of a romantic? Have a sense of humor? Try white rayon Capri trousers with a white silk bridal Maui shirt from Maui Shirts for a beautiful alternative to casual bridal gowns.

•  Do you have your heart set on a relaxed theme?

•  Are you stealing away to a tropical paradise?

•  Is this your second time around?

•  Are you working with a limited budget?

First, choose a location and a theme as this will guide you in selecting the right informal wedding dresses. To make this easy for you (and that is the name of the game in casual weddings), we’ve identified the most popular casual wedding themes and matched them with great sources for your perfect casual bridal gown.

Whatever you’re reason for going beach wedding, you will still want to look your best.

Outdoor weddings are always beautiful. In outdoor weddings, we get to bathe in the glow of the love the newlyweds have for each other with the beauty of Nature serving as the backdrop. Outdoor weddings are just so romantic that you can almost literally smell the romance in the air.

Unfortunately, outdoor weddings are a challenge to the bride, to her bridesmaids and just about every female in attendance at that wedding. As beautiful as outdoor weddings can be, everyone in that wedding will have to deal with the wind, the heat and the humidity, not to mention bugs and the chance of rain.

How is a bride to stay beautiful if she is getting married in an outdoor setting? If you are one such bride with that question in your head, here are a few things that can help you stay beautiful as you go through your outdoor wedding.

1. Choose a lightweight wedding dress. Wearing a wedding gown in the usual silks and bridal satin will only weigh you down during your outdoor wedding. In a wedding set outdoors, the elements are against you, and you would not want to swelter and be uncomfortable in your dress.

So, instead of heavy silks or satin, choose a dress made with lightweight fabric, such as georgette, linen or crepe. Be careful about the skirt of your dress as well; a tailored skirt is less likely to be blown up by the wind than a wide and flowing skirt.

2. Consider flowers for your headpiece. Instead of wearing a veil, you may want to consider wearing flowers as your headpiece. You can also just wear a single flower tucked behind your ear. Flowers are more in keeping with your outdoor setting, and leaving off the veil will also help you stay cool outdoors. But if you really would like to wear a veil, keep your veil short so that you do not have to sweat under it and so that the veil would not be blown by the wind.

3. Keep your makeup and accessories to a minimum. Heavy makeup, chunky jewelry and big accessories will gradually feel too heavy on you once your outdoor wedding and reception progresses. They will only make you look like you are melting later on. So, just wear light makeup and put on simple and lightweight jewelry and accessories. It may also be a good idea not to wear stockings so you can keep cool and comfortable.

4. Ask your hairstylist to create a durable hairstyle. Your hair will be left to the mercy of the elements during your outdoor wedding, and thus your hairstyle must be resistant to the wind and heat. Ask your hairstylist to create for you an elegant updo that will continue to hold up no matter how windy or hot it is during your wedding.

5. Consider wearing flat shoes or stacked heels. It can be awkward walking on grassy ground or on sand wearing sharp stiletto heels. Your heels may sink into the ground, or you may fall flat on your face and injure yourself in the process. To avoid the awkwardness and the possibility of injury, choose flat shoes or stacked heels instead of high stilettos.

6. Prepare an emergency kit. You will never know what mishaps can happen during your outdoor wedding, and so you must prepare for it. To do this, you should prepare an emergency kit that contains things like band-aid, safety pins, a hairbrush, cotton swabs, wet wipes, lipstick, tampons and other items that may come in handy. Ask one of your bridesmaids to carry it for you during your outdoor wedding.

When you stop and think about it, often it’s not the big things — such as the church, the banquet, and the band — that make your wedding memorable. Rather, a few small personal touches will cause your wedding to stand out in the minds of the participants and guests for days, weeks, months, and years to come.

Have you thought about planning the wedding around a warm, friendly theme to tie everything together? If you are having the wedding in the autumn, you could choose autumn leaves as the theme. Create your own logo that uses autumn colors and a motto such as “Warm at Heart.”

When planning the wedding, your logo would appear on your invitations, decorations, guest book, and programs. As part of the ceremony, the speakers and singers could perform pieces that relate to the theme. It is always so thoughtful to publish some of the poems and songs in the program you give to guests so they have a wedding remembrance to keep.

Autumn flowers are especially beautiful for table displays and of course the bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres. The wedding attendants can wear autumn colors. The flower carriers can drop autumn leaves instead of flowers. Your tables can be named autumn colors, such as gold, green, orange, crimson, etc., or other autumn themes, such as cornucopia or hearth, and decorated to reflect the theme.

To round out wedding planning, the favors should fit into the wedding theme. Perhaps you can create little jars of home-made soup mix, pasta, or risotto the guests can prepare at home. Decorate the little jars with your wedding logo, ribbons, and flowers. This little food gift will give your guests another opportunity to re-live the joy of the wedding after they get home.

When your guests receive your thank you note in the mail a few weeks later with your logo, they will smile and remember the little things you did to make the wedding so memorable. A cute wedding planning idea is to put on the thank you note a photo of you and your spouse on the honeymoon with both of you wearing T-shirts, one of which says, “Thank” and the other “You.”

These ideas are just some of the little touches that will make people remember your wedding. You can find many more ideas on the Internet. There are literally hundreds of websites that are filled with great ideas on wedding planning, themes, invitations, favors, music, poems, flowers, and thank you notes. Just take a look around and use your imagination. Pretty soon your mind will be brimming over with novel ideas!