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We made it legal in July. Here’s what our casual beach wedding invite looked like. It was just a flat card with some info on the back, sent in a sky blue envelope. The photo was edited by me using this technique, and the flourish came from here. I printed it on some textured ivory-ish paper. The paper and envelopes were size A6 from PaperSource. Finally, I used the awesome new love stamp.
Image credits: shoes dress necklace beach flowers ribbon cakes
Here’s what I envisioned for our July nuptials: a super casual dress with beach mats laid out as seating and parasols (bought in Chinatown for around $3 each) and beach balls strewn about. I carried some paper flowers I made; I’ll post about it later. The beach was Point Dume in Malibu. I used some of those ’deep ocean’ ribbons to tie my bouquet and painted some flourishes on the parasols to add a little something. Then we went to Duke’s in Malibu for lunch and had some bundt cakes for dessert. It was an easy casual wedding for about 20 guests. More details to come!
Helpful hint: you don’t need a beach permit until you get over 50 guests, have a tent larger than 10×10, have amplified sound, catering or rentals. So as long as you stick with the KISS method, beach weddings are a snap.
Did you/will you make it legal before your “big” wedding reception? Why?
Hi Miss Moonbeam!
First, Congrats!
We made it legal on Aug. 31, 2009! We did it for the practical reasons. I’m a Canadian working in US, and we needed to get the paperwork started for Immigration and my work permit. My current dilemma is: do we “announce” it to others or not? Our immediate family and a couple of friends know. We intended that we’ll keep it under the wraps until our celebration in Spring, 2010. However, now I’m catching myself caught between calling him my fiance vs. husband! And, I am so happy to be a Mrs. I want to share! But, there’s still that uncertainty whether this will take away from our guests (and us) when the actual day of wedding celebration comes. What did you do? How are you approaching this? Also, I love your wording “come celebrate with us” - very appropriate!
Now I’m confused… I looked through your past posts and didn’t see anything about an earlier legal marriage. Did I miss something or am I misunderstanding this post?
We did the earlier wedding so that I could get on his health insurance. Slightly unromantic, but it’s worked out really well because he always wanted to be married while barefoot on the beach and I always wanted the kind of wedding we’ll be having in November. We both get to be very happy with the whole process.
I was confused too, but thanks for clarifying. I know those beaches well and have no doubt it was a beautiful event. Congrats!
I’ve had a friend do this too, and it did not dampen the enthusiasm for the real deal 
I’m glad you both get your dream wedding.
I think you should blog about why you decided to get married sooner, and how your july wedding went!
Question for you- how did the priest at the Catholic church feel about you legally marrying before the church ceremony? Has it changed the ceremony at all? I wanted to do the same thing (marry legally 6 months for our catholic ceremony) for the same reason (his health insurance) but thought that the church would not allow it. How did you navigate all that? Thanks for the info!
Glad that both of you get want you want in a wedding!
Miss Moonbeam, we are two-seconds from doing the SAME thing for the SAME reason (boo to the economy)!
But I am a little heartbroken with the thought of not having our May wedding be our anniversary date (it’s a special day to us).
What day will be your anniversary? Think you will have double the celebration?
Haha, I am glad I am not the only one who was confused by the earlier wedding I didn’t know about…whew.
That is awesome, you got the best of both worlds, and the opposites you both wanted! I can’t wait to hear more (about both!!!)
we plan on making it legal before the big wedding. that way we both get our dream wedding. lol
We’re talking about making it legal before the actual ceremony. We’ll be moving next August and since we’re not really sure when we’ll have the wedding, I’ll be able to get on his heath insurance with whatever school he ends up at. We might do it without telling anyone, though!
wow. thank goodness you left a comment here Miss Moonbeam because I was so confused. There are no previous mention of the july ceremony! I’m glad both you and the mister will be getting the ceremonies you wanted though!
[...] I’m a 2-wedding bride. We had our first ceremony July 25th of this year at Point Dume in Malibu. We’ve lived (or at least have been on leases) together for the past 2 years and always knew [...]
[...] painted some little flourishes on the parasols using acrylic paint so that they would tie into our invites. The officiant was chosen for his ability to grant us a marriage license without having to go to [...]
Would you mind telling me how you found your flourishes….if you have any other good sites saved that you could share?!! I’ve been having such a hard time finding free ones….thanks!!
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Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San Antonio Age and Occupation: 26, Intern Architect Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring Screenwriter Engagement Date: May 20, 2009 Wedding Date: November 2009 Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX) About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
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