sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

Hi, I posted this on another board and i was told to try this one instead...can anyone help me? I am trying to plan a wedding where we can get married 'with sand between our toes' type of thing...and there are so many beaches on Long Island, it shouldn't be a problem, right? WRONG! im having trouble finding places!!! Has anyone ever been to/heard of the Pavillion at Sunken Meadow Park? Lessings caters it, which I hear are good...any feedback would be SO appreciated. I am just beginning this journey, and want to make sure I research everything to the fullest!!! Any other thoughts would also be great.

Thanks!

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

I was looking for palces to just have a ceremony and I hd the same 'beach idea' but I didnt want the reception at that location either...eventually I gave up and just booked my ceremony with the Hall.

Seems as though their are permit requirements and such that I just didn't feel like dealing with. But good luck to you! Maybe you'll find the location of your dreams

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

I am getting married at Land's End which is on the beach. Well, the ceremony will be under a gazebo but the pictures will be on the beach. You should check it out. Maybe it will work for you!

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

---

Posted by melaniejosh

Hi, I posted this on another board and i was told to try this one instead...can anyone help me? I am trying to plan a wedding where we can get married 'with sand between our toes' type of thing...and there are so many beaches on Long Island, it shouldn't be a problem, right? WRONG! im having trouble finding places!!! Has anyone ever been to/heard of the Pavillion at Sunken Meadow Park? Lessings caters it, which I hear are good...any feedback would be SO appreciated. I am just beginning this journey, and want to make sure I research everything to the fullest!!! Any other thoughts would also be great.

Thanks!

---

I've been to company picnics there and it's not exactly where I would want to hold my wedding (no matter how casual) - JMO. The restrooms are not so great, etc. I would recommend checking it out yourself. We live nearby and thought about it for a moment too but decided it just wasn't wedding quality.

Good luck!!

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

I have walked passed there when there was a wedding going on. It is very informal and if that's ok with you. Also there will be tons of people walking around staring at your wedding. They just put ropes up to keep people from wandering in but you can still see and hear everything going on. The bathrooms are outside and if it rains you only have 1 room and the parking lot is far from the room.

Hope that helps. Any thing else please feel free to ask

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

try the Cresent Beach Club in Bayville, it's beautiful

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

just a note about Sunken Meadow - you have to be OUT of the pavillion by sundown - the park closes at dusk.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

Have you looked into places or beaches on Fire Island? One part - Watch Hill - is federal not local so maybe the permits would be easier.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

This place is so cute! I saw it decorated for a wedding once. I say do it. Lessings has great food, and you can actually get married ON the beach, like you want!

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

Crescent beach club is WAYYYYY too expensive, but believe me, that would be my ideal spot.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

I agree with the other posts in that it is really informal. It used to be a concession stand and they just took everything out and gave it a paint job. I had a co-worker whose daughter got married on the beach (jone's or moses). It was alot of work but they did it and it looked absolutely fab. They rented tents, toliets, dance floor stc., and cateres were on sight with portable kitchens. Anyway, getting married on the beach sounds wonderful. I would talk to a party planner to get ideas and help with permits if necessary. Good Luck.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

I'm also not sure if its air conditioned or not....I checked it out one morning, and unfortunately it was not what I was hoping it'd be. You may love it though, so if you have time, check it out! Good Luck!

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

I don't know how far out you're willing to go, but look into the Crow's Nest.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

I don't know how far out you're willing to go, but you should at last look into the Crow's Nest. They're a vendor on this site.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

thanks, ill check it out!

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

Check out atlantica and there are a few places on shelter island if you are willing to go that far.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

Hi everyone.

I am a new poster, but by no means am I new to this site. I actually began reading and researching here when I first got engaged in August 03. I never posted though because I always felt very out of place regarding the type of affair I was planning. I quickly noticed that almost every bride was planning the typical LI wedding at a catering hall and I wanted something very different. I too wanted nothing more than to be married ON the beach and I originally came here looking for any info from anyone who had done that, but soon found out that no one had (or if they did they weren't posting either).

I called every State Park on LI and researched endlessly to find out how to accomplish my dream wedding, which was basically a simple ceremony on the beach and then a big clambake on the beach as well. I wanted all the guests to dress casual (and by casual I mean shorts and tank tops and sandals) and just have a DJ play music. I soon found that the red tape nightmare of necessary permits would make it impossible for me to have my affair on a public beach. There are many regulations regarding noise ordinances and time limits on the public beaches, as well as a ban on alcohol in the public areas, so it made it extremely difficult to have the type of party I wanted.
The only place I found willing to work with me was Lido Beach (the mushrooms). But, even then, it was a challenge. They don't accept requests for reservation dates until a certain time of year and you need to be a Hempstead town resident to make a reservation, so I would have had to find someone to sign up for me. They also cannot guarantee certain mushrooms and there are many other parties happening at the same time. I would have been allowed to use any caterer I wanted and they allowed alcohol, but only in cans (so, no liquor). In the end, though, I still would not have been 'on the beach' but instead, next to it.

We checked Atlantica, but they did not allow Saturday weddings and they were expensive. Gurney's Inn was another possibility because they were willing to help us out (after some initial resistance because they seemed to prefer us to have the party indoors and just have the ceremony on the beach). But at any rate, if it rained, then I was definitely stuck with the indoor room plus with summer traffic, we decided it was just too far for our guests to travel and the price of the rooms in the summer is unbelievably expensive (with a 2 night minimum).

My searching finally led me to Lessings and the Sunken Meadow Pavilion and it was the absolute closest any facility could come to fulfilling my dream wedding. We worked with Kathy and she was wonderful and immediately 'got' what me and my then FH wanted. They do offer the typical wedding menu, but since we wanted a clambake, she used the menu for the 'shore picnic' and we modified it slightly. We had a huge buffet with the main attraction being lobster and our guests were excited because they could eat as many lobsters as they wanted.

It is not true that if it rains you only have the one room because for an additional fee, you can have a tent set up over the deck on the side of the pavilion (which we did) and it creates another 'room' which we used for the cocktail hour and to set up the DJ. They also have a tent on the other side of the pavilion (no charge) and that is where they set up the buffet. The inside was beautifully set up with tables for the guests to sit and eat.
She even decorated the bathrooms for us with nautical items (since we had a beach/nautical theme). It is true there is no air conditioning, but there are lots of ceiling fans and it is a very high ceiling and is roomy and airy. However, we lucked out and it was not very hot or humid on our wedding day, so I cannot say for sure how comfortable it would be in extremely muggy weather. Then again, it would not have mattered that much for us as our guests were pretty much dressed for the beach! I also did not notice if strangers were stopping and 'staring' at our affair, but you know what, it really wouldn't have mattered. They could not 'crash' the party and if they wanted to stop and see a glowing newlywed couple having a great party, what did I care?

Not one person complained about the bathrooms (they are only for guests of the Pavilion and are separated completely from public use). I cannot begin to tell you how many of our guests raved about our wedding. They were so thrilled to be at an affair so completely different than the usual. They told us over and over how happy they were to be outside in the summer, in their casual clothes, just hanging out at the beach drinking and talking and hanging out with friends. They were able to walk around, go down to the beach and water if they wanted and in general enjoy a nice summer day outside. I can tell you that the smokers were happy because all they had to do was step outside the pavilion and have a smoke and still be involved with the event (unlike catering halls where you have to go all the way outside the building).

Our groomsmen wore shorts and Tommy Bahama-type shirts and boat shoes. My bridesmaids wore a summery bridesmaid dress, but we all went barefoot for the ceremony. We even requested that our DJ and photographers dress casual.
Any of you brides using Vinny from High Voltage or Duet can ask them details about the setup (we had Alberto, but I don't remember the name of the second photographer). Let me take a moment here to acknowledge that although I did not find any information about a beach wedding on this site, it did lead me to Vinny and Duet and for that I am forever grateful. The last page of our wedding album is an incredible beach sunset picture and everyone who has seen our album says how perfect it is to end the album.

Well, I could probably go on forever about my wedding :)

I just felt compelled to finally sign up and answer this thread in the hope that I can help you or any other brides who have a dream of being married on a beach and let you know that it IS possible on LI. If that is what you want, try not to let anyone talk you out of it and tell you it is 'too casual' because after all, who invented the rule that a wedding must be a formal affair? I know of course, that this depends on your family and friends as well. My husband and I both happen to have friends and family into beaches and boating and summer BBQ's so this was perfect for us. Other people may have more traditional minded families and this won't work for them.

We were determined not to spend a crazy amount of money on our wedding and I'm proud that we pulled it off. The largest bill we had was from Lessings, but let's face it, when you are feeding 125 people, there are really few ways to lower that bill. I did manage to save just about everywhere else, and a lot of you would probably die if you knew how little I spent on everything else. But, in the end, it was our day, our way and we were very very happy.

I tend to be more of a reader than a talker, so you may not see many posts from me in the future, but I must admit that even lurking on this site is addicting. I came back to reading it as soon as we were back from our honeymoon and I continue to read it everyday. It is true that after a while you begin to feel as if you 'know' the other regulars and it is like a big family.

This turned out to be way longer than I ever imagined, but I hope it helps someone someday. Of course, after reading this site for a year and a half, I realize that some of you reading this are probably thinking 'fakie'. But, yes, I am a real bride (well, newlywed) and you can check with Vinny or Duet or Lessings. We were married on the beach at the Pavilion on 7/24/04.

Heck, now that I've signed up maybe I should enter that Newlywed contest!

Oh, and in lieu of the traditional 'hi I'm new here' thread, let me just say a big HELLO to everyone

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

Hello and welcome!!! I honestly think you should also post this on the Bride Review Board also. As you said, there are not many brides that have used this place and it would be a great reference tool for them!!

As I said I only saw a wedding on a day we were walking on the boardwalk, and they didn't have the tent, so I would not have known about the tent, another reason to post it over there too!!!

I bet your pictures with the sunset are amazing!!!

Welcome aboard and hopefully you will feel comfortable enough to post more.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

Hi, Swags.

Thank you! That is a very good idea. I will try to copy the same post onto the Brides Review.

Re: sunken meadow park, i want to get married ON the beach!!

hey i read your post and I have to tell you that I grew up in that town and been to that beach a million times and I love it the only draw back is the time of year to have your wedding. I don't want to offend anyone and I apoligize if I do but in Kings Park Sunken Meadow is dubbed Sunken 'ghetto' but only for certain times of the year. It is a beautiful place and the wedding would be gorgeous but if you pick the wrong time of year you will be dealing with some very unpleasant people just look into everything before you book
There is another place in Northport that you may be interested in that is not so public it is called Crab Meadow beach from what I've heard it is reasonable and it is on the beach.
good luck!