St Pete Beach has a long stretch of beach with the northern part mainly occupied by resorts and hotels. One landmark in St Pete Beach is the Don Cesar Resort and in fact a prime location for weddings. If you are traveling further south of the Don Cesar you find the historic beach district of Pass a Grille. In contrast to the St Pete Beach northern part, Pass a Grille has mainly private housing, smaller restaurants, and hotels.

Thinking of a St Pete Beach wedding?

With plenty of white sand and dunes, St Pete Beach truly offers beautiful scenery. Depending on the season and the weather the beach can be a little narrower in some spots. In general, expect the public Beach access in St Pete Beach and Pass a Grille to be crowded on weekends and holidays. It is a prime location for regular beachgoers. We recommend holding weddings on weekdays if possible and towards sunset when most regular beach guests have already left.

A St Pete Beach wedding can be held at many public locations. For most of our St Pete Beach weddings, we use the beach at Pass a Grille. Besides that, another popular spot is next to the Don Cesar Resort. The southern end of St. Pete Beach is often less crowded. Wooden walkways are leading out to the beach and there is plenty of metered parking available. The northern stretch of St. Pete Beach has also public beach access points that may be used for weddings. However, you often find a lot of beach guests at those locations.

The beach stretches from St. Pete Beach to Clearwater approx. 25 miles with many resorts and hotels along the shoreline. Besides St PeteBeach, towns like Treasure Island, Redington Beach, Indian Shores, and Indian Rocks Beach, are also locations where your wedding can take place. Sunset Beach in Treasure Island is public and an option for a wedding ceremony. Another option in St. Pete is Fort de Soto State Park and beach and offers picnic pavilions and grill sites.

There is a big selection of accommodations along the shoreline to celebrate your St Pete beach wedding. Most of them will either offer ceremony and receptions on-premises or we are also often able to just use the beach area right next to the hotel for smaller ceremonies.

Things to remember

Most of the beach is public and not privately owned. However, several private walkways that are leading out to the beach can not be used unless you are a guest there. So some beach areas are not accessible for us to use and bring equipment on the beach. We encourage couples that arrive with more guests to hold the wedding and reception at the same place. Another option is to book guest transportation from the hotel to the ceremony and reception. We previously had couples celebrating their wedding at the Don Cesar Resort, Sirata Beach Resort, Bellewether Beach Resort, Postcard Inn, and many other hotels in the area. As long as they allow outside vendors we will be able to coordinate your event.

Reception at a St Pete Beach vacation home.

Another option if you don’t wish to have your reception in a restaurant or facility is a private chef or catering at your vacation home. Just make sure the owners are Ok with you having the reception on-premises. We can help with all the details of catering and decoration at your vacation home.

To celebrate your St Pete beach wedding on a public beach we have to apply for a permit. Usually, if you celebrate your wedding at a hotel or resort we will not need a public beach permit. However, in order to use the hotel beach additional fees set forth by the facility will apply. With this in mind, the Ceremony fees can be quite steep depending on the chosen hotel. If you wish for a very simple St Pete Beach wedding without decoration no permits are necessary as long as they stay under 10 people. Most larger weddings with or without decoration will need a permit.