Ah, to be wedded at the seaside. Not every little girl dreams of being a mermaid, but to those who did, nothing but a beach wedding will ever do. If you and your Dearly Intended are fortunate enough to live near a coast -any coast- then a beach wedding is entirely plausible. Nothing but weather could interfere and even then, a silvery ocean-scented thunderstorm can only add a special magick to the festivities.

Underwater weddings are one thing, beachside nuptials entirely another. Blurbling one's vows while in white wetsuits is nothing new; whisper those tender 'I Do's while standing ankle-deep in sugary sand and you'll likely be the only one of your crowd to ever do so. Yes, a lot of women these days are trapped by tradition. It's white organza, a rented church and an MP3 of "Ave Maria" or nothing. This isn't for you, though, is it? Nope. If you've managed to find this brief peek into Beachside Weddings and the dresses that apply, then it's fairly certain that you've already decided upon a beach wedding.

Now. What to wear? Actually, about any dress that you might wear while sashaying down an aisle will work, with only a minor modification or two. Especially if you plan to wear your Grandmother's antique Chantilly Lace gown. First, measure and hire someone to hem that irreplaceable wedding dress an inch or so shorter than it would be for a 'dry' celebration. Absolutely plan on the tide to rise when you least expect it and have your seamstress shorten your gown by two inches. Better a lovely ankle showing than a ruined hemline, right?

Now here's a beach wedding dress hint you may not have heard of: find six or so subway tokens, polish 'em up and sew them into the inside of your hemline. Seriously. Why? Because, at a beach wedding you can never be sure how the winds are going to behave. Having a few tiny weights sewn into your hem will ensure that your wedding pics aren't marred by snaps of your dress flying above your head. The small added weight of subway tokens will add just enough ballast so that your dress stays where it belongs.