First of all, relax. Your decision to have a seaside celebration instead of a more traditional alternative may be the best one of your life. Your ocean-side ceremony will definitely be more romantic and picturesque than a local church wedding. Beach celebration planning can also be a tad more complicated than planning a traditional ceremony.

So how do you make planning an oceanfront ceremony simple and easy? Here is our five-point, practical strategy for creating a magical event.

1. Be Realistic

All marriage ceremonies, whether they are held at a church or on by the sea, take time to organize. You must find the right venue, make travel arrangements, arrange for food and flowers, choose a dress, set up a reception and…well, you get the picture.

For maximum results with minimal stress, it’s best to begin your planning process at least 12 months in advance. This will give you ample time to book hotels, buy airline tickets, arrange your wardrobe and mail invitations. It will also give your guests enough time to make their own travel plans.

2. Choose a Location First

Picking a wedding beach should be done as early as possible in the planning process. Why? More popular wedding  beach venues are booked well in advance and you don’t want to end up settling for a less than ideal spot. Also, the remainder of your preparation process (selecting caterers, photographers, florists, etc.) will hinge on your chosen location.

Once you make a decision on location, commit to it. It will make the rest of your planning much simpler and easier.

3. Allow for the Weather

Weather is one of those things that you seldom worry about with an indoor wedding. Beach ceremonies however, make weather an element of very real interest. A rain shower on the day of your marriage may not be a welcome event, but you can easily work around it if your ceremony is in a church. The seashore, on the other hand, may offer no place to take shelter.

You, your guests and the person conducting the ceremony may have to decide in the moment whether to let the show go on, or pull the plug. The point is that you can’t control the weather so you need to have a Plan B. When deciding on a wedding beach, the best Plan B is to arrange up front for a place to retreat should the weather turn ugly.

4. Find Wedding Service Providers Early

Another critical component of planning a seaside ceremony is finding the most competent service providers to work for you. The best service providers are booked well in advance and typically charge more for spur of the moment service requests.

Ask the staff of local hotels in the area for recommendations. Most will happily provide you with a list of reliable florists, photographers and other providers. Sometimes you can negotiate a better deal with wedding service providers by having a local business refer you.

5. Don’t Procrastinate on Paperwork

Once a suitable wedding beach has been chosen and service providers lined up, your planning process can move on to solving the paperwork puzzle. What paperwork do you need to consider? If you are a US citizen and your ceremony will be oceanfront in a foreign country, you will need to obtain a passport.

You will need a marriage license (usually requiring a blood test), forms for the bride to change her name (if desired), and in most locations, a permit to hold the event on the shore. None of these are difficult to obtain but you want to be sure you don’t overlook them.

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, create a celebration planning blueprint using these tips as a guideline. Follow your blueprint and you’ll be on your way to organizing a magical celebration.