Amelia Island Plantation is one of the worst-kept secrets of the First Coast — almost everyone has heard of it. But unless you live behind the gates, odds are you’ve never seen just how beautiful the Plantation really is.
For nearly 40 years, brides from around the world have flocked to this island resort, making it one of the most popular destination wedding locales on the eastern seaboard.
Amelia Island Plantation is a AAA Four-Diamond destination resort straddled between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Intracoastal Waterway to the west. In between are 1,351 acres of salt marshes, maritime forests and Audubon International-certified bird sanctuaries that double as golf courses.
But the locale isn’t the only reason brides love Amelia Island Plantation. One of the best things to love is the wide number choices available to someone planning a wedding at the resort.
If your dream wedding involves standing with your toes in the sand and saying "I do" with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop, the Plantation can help pull it off in high style, and with a plan B — in case the weather turns foul — that will look better than most venues’ plan A.
The Oceanview Room and Terrace, just above the dunes from the shore, is a great place to hold a reception and many brides, who prefer to keep their toes out of the sand but still want the ocean backdrop, choose get married on the terrace.
If getting married in front of a sunset over tranquil salt marshes is more your style, the Plantation has just the place. Walker’s Landing is a rustic-looking lodge on the marsh that is the perfect venue for an afternoon wedding and reception. Outdoors is a large deck that can be used for fair-weather weddings, and inside, the building looks out on the marsh through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Walkers Landing is also a great place for wedding parties that include a picnic or a cookout, and the dining room features a stone fireplace for those nights when the weather turns cool.
Situated between the ocean and marsh you can find the Amelia Plantation Chapel shaded beneath moss-draped oak trees. The chapel is not affiliated with Amelia Island Plantation, but it can be used as a wedding location in conjunction with a room/resort package at the Plantation. It is interdenominational and even comes with its own minister.
Wedding packages at Amelia Island Plantation start at about $2,500 for a intimate wedding of up to 32 people, and the sky is the limit for brides who want to stage a more elaborate affair. Room rates, when booked as part of the wedding package, are competitive with those charged by chain hotels, and unlike chain hotels, Amelia Island Plantation also has 3-bedroom furnished houses available inside the Plantation’s residential neighborhoods for less than $400 a night.
Amelia Island Plantation’s wedding staff maintains a list of preferred professionals that include florists, photographers, entertainment and even wedding planners, letting you virtually eliminate the leg-work involved in planning a wedding.
So if your dream wedding involves salt, sea, sand and stellar service, you might want to consider getting married at Amelia Island Plantation, a getaway that isn’t too far away.
