Brides and grooms planning beach weddings in Florida cancel due to US oil spill

Thousands of brides and grooms-to-be planning a beach wedding in Florida have been forced to cancel their arrangements due to the oil spill which is affecting much of the Gulf coastline.

The Panhandle area of Florida has been a popular choice for beach weddings in the States for many years. In fact, this part of the coastline has hosted so many beach nuptials that it’s been dubbed “the Las Vegas of beach weddings.”

However the US oil spill is having a detrimental effect on the wedding business on the Gulf Coast this year with some wedding industry suppliers reporting a 50% drop in the number of bookings for the peak wedding season.

Weddings are an important part of the local economy as they bring visitors and business to the Florida area. But with many brides and grooms fearing their dream beach wedding will be ruined by the oil which threatens to fall on the Florida beaches, many are calling off their seaside weddings.

Even when couples don’t cancel their Florida beach weddings, the planners are left with a headache. One wedding planner told recently of a bride who refused to give her wedding the green light until 48 hours before the big day so as to ensure oil from the spill had not been swept onto the beach by the sea.

The last-minute go ahead for these weddings is high risk as the planners have very little time to prepare the area ahead of the ceremony. For this reason, added luxuries like an arch of flowers looking over the ocean have to be scrapped due to time restrictions.

All stops are pulled out to ensure those who do proceed with their wedding on the Gulf Coast have a venue free of oil and tar balls as teams of workers are drafted in to clean the beach of any debris ahead of a ceremony.