One of the first wedding decisions we made was the location. Right after our engagement (or even maybe before?), Moon dude and I were perusing websites for activities to do while on our annual vacation to the Outer Banks. My family has visited the Outer Banks nearly every year since I’ve been born. While researching, we stumbled across some info on getting married on the Outer Banks. I made a wistful comment about how cool it would be to actually be able to get married down there. Moon dude responded, “Well, why not?” It was such a simple statement, but it was something that never occurred to me. At least not in a way that seemed like it could really happen. But as he said, “Why not?” So as we thought about it more, and after the initial shock of the concept of having our wedding 500 miles away from home faded it seemed to really fit, why not! Its funny, this outside-the-box thinking has really led us to some interesting wedding planning ideas, but we’ll get to those later, back to the location.

The Pier House at high tide

Both Nick and I had our eyes open looking for locations in PA for our wedding for some time, and nothing stood out. Shortly after seriously considering the Outer Banks as a viable option, we stumbled upon the Kitty Hawk Pier. As a child, I would often go to the Kitty Hawk Pier with my father while he fished. The pier had been built in the 50′s and was a public fishing pier until 2003 when Hurricane Isabel tore through Kitty Hawk. The pier was closed until 2006 when a Hilton Garden Inn was built on the property, and the Kitty Hawk Pier was renovated. Aside from the stunning concept of having our wedding reception “on the ocean”, the ballroom is beautiful and everything we could have wanted. We fell in love with it. And I couldn’t be more excited to think that this is where we’ll be getting married. This is “it”, and we couldn’t be more pleased.It was our first step in our wedding planning. We signed the contract in September and, wow, what a rush! Did I mention my parents even came to the Outer Banks on their honeymoon. The island’s down there hold so many happy memories; I’ve always called it my second home. And now it will hold even more positive experiences.

Moon dude and I at our reception location