Can anyone recommend a nice hotel or resort for our destination wedding in Sanibel Island, Florida?

Question

It will be my fiance, myself and about 20 guests. We are looking for an affordable but nice place for everyone to stay on Sanibel Island. Maybe even a place we could also do the wedding? What about reception ideas?

Answer 1

Sanibel is great go there every year. If you are planning a wedding you really need to check out this site:
http://www.sanibelcaptivaweddings.com/

This lady does the best work. She has lived on Sanibel for years and every wedding that I have seen her do has been AWESOME!!! Most of the hotels are on the beach; however you can have your wedding on the beach wherever you want, all you need is the permit and someone to marry you, again the site above can help! She is great she can help you find a photographer, get the permits and so on. If you don't want to use her service you really just need to find someone to marry you and you need to get the permits. Just call city hall they can help you with all of that, or you can even email or call the visitors center, they do weddings all the time. They are a really big help and a free service. Here are some websites to help you:
http://www.sanibel-captiva.org/
http://www.sanibelisland.com/weddings.html
http://www.sanibel-online.com/island_weddings.htm

As for places to stay there are all kinds of wonderful places, I am sure if you contact the hotel and tell them you are planning a wedding they can assist you. You also have a large group of people coming most hotels will give you a group rate, so you need to call and speak with the manager or the sales department. Here are some places that I really like:
The Sanibel Inn is always nice; the company that owns this also owns a few other resorts on the island, all of them are very nice and should also have reception space. The other resort they own that I really like is the Seaside Inn, classic beach resort.
http://www.sanibelcollection.com/sanibel%5Finn/

You might also try the Sundial Resort. Very nice place! We stayed there a few years back and it was really nice and the staff was great. I believe they also had banquet rooms to have the reception.
http://www.sundialresort.com/

Gulf Breeze Cottages is also a nice place to stay, although I would not call it a full service resort, they have these wonderful cottages that are located on the beach and very romantic!
http://www.gbreeze.com/rates_online.htm

I also like the Sandpiper Inn again it is not a resort but it is a true tropical paradise and this little inn makes it feel like you are on a private island. The staff and owners were great when we stayed there.
http://www.sandpiperinnsanibel.com/

The Sunset Beach Resort is also another very nice resort here. They even have a little bit of "private" beach. They have a wonderful staff and everything you need to make your stay enjoyable. I am sure that they can assist you with your wedding plans.
http://www.sanibelcollection.com/sunset%5Fbeach/

Believe it or not the Holiday Inn here is really nice! It is not like some of them that I have been to on the mainland. This one is very clean, on the ocean, full service and a great staff. They have waterfalls, a beautiful pool and more. Hey it is worth checking out! They have some really neat places to get married on their grounds; they have cool little paths and things like that. Also it is a very nice place to take some pictures!
http://www.beachdirectory.com/hisanibelisland/

Here are some websites with listings of places to stay on Sanibel; I will tell you there really is no run down motels, dirty places, or crappy resorts on the island. I have been to several more to pick friends up or whatever and they all have been really nice. Way different then a large city!
http://sanibel-captiva-hotels.beachdirectory.com/
http://hotel-guides.us/florida/sanibel-island-fl-hotels.html
http://www.floridavacations.com/fv/Sanibel-Island-Florida.html
http://www.casaybelresort.com/

Of course depending on how long some people are going to be staying down there they might be better off renting a condo. There are several places on the Island that have condos for rent. The best thing to do is contact the visitor’s center for a list of them. We stay at the Shell Island Beach Club by the lighthouse. It is really great plus they have all kinds of other amenities.

As for reception ideas what are you looking for? Do you want a traditional reception or something more low key? There are several wonderful restaurants on the island that might be able to assist you. I have never checked for banquet rooms, but I am sure if you contact them they will assist you. They have several that are waterfront, ocean view ect... Some of my favorite places are:
The Green Flash
The Bubble Room
The Hungry Herron
Sanibel Steak House
Red Fish Blue Fish
Dolce Vita

I know that the Thistle Lodge does receptions; they are very good however they can get expensive so you will want to check with them about deals and how much it cost. It is however a very beautiful and romantic place!
http://www.thistlelodge.com/

There is so much to do on Sanibel, you and your guest are going to have a great time. The beaches are white, the water is blue and you have some of the best shelling in the world!!! I totally recommend doing a wedding at sunset or sunrise, they are so pretty and you get some really good photos. I have been going to Sanibel for years and I can tell you that when people have weddings on the beach, people are respectful of them and really do try to stay out of the way. Even though it is a public beach everyone tries to walk around your party, tries not to get into pictures and will not "join" in. I have seen a ton of weddings done here and the bride has never had an issue. I also find this website very helpful when planning our yearly trips there:
http://www.bestofsanibelcaptiva.com/

Well I hope this helps you, you will have a wonderful wedding, Sanibel is always picture perfect! I have been going there forever and trust me you can never have a bad day on Sanibel! Congrats on your marriage!

Answer 2

I was in Sanibel Island in April. We stayed at the Sanibel Inn, but there are other hotels on the island. The hotel is right on the beach. There is a restaurant at the hotel, I don't know if they do weddings, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. I have some really nice pictures of the island if you like to see them just let me know. Oh, Congrats.

Answer 3

Sanibel is so nice - great place for a wedding!

Try TripAdvisor.com - they have user reviews on hotels, etc., and also have forums on various topics at each destination.

Good luck to you!

Answer 4

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