FAQs

We are a family owned and operated company, in business since February 2000. We have an indoor wedding chapel, and we also specialize in beach & off-site weddings! Victoria Begault is the founder, photographer, floral designer and Realtor(R), with business partner and husband Rev. Bruce Begault, who you can count on to officiate your dream wedding ceremony!  Maddie Begault Many is our Event Manager and second shooter for our photography! She is also your first point of contact for any questions you might have and to book your event with us! View more about us here: About Us

• Over 10 years of wedding experience here in Virginia Beach
• A family owned & operated team with a knack for attention to detail and being perfectionists!
• Original beach wedding company in Virginia Beach
• We offer the original bamboo arbor in Virginia Beach that helped start the trend of bamboo arbors and beach weddings here in Hampton Roads!
• In house ordained minister who offers personalized civil, religious, & even semi-religious ceremonies, with experience in even doing modified Jewish, Filipino, and Ethiopian ceremonies!
• We love our clients and will do everything in our power to make sure that you have a stress free day!
• Have less than 50 guests? We also have a back-up location in case your beach wedding may have some rain that is included in most of our packages, or can be added on securely!
• Indoor chapel location for those who prefer an indoor and intimate setting
• In house floral design specialist
• In house professional photographer with expertise in beach & outdoor weddings
• Packages and prices designed for the budget-conscious couple

A Virginia marriage license from any courthouse in the state of VA  is required for any and all marriages in the state of Virginia!

• The couple getting married must obtain this license together in person from a VA courthouse within 60 days of their  wedding date. After 60 days, it will expire.
• A marriage license from any other state would NOT be valid.
• Unfortunately we are not able to obtain your license for you.
• Marriage licenses can only be obtained Monday-Friday
• The Virginia Beach courthouse is open M-F from 830am-4pm.
• A valid ID and $30 cash or credit is needed to apply.
• There is no waiting period in Virginia Beach. You will walk out with your marriage license!
• The Virginia Beach courthouse only requires the valid ID & the licensing fee. No other documentation is required, included divorce decrees, witnesses, birth certificates, blood tests, etc.
• Witnesses are not required in the state of VA. 

If you’d like to save time, you can fill out your Virginia Beach marriage license application early and bring it with you to the clerk’s office! Click here: Application for Marriage License

View more information at the Virginia Beach city website here: Virginia Beach Marriage License Info

YES, absolutely! Love is love!

We book indoor chapel weddings up to one year in advance, and off-site weddings up to 2 years in advance.

Please note that off-site venues and locations are subject to availability, and some may not book as far in advance. For example, Little Island Park does not offer reservations until November 1st the year prior.

Yes, we do require a ½ non-refundable retainer at time of booking along with the signing of our agreement. We cannot hold and secure your date and time without that monetary retainer. The balance is then due 30 days prior to your event. If your event will take place within 30 days of booking, your payment is due in full at time of booking.

A non-refundable ½ retainer is due at time of booking and reserving your date and time with us. The remaining balance is then due 30 days prior to your event. You are welcome to make any sort of payments in between the two.

In event of cancellation, your initial payment is non-refundable. Due to our heavy schedule for the summer season, cancellations between April-October within 45 days of your event forfeit any and all monies paid, and are subject to a 10% fee.

If the bride or groom is a service member and is called to duty, we can postpone your date with no penalty to you, and reschedule within 2 years. If canceling altogether, we will issue a refund less your initial paid retainer, or what your retainer would have been, if paid in full at time of booking.  You must show a copy of your active duty orders. 

We are happy to postpone your event at any time and reschedule to a new date within 1 year of your original event date.

We are a family owned and operated company! Reverend Bruce Begault is our main officiant, who is a licensed & ordained celebrant minister! He offers personalized civil, religious, and even semi-religious ceremonies, with experience in custom & modified Jewish, Filipino, and Ethiopian ceremonies! Don’t be afraid to ask him any questions once you book if you want to personalize your ceremony!

Add in any special personal statements, vows, readings, or unity ceremonies! 

You are welcome to use your own officiant, but please note that they must be licensed in the state of Virginia! 

Our packages are bundled together to give you the best package deal, but if you have your own officiant, we can deduct only $50 from any major package. Your officiant must be licensed in the state of Virginia.

Victoria Begault is the founder, photographer, floral designer and Realtor(R), with business partner and husband Rev. Bruce Begault. She is the lead photographer, and all photos you see on our website are taken by her unless noted otherwise!

With 12 years of wedding photography experience and having photographed 700+ couples, Victoria specializes in outdoor and beach weddings, but loves to also photograph indoor ceremonies as well! Always armed with back-up cameras, lenses, and batteries, she is always prepared! 

Maddie Many is not only our Event Manager but is also Victoria’s second shooter! You never have to worry about having an inexperienced second shooter or someone who may not show up, as Maddie has been Victoria’s assistant and second shooter for 10 years! 

We try to keep our packages budget friendly, and you receive ALL finalized, edited photos from your wedding day! We do not believe in just giving you a handful of images, as you deserve to have the full spectrum of images from your big day!

We also do more than just wedding & engagement photography. Victoria also has experience maternity, newborn, & family portrait photography, trash the dress shoots, and even birthday parties!

We offer special discounts for previous clients, so if you have used us for your wedding, we’d love to offer you a special rate for your family or belly to baby photos! 

View more about our photography and rates here: Photography Information, Packages, & Rates

If you have your own photographer, you would need to choose a package that does NOT include photography. For the larger beach decor packages, you would need to choose from the a la carte menu to pick and choose the specific services that you do in fact need, as photography is a major part of our larger packages.

• We offer weddings 7 days a week, but are closed on all major holidays. A surcharge may apply for other minor holidays, such as New Year’s Eve.
• Chapel weddings are available 7 days a week
• Beach weddings are available 7 days a week, but the larger decor packages are available Wednesday-Sunday

For beach weddings during the months of May-September, we perform weddings in the morning between 10am-12pm and in the evening between 5-7pm. We do not perform mid-afternoon ceremonies on the beach in the summer due to extreme heat. Decor packages are recommended for a 6 or 7pm ceremony during the summer, as sunset is not until around 8:30 PM.

June and July tend to have extreme heat – often times with a heat index ranging from 110- 119 degrees, causing heat stroke and dehydration that can affect both members of our staff as well as your guests, people in the bridal party, and even the couple getting married! Please consider providing water for your guests on extremely hot days.

The weather in Virginia Beach can be very unpredictable – we can have 70 degrees one day in March and have 35 degrees and snow the very next day. I would advise you to check out the average temperatures in the month you want if you plan on having an outdoor wedding.

You can check out the weather at www.Weather.com or www.accuweather.com- use zip code 23451 for the VA Beach oceanfront or 23456 for the Sandbridge area. 

Please keep in mind that Virginia Beach is a major resort and tourist area, often with events such as beach front concerts, monster trucks,  volleyball, and surfing tournaments during the summer. You do want to make sure that there are NO SPECIAL EVENTS scheduled in front of your hotel or in the immediate area for oceanfront resort weddings.  http://www.beachstreetusa.com/often lists events at the oceanfront. If there is no date listed, it will typically correspond with the date or weekend of the previous year.

Sorry, we do not offer sunrise ceremonies, but we love sunset! Ideal time for a sunset wedding is 1½ hours before sunset with any major decor being set up – or 45-60 minutes before sunset for elopements.

Once that sun starts going down, it goes down fast and you have typically 15-25 minutes before it is dark. You can view the predicted sunrise and sunset times here, but please note it can vary or be off by a few minutes: SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES TABLE

The number of events that we host per day all depends on the complexity of each event.

We do only offer one beach wedding per day with decor or anything with major photography.

We can sometimes offer 2-3 chapel events per day, depending on the size of your package and the services that are included, if it’s a basic elopement package vs a full house with photography services.  

Reverend Bruce can often officiate multiple events per day off-site, depending on the times and locations of these events.

Choose our indoor chapel to host your event or we are happy to set up a ceremony site at your location.  We have pipe and drape to create a beautiful backdrop in any indoor banquet hall, hotel, or even at your home.  We have arbors and other decor that can create a beautiful ceremony site on the beach, a garden venue, or even rustic barn location. 

Please view our beach wedding location page that touches more on beach wedding locations!

Aside from services we are not providing for you, not included in our package pricing are 6% VA Sales tax, the cost of your marriage license, and most permits for off-site locations. 

YES, a permit is required for most beach weddings at most locations. Look at this permit fee as your venue or facility rental fee!
Permit fees are subject to change by the city and/or state at any time.

Public Oceanfront Resort Area from 1st Street and on: $200

• No permit required at oceanfront resort area if you have 20 guests or less and nothing is being set-up.
• Even if it’s just the two of you, an arbor or other decor on the beach will require the permit. 

Sandbridge beach across from the Sandbridge Marketplace: $200

Sandbridge private beach residence: No permit needed

First Landing State Park: $25 + parking per vehicle

• The park offers chair rentals for a great and low fee

Little Island Park in Sandbridge:

• Virginia Beach Resident Friday, Saturday & Sunday: $400 half day | $600 full day
• Virginia Beach Resident Monday-Thursday: $200 half day | $300 full day
• Non-Virginia Beach Resident Friday, Saturday & Sunday: $500 half day | $700 full day
• Non-Virginia Beach Resident Monday-Thursday: $300 half day | $400 full day
• Parking is charged per vehicle from Memorial Day to Labor Day
• Park accepts reservations starting November 1st the year prior
• 30 Chairs are included in the park’s permit fee
• This is the only sectioned off designated wedding area in all of Virginia Beach

Most of our packages include our indoor chapel as a rain back-up location for up to 30 guests. You may also add the chapel on for a small fee, if not using a package that includes it (such as minister only). If you are not using any of our service and need to secure the chapel as a back-up location for your wedding, you would need to book at one of our standard indoor chapel rates. This fee would be non-refundable, so in that case, we recommend waiting until you get closer to your wedding date to add on the chapel as a back-up.

If we are setting up a beach wedding for you and you are having a reception somewhere, you may also be able to use your reception site as a rain back-up location!

The Virginia Beach Wedding Chapel is located at 619 N Birdneck Road.

We are 1.3 miles from the boardwalk, which is just a quick 5 minute drive!

Business hours are Monday-Friday from 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM.

Chapel is open by appointment only for venue tours and consultations.

Indoor chapel weddings are available Monday-Sunday, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Yes, absolutely! We encourage all couples interested in the chapel to come in for a tour!

Please contact us to set up an appointment for a venue tour of the indoor wedding chapel, or for a consultation. We offer weddings 7 days a week, so we are open by appointment only for all venue tours and consultations. We do not offer Sunday appointments.

Please note if your purpose of the tour is to see the beach site, our chapel is not located on the beach, but is 1.3 miles from the oceanfront resort area. It is up to you to ultimately choose your beach wedding location.

Per fire marshal code, our maximum guest capacity is 45 guests. This number includes all guests attending your event including bridal party standing up with you. This does not include the couple getting married nor the officiant performing the ceremony.  Sorry, no standing space for additional guests due to this fire code.

All persons attending your event are considered a guest, including your children and bridal party.

Free parking is available on-site. There are 4 paved designated spots by our front door, including one handicapped space with access to a ramp. Please be sure that you (the couple) park here (along with any other VIPS for your ceremony). There is additional parking in our gravel lot, comfortably fitting 12 vehicles in the standard back lot, with additional space for up to 20 vehicles altogether. Most people tend to arrive as couples or families, but the paved lot on the shopping center side is available for any overflow. We do recommend carpooling for large groups.

If there is no handicapped in your party, you are welcome to utilize that space as well, as we will not tow our guests!

We do not have reception space, but there are lots of lovely hotels, restaurants, and banquet rooms that can accommodate a group for dinner or a reception afterwards.

No, we do not have any dress code or clothing restrictions at the VBWC! You are welcome to dress as formal or informal as you choose!

Yes, our back patio is our designated smoking area, where there is a butt hut to to throw away all butts. If your guests are smoking out front, we ask that they do not smoke by the front door in the main paved area, and to please discard butts in the nearby dumpster, so that we can keep our area clean.

We offer a live stream of your wedding online for most indoor chapel weddings! Please note that your stream is only as good as your internet, and if hosting a weekday wedding, some places of business may have restrictions on what websites are accessible. Our live feed does work best on a standard computer, iPhones, and iPads. The video feed goes live around 10-15 minutes prior to your ceremony start time, but if your ceremony starts late or if there is chaos in the chapel, the feed will go live when you are closer to starting.

There is no charge for this service, nor is there a discount for not using it. If you do not want your event live streamed, we simply will just not turn on the live feed.

There is no log in or password required.

The URL is given privately to the couple upon booking. This URL is NOT accessible on our website for anyone to view. The only ones who have this URL would be past clients and whomever they gave the URL to.

We have two bathrooms inside the wedding chapel. One is handicap accessible, and is also where we send most guests. There is another bathroom by the bride’s dressing room, which we try to keep reserved for just the bride and those in the dressing room with her. After the ceremony, it is fair game! 

Yes, you are welcome to bring in your own hired photographer, videographer, or floral designer. They do not count toward your guest count, but they do count toward our max capacity of 45 guests per fire marshal code.

You must inform your vendors of your allotted time slot of your event. They must arrive within your designated rental time, or at least no earlier than 30 minutes prior to your rental time. **Outside photographers are often responsible for going over your rental time. Please let them know when your chapel rental ends so that they do not send you into over time rates, which are $50 per half hour.

Your hired photographer or videographer must provide proof of insurance and that must be submitted to our facility prior to your event. If they are not insured, they must sign our hold harmless form. 

Yes, we are pet friendly! We are all animal lovers here, so as long as your pet (usually a dog… though I’d love to see someone bring their kitty!) is potty trained and is being watched by someone, it’s not a problem! Just please let us know in advance if you are bringing one!