Getting Married in Hilton Head, SC

Most Hilton Head weddings are destination weddings: the couple and nearly every guest fly or drive in. Choose the venue first, because it settles the date, the guest count and often the caterer. Popular settings range from a Sea Pines Beach Club wedding to a Honey Horn wedding under the live oaks at the Coastal Discovery Museum, once Honey Horn Plantation, and a Haig Point wedding across the water on Daufuskie. Palmetto Dunes weddings use the resort’s own team and venues.

• Pick the season. Spring and fall are the most popular, with mild days and lower humidity. Summer is hot and stormy in the afternoons, and hurricane season runs June through November. See Hilton Head weather by month.

• Book the venue. Popular venues often book a year ahead for spring and fall Saturdays. Compare them on our wedding venues page.

• Hold rooms for guests. A resort room block, or rental houses and villas near the venue, booked as early as the venue.

• Hire the vendors. A planner (unless the venue has its own coordinator), photographer, caterer, DJ and florist. See wedding vendors.

• Handle the paperwork. The Beaufort County marriage license and, for a public beach, the Town’s free permit, both below.

• Plan the weekend. Rehearsal dinner, welcome party and a day out for the wedding party.

A Hilton Head elopement skips most of that list: a license, a beach permit, an officiant and a photographer are enough. Getting married in SC needs no blood test and no witnesses, so two people and an officiant can marry at sunrise on a public beach.

Hilton Head Island is in Beaufort County, so couples apply to the Beaufort County Probate Court, which has a satellite office on Hilton Head Island as well as its main office in Beaufort. Both see applicants by appointment, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A license from any South Carolina county is valid for a ceremony anywhere in the state.

How to get a marriage license in SC

• Both of you apply together, in person. The court takes no applications by mail, phone or fax, from one person alone or by proxy.

• Bring government photo ID (a driver’s license, state ID, military ID, passport or visa) and your Social Security numbers, or alien identification numbers.

• Wait 24 hours. The license is issued no sooner than 24 hours after you apply, so schedule the appointment at least a day before the ceremony, and ideally several.

• No blood test or physical exam is required.

• Applicants under 18 need parental consent and a certified birth certificate; the county issues no license to anyone under 16.

How much is a marriage license in SC?

In Beaufort County it is $50 if either of you lives in the county, $75 if neither does but at least one of you lives in South Carolina, and $95 if you both live out of state. Pay in cash, in the exact amount. A certified copy of the recorded license costs $5. Details are on the Beaufort County Probate Court’s marriage license page.

The ceremony can be performed by clergy or by an officer authorized to administer oaths, such as a judge or a notary public, and South Carolina requires no witnesses.

A ceremony on a public beach needs a beach wedding permit from the Town of Hilton Head Island. It is free, and you apply online at least 30 days before the ceremony on the Town’s beach wedding permit page. The form asks for:

• the ceremony location, so pick the beach and access first

• the date, start time and how long the ceremony will last

• the number of guests

• a daytime phone number

Questions go to the Town’s Facilities Management office at (843) 342-4580. Check the permit page for advisories before you settle on a date: Islanders Beach Park is closed for construction from September 8, 2026 to May 31, 2027, and no permits are issued there in that time, and beach renourishment work can close other stretches. The beach ceremony sites on our venues page and our beaches guide help with the choice. A beach ceremony arranged by a resort or by Sea Pines is booked through them.

The Hilton Head wedding cost is set mostly by the guest count and the venue. The fixed costs are small: the license is $50 to $95 and the beach permit is free. Everything else is quoted per event, and prices change by season, so ask each venue for its current rates.

• Hilton Head wedding packages. The oceanfront resorts, The Sea Pines Resort and Palmetto Dunes sell packages that bundle the ceremony site, reception room, catering and often a coordinator. Ask what is included before comparing prices.

• The season. Spring and fall Saturdays cost the most; a Friday, a Sunday or a winter date costs less at many venues.

• Lodging. Guests pay for their own rooms, but a resort may ask the couple to guarantee a block. A rental house for the wedding party is often the better value.

• A beach elopement is the least expensive way to marry here: the license, an officiant and a photographer.

A Hilton Head bachelorette weekend tends to mix the beach, a boat and a night out. The bachelorette party cruise below is a private three-hour charter that books online. For the rest of the weekend, see our boat tours, nightlife and spa guides.

For a bachelor party, Hilton Head is first a golf island: our golf guide covers the public courses and tee times, and a fishing charter fills the other morning.

Plenty of couples stay on after the wedding or come back for a South Carolina honeymoon. Hilton Head Island honeymoon packages are sold by the oceanfront resorts, often with spa time and a room upgrade; compare them on our resorts, hotels and inns page. For a quieter week, a villa on the beach and a day on Daufuskie Island, reached only by boat, make a good honeymoon on their own.