Wedding Hair at La Coquille Club, Manalapan

Manalapan is the part of Palm Beach County that people forget is there, which is exactly why the families who marry at La Coquille Club love it. Ocean on one side, the lake on the other, a private club that has been hosting weddings for decades, and almost no traffic between the gate and the water.

What makes this venue unusual is the combination of formality and wind. The club itself is polished and traditional, but the ceremony usually happens on a lawn that faces open ocean, which is the least forgiving environment in South Florida for a hairstyle. Those two facts need to be reconciled in the design, not discovered at four in the afternoon.

The answer is structure disguised as softness. A low chignon with a hidden pin base, waves that are set and then smoothed so the cuticle is sealed, a half-up with the tail secured at two points instead of one. Everything looks relaxed and nothing is actually loose. That is the whole craft at an oceanfront club, and it is why I do not recommend a fully down style here unless the ceremony is indoors.

Getting ready usually happens at a Manalapan or Ocean Ridge home, sometimes at Eau Palm Beach a few minutes north. Both are excellent, both have real light, and both let us take our time. If the property has a shaded terrace, we work outside for the last twenty minutes because the finish looks different in daylight than in bathroom light, and I want to see it before the photographer does.

La Coquille is a venue that rewards preparation and punishes improvisation. Inquire with your date, and if you want the full picture of what a wedding morning costs, the investment page is public and specific.