The questions that actually decide a Palm Beach wedding — catering rules, buyouts, hurricane plans, noise curfews and valet — in the order you will need them.
The single biggest variable in Palm Beach is catering. Oceanfront resorts like the Breakers and boutique hotels like the Colony require in-house catering and price by per-person package with a food-and-beverage minimum; historic estates and museums like Whitehall require an approved outside caterer and charge a facility rental instead. Ask which model applies, what the true minimum spend is on your date, and what the service charge runs — it is often 24 to 25 percent on top.
On the island, ask whether a wedding requires a full property buyout or shares the hotel with other guests, what room-block rates and minimums come with it, and how valet and parking work — on-island parking is tight and often valet-only. At the historic sites, ask about preservation rules: candles and open flame, where a tent and vendors may go, decor anchoring, and hard load-in windows.
Confirm the real rain-and-heat plan and how quickly you can move to it, since a season date still carries wind off the Atlantic and a summer date carries storms. Ask the noise ordinance and hard end time — the Town of Palm Beach and its neighbors enforce them — and how outside vendors, shuttles and late-night departures are handled so your timeline survives contact with reality.