i guess the reality is, since the wedding planner is my mother in law, that we can really set it up however makes the most sense for me. that's kind of silly, i realize, since that is not how it's going to be generally, and one would need to learn how to shoot in whatever scenario one is thrown into....however, that being said, at this particular beach, if you are standing on the beach facing the ocean, you are facing due south. the wedding will be at sunset, so if one is standing on the beach, looking at the ocean, the sun will be almost exactly to the right (again, looking at the ocean). This means the bride's face will be illuminated, while the groom will fully have his back to the sun. This is going to present a very interesting problem, now that i'm thinking about it. reflectors all the way, huh? gonna have to have at least one on the bride side to get some light back onto the groom...this is gonna take some planning, clearly, and i'm glad i've started now.