I got married in Seaside last April (2005). Funny you should mention the hurricanes... Our original wedding date was Oct 8, 2004 but Hurricane Ivan came through just a couple weeks before. I live in VA, so planning from a distance is even more challenging.
We had a small wedding, 6 family members, and planned to be married on the beach but wanted a pavilion too in case the weather was bad.
Seaside weddings are expensive BUT not nearly as expensive as having a large wedding. They were also able to accomodate 2 physically challenged family members in getting them down to the beach and back up for us. They also had no problem in rescheduling the event due to the hurricane. No extra money involved.
You don't get to choose your pavilion however. That depends on the size of the wedding. Here is some initial info:
http://www.seasidefl.com/groupsWeddings.asp
The only thing I would have done differently I guess is have the wedding closer to sunset. With the change in dates, we forgot to factor in daylight savings time so it was a bit bright.
Good luck!
Sue