Excitement in the air...

I've already experienced an influx of emails from potential 2010 brides...a result of Christmas Eve & Christmas Day engagements. The days leading up the NYE though, you can just feel the electricity in the air as girlfriends everyone are wondering if the New Year will elevate them to fiance and then to wife status! My own husband popped the question on New Year's Eve 2003 - seems like eons ago that we celebrated afterwards by walking the freezing cold streets of Boston after dinner at our favorite little Northend eatery. It really is the best part of my job, being involved with one of the most exciting days a couple can share together. It's so fun to get a email from a new bride, her excitement radiating from her words.

We'll be closing out 2009 where else, but at a wedding! This will be my first NYE wedding and I'm really looking forward to making it special. And I know at some point during the night, I'm going to take a minute to reflect back on that cold Boston night where I became engaged and also feel a little jolt of excitement for all the soon-to-be brides around the world that will have their hearts skip a beat on NYE when someone ask them a simple little question...let me be the first to offer a very warm congratulations!

Merry Christmas

from my crazy little family! Beautiful photo captured by Elisha Orin Photography - thanks Elisha!

Happy Holidays from Island Bliss Weddings!

I hope everyone is enjoying a few days off from work and this very merry holiday season, whether you are in warm tropical climates or the very cold and snowy north!

Here is the 2nd ornament that I wanted to share, all hand painted by a local artist. I have one for each of my daughter's first Christmas's. This one is my daughter Marley's. And no, she was not named after Jacob Marley.

I chose a very whimsical and fun theme with the bright & colorful fish, but they really have endless possibilities here. They do a very elegant sand dollar, beautiful tropical flowers, even fun island iguanas. I'm hoping to visit their shop sometime soon to take pictures of all the possible gift options that brides may want to consider. You could even personalize the ornaments with your guests name - such a great keepsake!

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday and bright new year!

Holiday Season, it's the Holiday Season!

I hope everyone is enjoying this time of year, although if you are in the far north, I'll never understand people that enjoy snow! I'm always asked what brought me to the islands and my honest answer is, "the weather!". I really enjoy Christmas mornings in shorts, I'll tell you that. My parents are always quick to remind me just how pretty the snow is...and I agree...I love to watch it fall...on the TV. =)

We put up our Christmas tree last weekend and there are two ornaments that I really wanted to share with my brides. I'm constantly asked about local gifts - what would be something locally made that would be a nice favor for wedding guests? I know this won't work for everyone, but I love the idea of a locally made Christmas ornament.

This, being a seahorse and all, is definitely my favorite and made at a local clay art studio. They are signed on the back with St. Thomas, USVI and I'm sure the artist would be happy to personalize.



























Be sure to check back soon for the 2nd ornament!

Sweet Sarongs!

I received an email today from Carol Lane, owner of Sexy Sarongs. She makes these beautiful sarongs herself her on St. Thomas and can do them in just about any length or color, given enough notice that is.

Now having done, hundreds and hundreds of weddings, I've seen brides marry in as little as a bikini, to a nice white shirt and a khaki skirt, to a wedding dress off the rack to a $10,000 Badgley Mischka gown. I've seen it all. I think these sarongs in white would be perfect for a bride that is looking for something a little more laid back and islandy. I also think they would be great for a pre-wedding event in a fun tropical color.

If you're interested, definitely send Carol an email at sexysarongs@yahoo.com - I know she would appreciate the business. And how cool would it be to have your dress made by a local Virgin Islands designer??

Phalaenopsis No-no's....

These orchids are just gorgeous, absolutely beautiful. Very elegant and very tropical.






But they are very, very testy. As gorgeous as they are, they do not like being cut from their vines. Once cut, they really must stay in water or they start to wilt very quickly. Then they start to look like this:



Not only do they not do well once they are cut, they are also very expensive. The picture above? That one branch of orchids with about 9 blooms on it? That cost the florist over $100. So she has to charge a lot for them. And then I'm completely nervous and the florist is completely nervous that a) they are going to arrive looking like the picture above or b) they are going to look like the picture above by the end of the night. You don't want to spend $200 on a bouquet that looks like that after a few hours!

If you absolutely love the look of these orchids though, I would definitely suggest looking into silk phalaenopsis. I know, I know, a lot of brides will shy away from silks - but there are a few types of flowers out that there look & feel just like the real thing - cymbidium orchids, calla lilies and phalaenopsis orchids are all done very well when "fake". I always suggest to brides using silks for hair flowers - they hold up way better than the real thing and are easy to move around in case they do start to fall. Check out some of the great finds I've seen on Etsy:

Hair flowers::



Bouquets:

La Hora Loca!!!

I've been meaning to share this for awhile now - this wedding took place last month at Havana Blue. Actually, the wedding was in Our Lady of Perpetual Help (remember the post with all the rose petals....40,000, yes, 40,000 rose petals to fill the aisle!). The cocktail hour and reception were hosted by Havana Blue, at Frenchman's Reef. Our bride's family was Peruvian and it is a Peruvian tradition to have a "La Hora Loca" during the reception - a "crazy hour" and crazy it was!

We started with these Caribbean Carnival Dancers entering the reception and showering the guests with Mardi Gras-esque hats, masks, boas and pulling everyone out onto the dance floor.





We then had Princess Diana come and amaze the crowds with her fire dancing.



We ended the night with the Carnival troupes dance routine...absolutely the coolest thing. You don't have to be Peruvian to have a la hora loca. It's a great way to bring in island traditions and expose your guests to some of the local culture. It is totally worth every penny and something your guests will remember for a long, long time.

Something to be thankful for...

Chenoa and Mike renewed their wedding vows earlier this month on Magen's Bay. There are many different reasons why a couple will decide to renew their vows...they hit & survived a rough patch and want a new beginning...they are celebrating a big milestone anniversary...their mainland wedding wasn't their dream wedding and they want the sand in their toes to say I Do all over again...whatever their reasoning, we are happy to help. Mike & Chenoa though, has a different story and I loved that we (and mainly Eric Johnson of Paradise Pictures) were able to help.

A few years ago, their basement flooded. Among many possesions ruined was their wedding album. The photos were destroyed and they were heart-broken. The decided to have the photos redone but with an upcoming cruise to the Caribbean, they decided, why not redo the whole thing?? They laughed as they recalled their old wedding photos with the old school puffy sleeved dresses and the reception decorated with balloons! I love looking at those old albums, I can only imagine!

Eric did a wonderful job with their photos, even without balloons and massive sleeves!

LOL

This totally made me LOL. I was looking through the pictures of this wedding that I blogged about last month. There was a beautiful picture of a father & daugher...the next photo was this:



A sister running in the background - I love the look on the younger sister's face!

Luminescent...

Sunday morning is almost over and I'm still recovering from an absolutely amazing wedding last night. I have so much to share but figured I should post this picture before Sunday morning was officially over...more pictures to come of this incrediable day. Wanna guess how many rose petals are lining this aisle?

It's catchy!

It caught on and on and on...

I just love this video that a client shared with me, highlighting her engagement! The happy couple sent the video out along with their Save The Date information and have a WHOPPING 100 guests coming with them on their wedding cruise. If you don't know already, 100 guests cruising with you for your wedding is IMPRESSIVE! At most, we normally have 30, no more than 40 guests when it comes to a cruise ship wedding. 100 is A LOT.

We're really looking forward to your wedding day next month - I know this crowd knows how to PARTY (the groom is a fireman and I think he's bringing his whole department with him....let's hope for no fires the first two weeks of December!!!).

Daughters

Being a mom of two girls myself, I have to say my favorite element of Nicky & Danny's wedding yesterday were the two beautiful young ladies that each of them were bringing into the marriage...not sure if it was the actual girls or the AMAZING dresses they were wearing!!

Danny & Nicky cruised into St. Thomas on the Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas and were married on Magen's Bay Beach before heading to Grande Cru in Yacht Haven Grande for a lunch with their newly formed family. Oh, and I forgot to mention they travelled all this was from England, just 20 minutes outside of London. That adorable English accent is definitely the 2nd most favorite element of the day!

Sam & Cynthia

My favorite part of this very simple, very lovely ceremony?



Cynthia's smile.

Pure joy.

Pure love.

Pure Bliss.

Orange you glad to see me?

We have a beautiful wedding last week at Lime Tree Beach (aka Bluebeard's Beach). As I was setting up, I was reflecting over the fact that orange has really become a very popular wedding color. When I was married about 5 years ago, the hot colors were pink and green. Now, I'm seeing a big trend for orange and pink. I can't help but think if you throw the color brown or yellow in there, it would be a total throw back to the 60s. I think my mother's wedding colors were yellow, orange and brown. That and the couch I grew up with - a nice yellow, orange and brown plaid tweed beast of a couch. But I digress...orange & pink for wedding colors = hugely popular and hugely pretty!

As you remember from Amber's post a couple of weeks ago, the iguanas are plentiful at Lime Tree Beach and as I was setting up for the wedding, I noticed no less than 8 of them surrounding me. They do not bother me, as you can not have a fear of these creatures if you live in St. Thomas - they are as inevitable as waves on the sand. But they were taking a very keen interest in my set up. It wasn't until I threw down a bundle of the orange chair ties and saw four of them rush over to investigate that I figured out why they were so eager to watch me today. Orange, red and pink are their FAVORITE colors, as they are the same colors as hibiscus flowers...their favorite foods. This little bugger was keeping guard over the chair ties and I had to shoo him away to complete the task of tying them on our chairs!



This one was getting a little inappropriate with my conch shells.



I was finally able to finish and the set up looked superb (if I don't say so myself).



But unlike Amber's wedding day, there was no act of sabotage by the iguanas during the ceremony! Our bride and groom were very happy and iguana-trauma free.



Favorite Element: Orange

Sand Dollar Estates

Last week I had the pleasure of being back at Sand Dollar Estates. This villa can sleep up to 22 guests, making it the perfect ceremony & reception location for small groups that want to stay together. Our wedding last week had 15 people in attendance and everyone was staying at Sand Dollar - great way to cut down on transportation costs as well! It's also a great spot for larger weddings. Hosting a reception at a villa is such a great way to keep the event intimate and personal.

There is a small beach at Sand Dollar, but with the tides, you never really know if it will be large enough to host a ceremony. We decided to do the ceremony on the pool deck.



We then had Passion Fruit Chefs do the catering for dinner (red wine and steak! it's was a man's man feast!) and set up dinner on the upstairs deck, with amazing views of Magen's Bay.



I really loved the way the cetnerpieces came out.




But are you ready for my favorite element?



Confused? Check our Elisha Orin's blog: www.thatstalk.elishaorin.com to see the professional photos of this day. Elisha is new to the Virgin Island photography market, but has such an awesome skill and is so easy to work with. We have another wedding with her next week - is it cheating if she is my favorite element for that wedding too?? =)

Here's a few shots of her in action:

Homemade

Everyone should know by now about my love of Etsy.com where everything is hand-crafted. So it's only appropriate that my favorite element of Jennifer & Aaron's wedding would be her wedding dress. Jennifer's dress was handmade by one of her best friends. Jennifer sketched out some ideas and her friend put it all together for her. I'm always in such awe over this kind of skill, and definitely jealous - I'd love to be able to make clothes (or anything for that matter!).

Jennifer & Aaron were married on gorgeous Lindquist Beach at sunset with just her parents in attendance. After a few more days on island, they headed home to Michigan to host a huge reception for friends & family there. Aaron told me he was doing the catering himself (he is a trained chef) and I reeeeaaalllllly wish I could have been one of the guests - the whole menu was Korean and Asian themed, some of my faaavoorites....and hard to come by on the island of St. Thomas. Congratulations Jennifer & Aaron on a beautiful St. Thomas wedding and congratulations to Jennifer on marrying an awesome chef!

There's one at every wedding...

So there are a few weddings that are in queue to be blogged about, but I had to rush this one to the front of the line. Nate & Angie were married this morning on lovely Lindquist Beach. Their cruiseship, the Norwegian Pearl arrived in St. Thomas today with about 20 of their closest friends and family aboard to watch them say I Do on our lovely sandy shores.

Like my office??



Angie has chosen the Simply Blissful Package from our website and then we modified it to accommodate the extra guests...added some chairs, an arch and a few extra bottles of champagne. As I was setting up and waiting for everyone to arrive, I tried to find my favorite element...was it her bouquet?



The very funky boutonniere?



Nothing was really grabbing me as my "favorite" - there wasn't anything out of the ordinary from our typical Simply Blissful packages. Angie & Nate arrived first, having been chauffeured to the beach in our Lincoln Navigator after stopping at the courthouse to pick up their marriage license. Guests followed a few minutes later and I hear Angie say to her groom, "oh my...check out Uncle Phil...." and as I look over to see the guests disembark from the safari bus, my eyes go straight to Uncle Phil and BAM! There is my favorite element of the day!!



Phil had his old tux modified for a beach wedding! I don't think you can see it in the photos, but his cummerbund had an underwater theme! We all had a big laugh at Uncle Phil's choice of attire and Stuart, the officiant, assured the happy couple that we always have at least one goof ball at every wedding!

I put my camera away after capturing Uncle Phil for the blog but just before everyone left for lunch at Wikked in Yacht Haven Grande (great spot - close to the cruiseship!), I heard the groom ask everyone if they had their t-shirts. My camera had to come out once again to capture this:





The bride had very fun t-shirt favors made for all the guests - I love the touristy cliche phrase on the backs. Uncle Phil is still my favorite though!

Special touches...

David & Tracy were married just over a week ago now (boy I'm behind) and had an absolutely lovely ceremony on Lime Tree Beach and a reception at the beautiful Villa Botanica. Unfortunately, I didn't get to grab as many photos of their day as I had wished.

I had some time to grab some photos of the flowers before everyone arrived...



The bride's all white bouquet...



I love this new trend with the boutonnieres...going all green instead of floral...



Once everyone arrived, there just wasn't time to pick up the camera again. But my favorite elements of the day really had to do with the reception and I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of the complete set up. I was at Villa Botanica earlier and can you believe I didn't have my camera with me? But I was able to capture these elements with my iPhone - judge for yourself the quality of iPhone pictures!

The first is of the centerpieces that Tracey had brought down with her. She purchased these at IKEA and had them spray painted a bronze color. We then took rose heads and surrounded the inside flowers. They came out just beautifully.



But...drum roll...here is my favorite part of their wedding - the place cards that doubled as favors that doubled again as an entree chart for the caterer. These sand dollars were placed at each individuals table. Orange indicated fish, blue indicated beef...very easy for the waitstaff to know who got what! They were pre-strung as well, so guests can take them home and use them as Christmas ornaments - love them!!

A most wonderful welcome!

Alyssa and Kurt were married last weekend, but my absolute favorite element of their wedding day actually took place the day before at their Welcome Party. Hosted at a beautiful beachside location, Iggies Beach Bar at Bolongo Bay Resort is the perfect spot to celebrate island style. There were so many elements of the welcome party that I loved, so the entire event is my favorite! Here are a few highlights...

A gorgeous sunset...


A meet & greet with a local Moko Jumbie! Moko Jumbies are good spirits dressed up to scare away bad spirits, as local legend goes (a jumbie is a bad spirit, "moko" means mock - a fake jumbie). Having a white moko jumbie at your welcome party keeps away any bad marital jumbies!



Here our bride gets down with the moko jumbie!



Once the sun went down and everyone's belly was full, we had the famous fire eater & broken bottle dancer "Princess Diana" perform for the guests...





Princess Di showed the groom and the groomsmen a few island moves...



But probably my favorite part of the night was a performance by Pyros of the Caribbean! I have some of this on video that I promise to post soon...