Keep on checking

those SPAM filters. I don't know how to fix the problem, but a lot of my emails are ending up in spam boxes. We did get the problem solved with the emails getting there - all my emails should be arriving...but again, I'd say half of them are ending up in spam boxes. So please check your spam filter!

Etsy Highlight

I should start doing these Etsy highlights every once in awhile. I know I like it when someone points something out on their site! I saw these this morning and think they are just one of the coolest weddings gifts - so simple and something I think a bride would cherish for years and years to come.

Made by "MadeOfClay" - check them out!

And just in the interest of full disclosure, I am never paid or even asked to promote etsy or any of their sellers. But if any sellers want to give me free stuff, I'll be sure to blog about you! hahahaha!

Something on the water...

I get this request a lot from brides looking for a luncheon or dinner location for their guests. We did a wedding last month on Oppenhiemer Beach, St. John and hosted the dinner right on the porch of the pavillion that is there on the beach. We had originally planned to have the dinner right on the beach, but the storm surge was so high that the beach just wasn't there! But the gentle waves came crashing in all night and it was a lovely setting.

I love these chair signs that the bride's brother made for her.

You like videos, right?

Sure you do! I don't know if it's my internet connection or not, but it took FORVER for this 4 minute video to download on YouTube. Hopefully those stateside do not have to wait as long. But if you do, it is TOTALLY worth the wait. I suggest turning the music off on your computer, let it play through once (slooowly downloading) and then once it's done, hit replay with the music on.

This was an event we helped out with in collaboration with Havana Blue. It was so much fun to work on! And I can't get over what an amazing job their video guy did - Glen Elliott of www.gmelliottvideo.com - awesome!

Worse than I thought!

If you have been waiting for more than 5 days for an email from me, please email me again! It's recently come to light that some of my emails aren't even making it into Spam folders, they're just not showing up anywhere! Yet, oddly, I can forward sent messages from my sent folder from my iPhone and THOSE go through?? What is up with that?? Does anyone know what the problem may be??

If you have emailed me since Friday and are still waiting for a response, just hold your horses. Getting to all my emails after the holiday weekend tomorrow! =)

SPAM Filters!

If you have been waiting for an email from me, please check your spam folder to see if my response got caught up in there. I've been using Yahoo Small Business services since I started Island Bliss Weddings and I think Yahoo has done something recently to upgrade their spam filters. Unfortunately, I'm getting a lot of bridal emails in my spam folder and I know a lot of the emails I am sending out are getting caught in spam folders as well. Even if I have received an email from you with no problems in the past, a lot of these emails are going into spam now - no idea why! Fortunately, I am aware of the problem and always check my spam folder before emptying it, but for those that are waiting for a response from me, may not be aware that it is already there, just hanging out in the spam box. My husband is trying to convince me to switch to a different email provider, like Microsoft Outlook, but I'm a very old dog that doesn't like the idea of learning new tricks. May give it a shot soon though....

Haiti

Dear Everyone,

I do apologize for my lack of blog posts - I have many ideas in que that need to be blogged. But I do want to put everything on the back burner for just a moment so that we can shed some attention on the situation in Haiti. I want everyone to know that everyone in St. Thomas is safe & sound - Haiti is far enough away from us that we couldn't have felt the earthquake. But Haiti is still a sister nation to us, a part of the Caribbean and a country that I have much compassion for. I wanted to share my post from my personal blog here today to further spread awareness of an organization that is very dear to me. I'm sorry to be such a downer, as a wedding blog should be anything but depressing! But as I was telling my husband some of the information I had heard on the news this morning, he jokingly called me Ms. Sunshine, as in maybe I shouldn't be talking about such depressing items so early in the morning. But I reminded him, it's much easier to turn a blind eye than to offer a helping hand but it is not the right thing to do. Spreading the news and asking for help for this impoverished nation is important. So here is my post and I do hope that everyone will do their part to send aide to Haiti, either though the organization that I am mentioning below, the Red Cross (www.redcross.org) or to Wyclef Jean's foundation, Yele Haiti (www.yele.org), please do what you can to help.

Haiti

When I heard about the earthquake in Haiti last night, my mind immediately flew to God's Littlest Angels, a Haitian orphanage (http://www.glahaiti.org). I first leaned about this orphanage while watching Adoption Stories on TV - I'm captivated by these shows, I would love nothing more than to adopt a child one day. Ever since learning about this organization, I've been doing what I can to send them donations. This particular orphanage in Haiti really held onto my heart, as it is close to "home". Haiti is a Caribbean nation that has been hit hard in so many ways - natural disasters, infrastructure both architecturally and politically...Haiti needs help.

I went to their website as soon as I heard the news, not expecting to see much but was surprised to see an update:

NOTICE: WE ARE FINE AFTER THE 7.0 EARTHQUAKE. THE HOUSE SWAYED AND SHOOK. KNOCKED DOWN PEOPLE, KIDS, THE FOOD OFF THE STOVE FOR SUPPER, ALL OF MY GLASS WARE OUT OF THE CABINET, BUT WE ARE ALL OK! SHOOK UP A LITTLE, BUT OK! WILL POST MORE LATER! STILL HAVING AFTERSHOCKS AN HOUR AFTER THE MAIN EARTHQUAKE! PLEASE PRAY FOR US AND FOR HAITI!

And an update from this morning:

2:30 AM on Wednesday We continue to have strong aftershocks every 10 minutes or so. the children are sleeping outside in the drive. Even our little babies are outside tonight!

I'm sure you can imagine the relief I felt when I saw this. The thought of their structure collapsing wrenched my stomach. I spent some more time on their site and also saw this:

Times are difficult financially for many of us throughout the world. GLA has seen a decline in donations to our general funds. The general funds account is what buys food, diapers, formula, and pays our Haitian staff. Due to this decrease in general funds, we are now asking all of our donors to only give to the general funds account until March of 2010. After March, we will start taking designated funds for our building project and education again. Hopefully, this will help provide the food and childcare supplies that we need to keep the orphanage running smoothly.

Haiti is in need of so much help right now and I hope that we are all planning to do our part in the relief efforts. I just wanted to share this special piece of Haiti with the rest of you - please keep these children & this home in your hearts & minds. There is a Paypal button on their website if you have a Paypal account and can afford to send them some funding - the next few months I'm sure are going to be tough on them. I'm also keeping in my heart the families that are in the midst of their adoption process...with the country's capitol in such chaos and ruins, I can only imagine the emotions they are going through as all they want to do is bring their child (or children) home.

Just a little ways away!

Now that the holidays are fully over (so sad, I'm going to miss them!), I am getting bombarded with emails from brides that have been putting off their planning until after the holidays. It's kind of fun to watch my inbox fill up...there are the brides that vowed to email me before 2009 was over, so that they could ring in the new year knowing that particular task was off their plate...the ones that waited for their new year hangovers to subside and then email me with details and questions...and of course, those new years eve engagements asking for more information. Needless to say, my inbox has been growing and I've been staying up late to make sure I get to everyone. We have our first wedding of 2010 tomorrow and I'm going back and forth between preparing for that and getting those answers out to brides.

We spent some time over the weekend updating the site - take a look and tell me what you think! I did away with the Island Bliss Weddings header at the top and replaced it with some wedding photos. We tweaked some of the packages (all packages booked prior will remain the same) and plan to add more packages in the next week or so. Exciting times and exciting changes!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!