Saturday, August 27, 2011

A unique cocktail hour...

Earlier this month we had a wedding at one of my favorite spots, Peace Hill on St. John. There is an old sugar mill ruin there that adds to its beauty. Our bride & groom decided to have a pre-ceremony cocktail hour for their guests and what better place to have it than INSIDE the sugar mill?? Not only was it incredibly unique, but it also provided much appreciated shade for the guests!


Here are a few other images of the ceremony and Peace Hill.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Sunset colors...

These photos are pictures I took with my little camera at last weeks wedding on Brewer's Bay. The bride & groom really wanted romantic sunset photos and it is always a little stressful as a wedding planner...as sunsets are completely out of my control! And very hard to time...this particular glow only lasted about 15 minutes. But what a great 15 minutes it was, giving the photographer enough time to capture some really wonderful sunset images!




There are a lot of questions that pop up when a couple wishes to be married at sunset. A lot of times, you imagine saying your vows while the sky looks like this...but keep in mind, 10 minutes later, the sun is gone and it is now DARK outside. Which means terrible light for group, family and portrait shots after the ceremony. We normally schedule the ceremony about 1 hour before the scheduled sunset - this allows for great lighting for the ceremony, time for photos after and then just shots of the bride & groom together (which are going to the ones you love the most).

Another question is...which beach has the best sunset?? Lime Tree Beach and Brewer's are the two that really face the sunset, but that doesn't mean you can't get great sunset photos at other beaches. Lindquist Beach has amazing lighting around this time of day, very soft and even for photographer. But it does face east, so your sunset is going to look different....



I had someone ask me the other day, what time of year is best for sunsets? Honestly, there isn't a good or bad time...it all depends on the conditions on that day (dust in the air is good, so are clouds...but of course, too many clouds and the sunset is blocked!). The timing of the ceremony is important too. It's tricky, but with some luck, it can be done!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

They may even still be on their honeymoon...

Jennifer & Sean were just married last week, but they had HiDef Video put together a smaller version of their wedding video to share with loved ones as soon as they returned home. A larger version will be edited but for now, I love the sneak peak!

Jennifer and Sean from High Definition Video LLC on Vimeo.



Jennifer & Sean were married by Sean's father at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in St. John...the reception was just a short walk to Waterfront Bistro for the reception. I love how everything is so close by and you don't have to worry about transportation for your guests! Many of the guests were staying on St. Thomas and took the 2pm ferry over for the 3:30 ceremony. There are plenty of little bars and shops in Cruz Bay to keep guests occupied while they waited for the ceremony to begin.

Congrats Jennifer & Sean!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Love love love DIY

Most of my brides are in charge of their own favors and welcome bags and menu cards and the smaller little details that are used personalized to each event (match your invitations, colors, theme, etc). This is one of the elements that keeps my job so fun & entertaining; seeing the things that my clients put together! Here are some highlights from the last few weeks:

Fun ways to give favors. The boxes were filled with candy and the burlap bags had tea in them.





Fun drink parasols to direct guests where they are seated.




Great menu cards from a wedding we did at Sand Dollar Estates - love how the sand dollar on the menu ties into the name of the villa.


A perfect pair placed at the bride & groom's table.



Pomanders!

I'm seeing more and more interest in these flowery little balls! A pomander is the proper name for them, although I've been known to mistakenly call them pompadours.

I most often receive this photo (source unknown) from brides asking if this is something that can be created. And yes, it can be! We'll be doing a very similar set up for a wedding in October.



Here is how my brides have used them recently:

Carrie shipped down silk rose pomanders to be tied on the inside aisle of each chair. She was married at Sand Dollar Estates and we had the ceremony on the beach there.



Later, we moved the pomanders to cocktail hour and placed them on metal stands that were placed on hi boy tables.



A week later, we used them at Waterfront Bistro for Jen's wedding. The florist made up fresh flowers and we rented the candlesticks...three decorated the entry table:



And two decorated the cake table:



And if you haven't looked at the blog post below, check out how the moss pomanders were used to decorate one of the tables. This would also look very nice hanging on the chairs at the ceremony, maybe with one brightly colored floral bloom by the top where the ribbon would be (I think a gerbera daisy would work best).

Friday, August 12, 2011

Object: Splendor

Have I shared this site with you before? I love it, I think it's an awesome idea for brides. It's basically a website with some really cool ideas for table decor...and then you can buy elements of the table such as the votive, vases, sand dollars, etc. Or just copy the idea and buy them on your own. Not only do I think it's genius, their style is so fresh and modern. Check out some of their designs:








A lot of brides ask me if they have to purchase everything for the reception decor or if there are items to rent. The answer is always "yes and no". It really depends on what you have in mind. Between myself and the florist, we have a lot of elements for rent, but it's just impossible to own & store every single option out there. An upcoming bride of mine was the one that shared this website with me and she is planning to recreate the image with the blue planters. The florist nor myself own anything like those, but the bride was able to purchase very similar planters at her local craft store and will be sending them down. Another bride of mine wants a very similar look, so we have purchased them from the first bride and will reuse them for the 2nd bride and keep them on hand for anyone else that wants something similar. With limited resources on the island, I think it's fun for our brides to connect and share the different options!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

A Norbu Wedding

I had the privilege last month to coordinate a wedding at villa Norbu. This is not a villa that can rented for a week long stay, but is specifically designed for wedding & events. And specifically designed it is! Every detail of this place is completely thought out and top notch. The owners, Alain & Soolan Brin, are also the owners of Blue Glass Photography. Having such an intimate relationship with the wedding business, having been to millions of receptions, they knew exactly what was needed for a reception venue and nailed it.

I of course brought my camera along to share with you!

A few fun details provided by the bride.I thought her place cards were a great idea - each color represented a different type of entree which guests had pre-selected. It's always a great idea to have a way for the waitstaff to know who ordered what because guests never remember that when a waiter asks them what they ordered.




Very popular this year has been customized drink stirrers - they really add some color to the bar.



Guests made their way down a long path of stone staircases to reach the stone patio with amazing ocean views.







Back upstairs, dinner was set up under a beautiful white tent (what bride doesn't love a little rain security?!).




Gorgeous chiavari chairs and linens. Each place setting also had a fun little shell napkin ring.






Dancing by the pool after dinner...



Guests just raved about what a beautiful venue it was - I love when the wedding & reception is the highlight of everyone's Virgin Islands experience!

Monday, August 1, 2011

August 1st already?!

I can't believe that the summer months are already almost over! I even went on eBay this morning to order my daughter's Halloween outfits (I'm a bit of a planner, what can I say?). I still have so much to blog and now that our traditional high season is behind me, I hope to do a lot more blog posts this month. I will be away for almost three weeks in September, so hopefully I can do a marathon blog session this month and get everything I've been meaning to blog out of the way before my trip!

The flowers from last Friday's wedding reminded me of fall...the warm tones and the reds...



Loved the look of this boutonniere:



And the start of some pretty cool centerpieces:



As always, I'll be adding these to our Shutterfly albums at www.islandblissweddings.shutterfly.com - can you believe it's had over 25,000 hits?!?!