Get a picture of that ship!

Sage from Crown Images posted these photos of our wedding last week on her Facebook page. I love when a bride has a photographer either meet them at the ship or go back with them at the end of the day for a photo in front of the ship. The ship is after all a part of your wedding day! Naomi and James...congrats on a gorgeous wedding day!

Before the ceremony...

After the ceremony!

The Oasis of the Seas is such a beautiful ship! The ceremony on Lindquist Beach was just as striking, thanks in part to Naomi's great sense of style!

Thank you Crown Images for the photos!

Speaking of St. John weddings...

Blue Glass Photography sent me these images of our Trunk Bay Wedding last week. Just love them!

Large bamboo arch with matching bamboo runner:

These photos couldn't be any prettier. You can't beat Trunk Bay weddings at sunset.

Congrats to Jake & Melissa!

St. John Beach Weddings

I just came back from a very important meeting from the Virgin Islands National Parks. They had called a special meeting to meet with the wedding planners who hold permits that allow us to have weddings on their beaches. It is very important to know that only 8 wedding planners have this permit (this is the limit they allow at the National Parks). If you hire a wedding planner that does NOT have a special permit, your wedding is at risk! I have noticed a few local wedding planning services that advertise for weddings on St. John and they do not have a permit. This make me nervous for the bride & grooms that hire them. Last thing you want at your wedding is a park ranger yelling that you are not allowed to be there!

The meeting was to go over certain rules & regulations that are strictly enforced. I am listing out the rules here to make it easier to refer to them as needed - we will add these rules to our FAQ Guide and will send a link to all our St. John brides.

Rules for wedding on the beaches of St. John's National Parks:

• Weddings held on the beach prior to 4:45pm can only have a maximum of 25 guests in attendance. 
• Weddings held on the beach after 4:45pm can only have a maximum of 60 guests in attendance. 
• Peace Hill will only allow a maximum of 30 guests. 
• No more than 25 chairs can be set up on the beach.
• Absolutely no fake/silk rose petals to be used anywhere in the National Park. All real rose petals must be picked up, one by one, if used on the beach. We can face penalties if the rose petals are not picked up and therefore do not allow them (for our sunset weddings, it is often dusk by time the last guests leave and we can't risk trying to pick up rose petals in the dark! Petals also get lost under the sand and can become "unearthed" later. Not worth getting in trouble with and possibly losing our permit over). 
• No amplified music on the beach - no iPods with amps, no amplifiers for guitarist, violinist, etc.
• You must pay the $4 entry fee to Trunk Bay if your wedding takes place between the hours of 8:30am and 4pm. 
• No signs can be tied, affixed with ropes or straps, to any trees within the National Park boundry
• No tables can be brought in, only picnic tables can be used
• No glass on the beach - this means no sand ceremonies that involve glass vases (check here for an alternative)

Certain rules pertaining to Cinnamon Bay Beach weddings:

• Between Thanksgiving Weekend and May 1st, no weddings are permitted on Cinnamon Bay Beach unless the bride & groom are guests of the Cinnamon Bay Campground
• From May 2nd to the start of Thanskgiving weekend, weddings will only be allowed with the approval of Cinnamon Bay Campground Management
• No food or beverages may be served at Cinnamon Bay Beach unless provided by Cinnamon Bay
• All chairs for weddings must be rented from Cinnamon Bay, you cannot order these from an outside vendor (ex. your wedding planner or rental company)
• During the months of October to June, no weddings will be held after 5:45pm
• During the months of July to September, no weddings will be held after 6:30pm
• The maximum amount of guest at any time will be 25
• All Cinnamon Bay weddings must be arranged at least one month in advance

Things other wedding planners may have told you that are not true:

• You do not need a special permit to have an archway for your ceremony
• You can arrange for a rental company to bring chairs for your wedding, your wedding planer is not your only option for chair rental

Photographers: this is tricky! I actually need to call and verify this information and will update it at soon as I have it correct, but from my understanding now:

• If you hire a local photographer on your own, they must have their own permit with the beach
• If you hire a photographer through Island Bliss Weddings, our permit covers their liability
• Bringing a photographer with you: this is what I need to verify with the parks department and whether or  not this photographer will need to obtain their own park permit 

Phew! That was a lot of rules! It is very, very important that we follow them though.

PS Thank you Blue Glass Photography for the above images!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It may be a day earlier but we're just about the head out the door with a full day of events - this week has been crazy busy with over a dozen weddings & events! I know I owe many brides emails. We usually respond within 24 hours but I know there are a few in my inbox from Sunday and maybe even Saturday that I haven't been able to respond to yet. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I will be out of the office all day today with events and our office will be closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving. My Black Friday will consist of parking my butt in front of the computer and responding to all those emails!

For now, I'll leave you with this beautiful photos by Mike Garcia of Toes in the Sand Photography...

A St. Peter's Greathouse Wedding

I had a lot of fun planning with the bride & her mother. Allison's mother had seen St. Peter's Greathouse while visiting the island a few years ago. When her daughter started talking about a destination wedding, she immediately sold her on St. Peter's. I knew Allison was a little nervous throughout the planning process as she didn't see me post a lot of pictures of the Greathouse and was wondering if they had made the right call. I think after Allison saw the venue on her wedding day, she knew right away how gorgeous it was!

The ceremony site with 180 degree views. 

Amazing centerpieces in the ballroom:

Fun lighting:

And a scrumptious cake by Island Sweet Stuff:

Gorgeous orchid bouquet...

First I want to thank Mike from Toes in the Sand Photography for sending me these photos:

I had forgotten to get a photo of the bouquet prior to the ceremony and my far away shot didn't come out nearly as nice!

Maximize your photos!

Yvonne & Jon were married just a few weeks ago on Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas. They arrived via cruise ship on the Ruby Princess with about 35 of their closest friends & family. After a catered lunch on the beach, Yvonne & Jon headed out with their photographer, Alain Brin of Blue Glass Photography, to capture even more exciting shots around the island. You are only here for a day, why not take advantage of it and get some amazing photos?!

A few shots before the ceremony...

Of course, the group shot!

Beach photos...

And then off to explore!

Drakes Seat....

A few urban shots...

Some shots along the ruins...

I love this photo - it looks like an old post card!

Congrats Yvonne & Jon - thanks Blue Glass for the great photos!

Congrats to Katrina & Robert!

Catching up on my October favorites challenge! This post highlights Katrina & Rob's wedding on 10/17/12 on Brewer's Bay. Brewer's Bay is a beautiful spot for weddings with a ton of great photo backdrop ideas. My favorite element? The ruins of Brewer's Bay!

Check out some more of their photos by Megan Biggs Photography:

Gorgeous!

Congrats to Nancy & Steven!

We had six weddings on 10/11/12 and I think Nancy was the last one we booked! She is part of my "October favorites challenge" - I would have blogged it sooner, but I just got the photos late last week from her photographer. My favorite element? A blue jean'd groom!

Number one rule in wedding attire: Be Yourself, Wear What You Love!

Want to holiday shop with me?!

Gina from Isola Bella emailed me photos of her new sea fan coral fashion jewelry collection...

Wouldn't these make great gifts for your bridesmaids? Not only are they tropical & elegant, but they are designed by a local Virgin Island artist. This would be an amazing token of your appreciation and a wonderful reminder of your time together in the islands.

I'm planning to place an order soon with Gina - so if you want in on it, email me!

Cuff: $60
Rings (sizes 6, 7 or 8): $28
Necklace: $48
Earrings: $32

Ice sculptures in the islands?!

It's true - they are possible!

A fun Cruzan Rum Ice Luge! Our couple had this set up by Dean's Cakes & Ice at their Villa Botanica wedding. It was quite the hit with wedding guests!

Love this aisle decor idea...

I should clarify that this is not a photo of one of my weddings. I found the photo on Pinterest and forgot to note the source. But I love this idea for aisle decor. I think there are two great ways to do this...as above, these are photos of the bride & groom as children - you could start with a baby photo and work your way down the aisle so that the last photo could be an engagement photo. A little progression of your lives.

I thought of another idea although it could be real tear jerker. What about putting photos of loved ones that have passed in the frames? It would be a lovely way to incorporate their memory & spirit in the wedding day. And if it was a father that had passed and there were photos of dad lining the aisle, it would almost be a way for dad to walk the bride down the aisle....I love this idea but honestly, what bride would be able to make it down that aisle with a dry eye?! May be too tough to pull off.

We have a winner!!!

The winner of our October giveaway is....drum roll.....STACY WILLIAMS!!

We had 16 enter the contest so we assigned a number to each entry and entered 1 through 16 in the random number selector at random.org. Number 2 was the winner and that was Stacy! Congrats Stacy! Send me an email with your mailing address and we'll get your winnings out to you asap!

A lovely little ceremony at Secret Harbor...

I coordinated a wedding yesterday for Kathleen and Eddy and woke up this morning (first to see who won the presidency!) and second, to find these amazing photos in my email from Blue Glass Photography. The photos are so beautiful but what I love most about them is you can really see the love in Kathleen and Eddy's eyes. Kathleen is one of those people that you meet and are instantly friends with her - she is nothing but sweetness and kindness and I'm so happy for her. You can tell she and Eddy will have a long and happy life together!

I cannot get over how beautiful this water is! Blue Glass has a magical touch for bringing out all the details of the waters. It's almost like you could find the fish swimming around!

Congrats Kathleen & Eddy - you two were so much fun to work with!