Thursday, February 28, 2013

February Recap!

I take so many pictures at weddings during the month with plans to blog certain things or use as a Facebook photo and I often never get around to it or simply forget that I have the photo. I'm diligent about filing my photos in folders each month and since I have this wonderful photo database, I decided to try something new: a monthly post featuring things from that months weddings! So either the last couple days or the first few days of each month, I will make a blog post of my favorite photos from the previous months weddings & events. I'm pretty excited about this new plan and getting to share items that may have previously just sat in my folders!

A gorgeous wedding on Water Island's Honeymoon Beach


A fun little baby's breath boutonniere (wrapped in twine):


Beachside reception at St. John's Oppenheimer Beach

The very best way to travel to your wedding - a golf cart! (also on Water Island)

Loooooooved this groom's seahorse tie clip!!
Absolutely gorgeous weather at every single wedding this month (this one at Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas):

Palms, palms, palms, on Magen's Bay


And at Brewer's Bay...


And pink champagne!


Best surprise of February?






Thank you so much to all my vendors & clients who voted for me!


Congrats to all our February couples!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Puppy Love....it's not just for weddings.

If you were married last week by Island Bliss Weddings, you probably didn't even know these little girls were in my car:






I am fostering these sweet little babies from the Humane Society of St. Thomas (click on the link to go their website but check them out on Facebook as well!). They are only a couple of weeks old so for the first week I had them, they slept about 23 hours a day. The other hour was spent bottle feedings and going potty. They were pretty easy to take along to a wedding! They are getting a little older and more active now so I think after this week, they'll be old enough to stay home while "momma" heads out to work. I've had a great time caring for them and will soon start looking for a new home for them.

But since I'm talking puppies...did you know you can adopt a shelter pet from St. Thomas or St. John and take a pup or kitten home with you? Or even a full sized dog or cat! This would be a great little souveniere from your trip, right?!

Even if you're not in the market for a new family member, the shelters here are desperate for escorts. Our shelter has a great relationship with some no kill shelters in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They are always looking for volunteers to help escort a dog or cat to these airports (and New York). If you're flying out of one of these airports and are willing to volunteer (it's no cost to you and they will meet you at the airport with the lucky pup), please contact me or our Humane Society so we can set you up with saving a life!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Moko Jumbies!

Moko Jumbies have a rich Caribbean heritage. Translated to mean "fake spirit" Moko Jumbies dance around to scare off bad spirits and bad karma. I love the whole atmosphere of a Moko Jumbie - I even have some Moko Jumbie art in my home, you know to keep me and my family safe from evil spirits! =)

Did you know you can hire Moko Jumbies for your wedding reception? What a great way to start your marriage - rid the air of any negativity and start your lives together with good karma and a Caribbean blessing!

Check out this video I found on YouTube - this is from a performance at one of the resorts in our neighboring British Virgin Islands:


Some beautiful lantern details...

Lanterns are definitely a hot thing this year. Island Bliss has been stock piling different options! They look great as aisle decor, centerpieces, accent lighting, etc. Here are some pictures of options and set ups we have done so far this year:

Centerpieces:





Photo Courtesy of Elisha Orin

Photo Courtesy of Elisha Orin

Accent decor:

St. John Weddings






Aisle decor:

Photo Courtesy of Elisha Orin

St. Thomas Weddings

Photo Courtesy of Crown Images
As you can imagine, it is easy to mix lanterns with ceremony & reception decor and it can be quiet easy to reuse the lanterns on the aisle for centerpieces for dinner. And you know the rule on St. John beaches about no glass? The white lanterns above (under accent decor) have no glass so they are perfect "St. John Beach Wedding Rules Safe"!


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Congrats to Sherri & Bill

Sherri & Bill were married back in December on Brewer's Bay Beach. Sherri sent me over a few photos to share (love when brides do that!).




St. Thomas wedding





Thanks for sharing Sherri!

Monday, February 11, 2013

The hot color for 2013

I often have friends ask me "so what's the hot new things for weddings this year?" - you know, all my old married friends that are knee deep in diapers and what seems like centuries away from our wedding days! It's interesting to watch the trends over the years. When I was married, pink & green were really popular, then it was pink & orange...now its coral, coral and more coral! I got an email from Old Navy this morning with the "coral report" and instantly thought these could make inexpensive bridesmaid dresses:






A quick trip over to Pinterest and you can see board after board of coral insprirations:








Definitely check out our Pinterest pages for more ideas to "coralize" your wedding!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Hawksnest...with no deer! =)


Thank you to Awolfey Productions for sharing this video clip with us. I absolutely loved this brides dress, isn't she gorgeous?! It had just the right amount of sparkle.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Best parts of my job...

Are the unexpected surprises. We showed up to our wedding on Hawksnest Beach last Thursday morning to one extra guest (uninvited and not exactly welcomed) on the beach. Thankfully, our groom wasn't unfamiliar with deer.

Virgin Islands Wedding

This was a little extra challenging when it came to photos. You can just barely see the "guest" in this background shot during the vows.


Yowza! Did I really post a picture of a dead deer on a wedding blog?! Some surprises are a little less, um....morbid. This bride & groom were enjoying a loving moment during their vows:

Virgin Islands weddings

They had brought their own iPod to play music during the ceremony and apparently forgot to take it off shuffle...so right in the middle of the vows, Marvin Gaye starts to encourage us all to "get it on".


 That's not the embarrassing part for this couple. The embarrassing part is that their three teenage and young adult children were watching. 


 We had such a good laugh! These kids were awesome by the way - this couple is definitely blessed with a beautiful family and one I'm sure they will always continue to laugh with, especially with boys like this: