Gorgeous Destination Weddings

Love these kind of emails...

2012-01-24T18:58:00.001-08:00

From a recent bride:

Now that were back from St. Thomas and settled (back to work, ugh), I wanted to email and thank you and Stuart for everything with the planning of our ceremony. Please share this email with him too. I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to you both before we left for pictures. Last Saturday could not have been more perfect or amazing. It was everything we had hoped for. Our guests raved about it and some said it was the best wedding ceremony they have ever been to. Several guests also stated how great Stuart was presiding over the ceremony. It was like he knew us for years and didn't miss a beat. I've been stalking our mailbox since we've been back because I'm dying to see our wedding pictures from Blue Glass! Alain was wonderful! Thank you for all your recommendations, suggestions, and for always answering all my questions. No one would believe me when I told them how easy it was to plan everything over email and that I trusted someone miles away to handle everything. I post in several wedding/travel forums and have recommended your services to others and will continue to do so. We'll certainly contact you again in a few years when we renew our vows (hopefully I can get Jon to go back sooner, ha). Please take care and if you ever need anything in Pennsylvania, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Wonderful wedding favors...

2012-01-23T05:59:00.001-08:00

We see a lot of wedding favors around here. It's one of my favorite elements of the wedding day. Last week, a box arrived full of favors for our 1/18/12 wedding and after showing them to my husband he declared, "those are the nicest wedding favors I think I've ever seen". It's nice to have a hubby that has such an opinion on such matters. =)

Without further ado, take a look at these beautiful photo albums:

Each album was wrapped with a name tag & raffia.

Inside was a personalized note to each guest from the bride & groom.

And each album had an engagement picture (taken by Elisha Orin) to start the album off:

I just loved these! And they even made a brief appearance in their wedding video by Andrew Orleans:

leighanna and jacob from andrew orleans on Vimeo.

Winner of the Bride's Choice Award 2012!

2012-01-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

Yeah us!

As a recipient, we are recognized as part of the top 5% of Wedding Professionals nationwide!

Wedding Videos...

2012-01-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

I've seen a decline in brides requesting videographers for their wedding over the last year. I blame it on economy. I think brides think "I'm already paying for photography so video needs to go" when trimming the budget. While I think you need to do what is best for you, your wedding and your financial future, I have to say I think the brides in the following videos would tell you that they treasure their videos more than anything. Here are a few of my favorite video clips from weddings we have done over the last few years...

This wedding was at Our Lady of Perpetual Help with the reception at Havana Blue, captured by the amazing Glen Elliott:

This wedding was at Villa Botanica on one of the rainest days of they year, captured by the fabulous Star Fruit Productions:

This video was by Andrew Orleans - the better half of Elisha Orin. Our bride & groom got ready at the Sugar & Spice Luxe Studios after arriving on the Freedom of the Seas. Their ceremony & mini-reception was hosted by the beautiful Oceana in Frenchtown, St. Thomas.

leighanna and jacob from andrew orleans on Vimeo.

This bride & groom were married on St. John in the cutest little church in Cruz Bay with their reception at the Ocean Grille. This was produced locally by the wonderful HiDef Video team.

Help us support The Adventure Project!

2012-01-16T12:51:00.001-08:00

Did you know over 1/2 a MILLION people in Haiti are still living in tents?

Island Bliss Weddings just donated $100 to purchase 5 life changing charcoal-efficient stoves for needy families in Haiti with the support of The Adventure Project. And you can help too! Donate $20 to project and we'll take $25 off your wedding invoice!

Learn more about the Adventure Project...watch this video.

Then donate here and let us know you did!

Congratulations Jennie & Jonathon!

2012-01-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

I had two weddings yesterday - one was for Jennie & Jonathon, the other was for Jemmie & James. Yes...two brides...Jemmie & Jennie! They were both lovely to work with but I have to say, I'm kind of glad that day is over. Trying to keep them straight was headache inducing!

Jennie & Jonathon hired Blue Glass Photography to capture their day and Alain, their photographer, emails me these photos today. Just wanted to share, especially since I love the downtown photos more than anything else...

Ceremony at Lime Tree Beach...

Ringing in the New Year...

2012-01-05T10:05:00.001-08:00

It's 2012 and the year of the Dragon - not really sure what that means other than it's going to be an awesome year! This time of year is always very busy for us. A lot of our spring and summer brides put their wedding plans on hold to enjoy the holidays and then we get a flood of emails from them come January. A lot of couples were engaged over the holidays, we see a flood of new inquiries. It's also the time of year that we revamp a lot of our photos, procedures, website, etc to get ready for the new year. We've been reaching out to new venues, old venues and evaluating current venues. We've tested out some new vendors. We've got a new part-time coordinator. I know I'm excited for 2012!

Have a Safe & Happy New Year's!

2011-12-31T04:44:00.001-08:00

I'll be celebrating tonight with friends at The Banana Tree Grille at Bluebeard's Castle, toasting in the New Year watching the fireworks over the harbor! And I'll be thinking of all my future clients who just may be getting engaged this very night.

See you all in 2012!

She's my lobster...

2011-12-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

It's finally safe to post this since the Christmas holiday is past! My bride Brooke was married earlier this month at the St. Peter & Paul Cathedral in St. Thomas. She was the cutest little thing:

(I'm sure her photographer Sage Crown Parker got a better exit shot that I did!)

Brooke surprised her groom with a special lobster ring pillow. Must like Ross & Rachael of friends, they are each other's lobster (awwww).

The very next day, I took my children to a holiday bazaar at a local school and there was a old man, looking much like Santa himself, selling ornaments he cut from wood and painted by hand. I pretty much buy an ornament from him whenever I see him at such local fairs but one in particular caught my eye and I knew I had to get it for the newlyweds!

How perfect is that for them?! I had the artist add "St. Thomas" and their wedding date to the back and mailed it off to them. Of course, it will have to wait until next Christmas to hang on their tree as they are spending the holidays honeymooning in French Polynesia!! I'm not sure my gift is as exciting as their honeymoon is, but I'm sure it will make them smile for years to come!

Happy Holidays from Island Bliss Weddings!

2011-12-23T11:07:00.001-08:00

Everything Happy Holiday Card

Shop hundreds of holiday photo cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

No matter what you are celebrating this month, I hope it happy & festive!

I will be working "lightly" over the weekend, in between baking cookies & constructing holiday crafts with those two cuties in the above picture. My computer will be shut off all day on Sunday though. I'm excited to celebrate & focus on the family! Enjoy a great holiday season and see you Monday!

Confirmation Emails

2011-12-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

Towards the end of each month, we contact each upcoming bride for the upcoming month with a "confirmation email". I usually send this out the last week or two of the current month (for instance, brides that are getting married between Jan. 1st and Jan. 10th will get a confirmation email from me within the next few days - the rest will go out next week).

The purpose of the confirmation email is to go over the timeline & details of the wedding day - everything from the ship or hotel you will be picked up from to where you will be dropped off at the end of the day. This is the time to make sure we are on the same page with every detail - and is often the time that we catch any inconsistencies. DON'T FREAK OUT if there are inconsistencies - that's the whole point of the confirmation email, to catch them! Often times we are spending a year or more going through the details of the wedding day so to sit down and compact everything in one email, mistakes can be made (hey - I'm only human - a human planning over a hundred weddings at any one time!).

We don't send the confirmation out too early because things change quite frequently with wedding planning - you may decide that you want to make your own bouquets for the bridesmaids instead of ordering fresh ones - your best man may not be able to come last minute - Aunt Sue and her family decide to come - numbers are always changing and DIY projects may grow (or shrink) so the confirmation doesn't go out until we're pretty confident things will be as planned; usually a month prior to the date. Of course this doesn't mean we hide the details of the wedding day until then. We plan the timeline together from the beginning and the fun details like flowers, the ceremony set-up, the music - those all fall in to place throughout the planning process.

While the confirmation emails may not be perfect from the moment you get it, we send it out with enough time to make any necessary changes, so that on the wedding day, everything will go perfectly and you'll be toasting your blissful wedding day with a big smile on your face!

(photo by Brooke Anthony of our Simple Island Photography team)

FAQ Round-up

2011-12-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

In the next few days/weeks, I'll add a few blog post that will help to answer our most FAQs. I am compiling our most common questions and will publish them on the website as soon as they are done. My last two posts (Your Bridal Bouquet & Aaaaand...Centerpieces!) were both created so that when it came time to talk to a bride about her bouquet & centerpieces, I could refer her to these posts. I think they are very helpful in figuring out how flowers here work. I'm planning to make a few posts about other topics as well, and adding the link to the blog post to the FAQ form. I wanted to give my frequent readers a heads up...just in case you wonder why in the heck I'm talking about site fees and transportation!

With the new FAQ in mind...if you can think of any questions that you would like to see on the list, please email me or leave them in the comments. I am up to almost 13 pages right now! You can bet I know a lot of FAQs! But I'd love to see more.

Aaaand...centerpieces!

2011-12-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

My bridal bouquet post was a big hit! I'm glad everyone found it so helpful. I really needed to get it written. It's hard to explain how flowers work on a tropical island and I think I've written that exact post in emails about 100 times in the past couple of years (sans pictures, which I'm sure made it more confusing for brides). I've received a few questions about centerpieces...does it work the same way? And then I posted a FABULOUS centerpiece picture on our Facebook page last weekend and that sparked some questions as well. So I decided to do another blog post on how centerpieces work.

The quick answer is, yes, they do work the same way. I think this photo is a perfect example:

A bride recently sent me this photo to see how much a centerpiece like this would cost for her reception. I showed it to our florist, who said an exact replica of this would be $600 but if they had the freedom of what flowers to use, it would be $400 (that's a significant savings...imagine if you had to do 10 tables...that's a $2000 cost difference). The centerpieces would look the same, but just different flowers would be used.

My centerpieces for last weekends wedding sparked a lot of interest. My iPhone did not do them justice. Here are some pictures from a real camera:

This is really a perfect example of how centerpieces work here. All of the elements to our method apply. First, the bride sent me this photo and asked for a price quote:

As you can see for yourself...1) It's beautiful....but 2) there isn't a TON of info to go on. I knew she liked the sea fans, the blue orchids, the overall white theme (she was ok with green too) with the blue accents...but you can't see what type of base the flowers are in, or the overall size/shape of the centerpiece. My bride was going to have long dinner tables, so we envisioned this to be the length of the table. My bride did not care what type of containers the flowers were in so I suggested something low to the table. This way guests can easily see over them and so that we weren't spending too much money on rentals (a clear glass square vase is going to be more expensive than a cheap plastic bowl that you won't even see because it is so low to the table). The bride did not care about what type of white flowers were used. She did really want the blue orchids but as it is just the same for bouquets, I told her lets just request the blue orchids but not demand them. I was pretty confident that the florist would be able to use them without us specifying that they were a "must have" which overall, is going to save you money. You just have to be willing to live without them if they are not available.

The florist, as I predicted, was able to use the blue dendrobium orchids, and she included the sea fans and the starfish (which were returned to her after the wedding). She used a low bowl so guests did not see what the flowers were in. This centerpiece (per table - note: two tables were used in the above pictures) was $200 per table. But, as gorgeous as this table was, not every element was provided by me, or the florist. The bride added her own special touches, which I set up for her (that's part of my job - you want to mail me something and have me set it up? I'm happy to do so! I love to see what my brides come up with on their own). So...let me break it down some more:

Provided by the florist: vases with sand...sea fans...starfish...flower arrangements

Provided by me: arrangement on the table (I got so many compliments for it too! I felt bad...it was the brides vision and the florist put the flowers together...I just arranged them on the table - I guess this is where my education in design helps me out)

Provided by the bride: table runner, name card holders & name cards, blue votive holders

I have an album on our Shutterfly pages called "Fun Stuff" (help me out with a cooler name!). This album highlights the items that our brides do on their own, like those really cool name card holders and blue votives. I once had a bride ask me for pricing on a few items she found in the "Fun Stuff" album and I had explained to her that those were items that past brides had brought with them or shipped in advance. Her response was "so I have to bring everything I want with me???" and NO...you don't. But often times, it IS cheaper. For one, I am not a party supply rental company. I don't have the storage space (although I do have the hoarder tendencies!). For this particular wedding, the bride wanted blue votive holders...the next may want red, or green, or silver, etc. You might need five...or fifty! There is not a company on the island that we can rent these items from and I know my husband would kill me if I tried to collect every color! So yes, it's cheaper to purchase these types of items on your own. You can send them to me in advance or bring them with you (if you order online, you can have items sent directly to me, which saves in you shipping fees - don't send them to yourself just to box them up again and send them to me). We can pretty much get anything you need or want, but more often than not, you'll be able to get it cheaper on your own. Between the florist and myself, we do have some elements for centerpieces to rent (the florist has a ton of different sized, colored and shaped vases) so don't buy anything without checking with me first to see if we already have it here.

By the way...how freaking GORGEOUS was my bride?? Check her out as she admires her centerpieces:

My photo...

And a gorgeous photo by Blue Glass Photography...

Your Bridal Bouquet

2011-12-04T03:12:00.001-08:00

I get a lot of questions on the bouquets and I have to admit, the answers are a little confusing. Unlike florists in the mainland, our local florists do not have a local flower market that they can attend and pick out the flowers that they want for their shop (have you ever been to a flower market? They are pretty cool). And, because we are a tropical island out in the middle of the Caribbean sea...ALL of our flowers are flown in, three or four times a month. Unlike your local florist that can get next day delivery on a flower order...our shops have to put in their order at least two weeks in advance.

I work directly with my brides on their floral order - this actually helps to keep the price of your flowers down, as the florist gives me a special rate on the flowers because I simply submit my order and save her time. I can spend two weeks and 20 emails going back and forth with a bride just discussing her bouquet...this is a job that I save my florist from doing and since I'm saving her time, I'm saving you money!

There are a few different price structures in bouquets - I'm going to do my best to describe them here, along with examples of recent weddings we have had.

Our smallest packages have a "small gathering of flowers" and everyone wants to know what the difference between this and a full sized bouquet is. This picture shows the difference perfectly:

The bouquet in the larger packages is a "color choice" only bouquet. The florist will use her judgement and stock to choose the type of flowers, but you are guaranteed the colors you choose. Here are some examples from recent weddings:

Bride J requested "purples & ivories" for her bouquet, which was included in her package. This is the bouquet that our florist made for her:

With just the simple request of ivories & purples, we received a bouquet of roses, dendrobium orchids and peonies. Now, here's the kicker...if the bride would have asked me to order lilac & ivory roses with peonies and purple dendrobium orchids...this bouquet would have been an additional $110 to her package price. This is because the flowers above are what the florist happened to have in stock when it was time to make the bouquet. She knew a month in advance that she would need these colors - but she was able to adjust her order so that she'd have these colors while still keeping other orders in mind. If the bride was specific on the type of flowers used, then the florist would have adjusted her order to make sure these specific flowers were in stock and by doing that, she would have had to increase her order...therefore increasing the cost of the bouquet.

Let's keep going...Bride A sent me this picture and said "I like this - something like this would be great":

She didn't really care if other types of flowers were used, just that it had a similar look and feel. This is what she received:

Pretty good, right?? And at no additional cost. You have to be flexible with the type of flowers and you can get a really gorgeous bouquet (do not fret, our florist NEVER uses carnations).

You can get a bit specific on things you like, as well as things you do not like, but these are never guaranteed unless you are paying a higher price. Bride D asked for: pinks, oranges and yellows. NO gerbera daisies. Likes: lilies (orange & yellow), orchids (green cymbidiums, blue & purple dendrobiums), gloriosa lilies, roses...lots of color. Boutonniere to be an orange flower. Here is what she received:

Now, the first thing the bride said to me was how beautiful the flowers were...the second thing was, "where are the green orchids?". That's the thing about color choice only...you are not guaranteed any certain type of flower unless you pay extra for them. While we did have it on the order that the bride liked green cyms, they, as well as the blue orchids, were left out. If you have your heart set on a particular flower being included, there is an additional charge.

For customized bouquets where you can specify not only the colors but the type of flowers used, the pricing starts at $150...here are some examples of recent upgraded bouquets.

Bride L asked for everything to be "fluffy and ruffly". She wanted a romantic bouquet in soft colors with peonies, anemones, ranunculus and roses. She wanted blush tones with soft lilac and a deeper pink accent. She also wanted a "mushroom cap" which makes the bouquet larger in size. Her bouquet was $225. Here is what she received.

You can see here, the bigger size.

Now, you may be thinking, I LOVE this bouquet but $225 is out of my budget. That's ok...there are options. Another bride received this bouquet:

Her order? She paid a slightly higher fee, just $40 more than her package price, to get a slightly larger bouquet with upgraded flowers. She did not specify what flowers she wanted, just hot pinks, bright greens, bright oranges and NO gerbera daisies. We let the florist know that she liked orchids, anemone, ranunculus, ruffled roses, hydrangea, peonies, green viburnum, orange roses, and arum/calla lilies. The florist has freedom to use those colors and knew that the bride was paying slightly more so she tired to use as many of the requested flowers as she could, without guaranteeing anything. The bride was thrilled with her bouquet. The boutonniere was pretty cute too.

You don't have to upgrade your flowers to get exactly what you want, most of the time, the florist can accomodate, but it just can't be guaranteed and without an upgrade, you have to be willing to go with the flow. We had a last minute wedding recently and the groom ordered his bride a red & white rose bouquet. I told him because we were being so specific, the bouquet would be $175 but if he wanted, we could just ask for a red & white bouquet and let the florist know that the bride preferred all roses (but they would not be guaranteed) with no upgrade fee. He decided to go with the flowers in the package. Look what we picked up from the florist that day:

Just what he wanted at no additional fee! The florist is definitely not "out to get you" on the cost of flowers. It's a difficult job for being so remote out in the ocean! They take every measure they can to make my clients happy and that's why we use them. Bride E wanted all an all hot pink rose bouquet. I explained the pricing and she decided to go with an all hot pink bouquet instead. This is what she received:

Gorgeous! The bride loved it, way more than she thought she would love an all rose bouquet.

What about boutonnieres? How do those get ordered? Easy! The florist will simply select a flower from your bouquet to make the boutonniere. Again, they are happy to take requests on the color and even can often times take flower type requests at no additional charge as well.

Maids bouquets? They are slightly smaller than the brides bouquet and can be made smaller versions of what you will receive or something completely different altogether. Here are some recent photos of maids bouquets next to the brides so you can get an idea of the size difference. You can also do something smaller for your maids, like the very first photo in this blog post.

I hope you have found this blog post helpful in answering your questions! But if you are still a bit confused, that's what I'm here for - shoot me an email and let's discuss!

Something blue...

2011-12-02T09:37:00.001-08:00

I just loved these photos taken by Brooke Anthony of our Simple Island Photography team!

The photos are pretty but the shoes are fabulous! They deserve a closer look...

That's what I consider something BLUE! Loved them.

Can you believe this was at night?!

2011-11-30T07:52:00.001-08:00

These pictures were taken when it was pretty much dark outside.

I felt so bad for this bride & groom! They put so much work into their wedding and then 10 minutes before the ceremony was to start, the skies opened up and it rained for the next hour. Right through sunset. =( We gave them some options...take the ceremony back to their villa, wait for the rain to stop, or hold the ceremony under one of the pavilions at Trunk Bay. We decided to wait for it to stop, but it was pretty dark by time the ceremony started. Many many kudos to Alain Brin of Blue Glass Photography and the magic of him camera for capturing these images with such little natural light!

Safe sealife place card holders

2011-11-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

This idea is not new to me, I have seen brides do this before and it's always really pretty. But what surprised me when I opened up the box that the bride sent me was the fact that these are resin starfish and sand dollars. You may not know this, but real starfish? Smell crazy bad! And sand dollars? Uber fragile. They can chip like crazy. I loved these so much, I asked the bride where she found them and she got an amazing deal on them from Christmas Tree Shoppes. I tried looking for them online but with very little luck. If you happen to find them anywhere, please post in the comments below for other brides.

Introducing our newest staff member...

2011-11-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

My real life new staff member will probably be annoyed that the car got top billing here, but I'm pretty excited about the newest addition to our fleet of cars!

It's a BMW X5 and it's really fun to drive...although I think the first time I took a couple to the courthouse in it, I'm pretty sure I made them carsick. I was still adjusting to it (ok, still am, it takes me awhile...).

I spend a lot of time answering the same questions over & over and it's totally my own fault. One thing Island Bliss Weddings's is lacking is an FAQ section somewhere on the website and it's my goal to get that completed by the end of the year. I often get asked what the included transportation is in our packages...is it a taxi? Limo? Well, here's the answer...

We have a Lincoln Navigator and now, a BMW X5. 90% of the time, it will be one of these two cars that picks you up but if for any reason, these cars are not available, we hire a Cadillac Escalade or similar SUV to pick you up. The islands, being as mountainous as they are, are HARD on cars. We have to replace the breaks and tires at least once a year. Plus, the ocean environment does it's damage as well. The Lincoln has been in the shop for a total of at least 2.5 months this past year. With this in mind, we can never guarantee which car will be picking you up. We can take requests, but they cannot always be honored.

I had a bride email me this past summer that she was disappointed in the car that picked her up - during the planning process, she had asked what kind of car it would be and at the time I answered it would be a Lincoln Navigator. A day before her wedding, the Navigator broke down and went into the shop. We rented the nicest car we could find with such short notice, and while it was a full sized SUV, it was not a luxury brand car. I learned my lesson right then and there to never say with absolutely certainty which car will be used. I also took down "transportation in a luxury SUV" from the website. While we will always do our best to use either the Navigator or the BMW, again, these cars cannot be guaranteed. We prefer not to rent a car, as it costs us money (we would never pass on the cost of a car rental to a client because one of our cars is broken down!) so we do our best to maintain them, but again, we often don't know until the actual wedding day which car will be used. We have recently found a taxi driver who drives a very nice Escalade and he is our "Plan B" in the event that neither car can be used. We even have a taxi driver that drives a very nice Navigator for "Plan C". So there is a very good chance that a luxury SUV will be picking you up....but I never want to disappoint another bride again based on the car that picked her up so I will not advertise that an SUV, luxury or otherwise, will be picking you up.

I do promise that you will not be picked up in a jalopy.

A cruise ship PARTY!

2011-11-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

It's not very common, but every once in awhile, we get a group off the cruise ships for like 100 people. It's wonderful! We often do large weddings, but most cruise ship affairs are a bit smaller, normally less than 30 people. It's always fun to work with a large group though. This bride & I have been working together since September of 2010 to get all the details together. It was a really simple affair, just a nice wooden arch and a decorated aisle. Something unique about her wedding was the fact that she brought along her own photographer. Know what's really cool about that? All day photos, on the ship, on land, in different locations...so pretty. Check out their photographers blog for a timeline of their wedding day:

http://www.michaelwachniak.com/realloveis/2011/11/stephanie-colin-st-thomas-cruise-wedding/

My favorite photos? The ones in front of the Fort. Amazing.

PS I was TICKED that there was another wedding on the beach that day (you can see the other arch in the background). There is a calendar for wedding planners to use so that we can schedule weddings on this beach, as the beach is not very big for multiple weddings (like Magan's Bay can handle). The other wedding was NOT on the schedule. The wedding planner left it off on purpose so that we wouldn't be aware of their set up. Shady!! Then they had the nerve to ask me to move my set up! Fortunately, the bride & I had discussed the set up and she liked the idea of the arch being parallel to the water, not facing it, so my spot was perfect for her. I wasn't going to budge, especially since my wedding WAS on the calendar. Please note though, if you are not using Island Bliss Weddings and found the blog by some other means, PLEASE make sure you check with your wedding planner to make sure they have your wedding on the calendar or if they know of other weddings that are taking place at the same time. I really felt bad for the other bride, as I'm sure they did not tell her that there would be a wedding for 80 people at the same time.

Busy, busy, but.....

2011-11-09T08:44:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy week and keeps getting crazier (in a good way of course). I feel like the Energizer Bunny on weeks like this, but I do like to stop and truly appreciate some of the emails I get. For example, this one arrived yesterday and put a smile on my heart:

Today is Ben and my 4th anniversary! Time has surely flown by. I went to your website when relating to some friends how wonderful our wedding was with you. (I keep some photos up at work)

Your website is FABULOUS!!!

Having enjoyed both you and your husbands planning and performing our service, I have to say the beautiful pictures capture just how wonderful the experience truly is! Lindquest Beach looks as perfect as ever!

Best of luck to you and your beautiful family. We hope to see run into you both again on the beach in the future!!

I love to hear from my past brides!! I am very thankful for having a job where I have the ability to really make others happy!

A record breaking November!

2011-11-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

Just a fair warning to my brides, this month is crAAzzy for us! We have a record number of November weddings which means I will be out of the office a lot during the day while I am on location at weddings. My November schedule will look something like this:

5:30am - wake up and respond to as many emails as I can before the kids awake. Then focus on getting them out the door to school.
8:30am - back from running kids all over the island to pre-school and kindergarten
8:30 to 9am - COFFEE

Depending on the Day
9 to 5pm - emails, emails, emails & return phone calls

OR

On-site for weddings

5pm - kids home from school - family time until bedtime
8pm till I crash - emails, emails, emails

There are 17 days in the month of November that I'll be "on-site" more than in the office. Very weirdly, only one of those days fall on a weekend. So of the remaining days that I will not be on-site, 7 of those are weekend days when the munchkins are home demanding my attention. That only leaves 6 days in November when I'll be able to really return phone calls. I try not to answer the phone while I am at a wedding unless I know that it is a vendor calling about that specific wedding (taxi guy telling me he has left with the guests, cake delivery confirming the location of the reception, etc). But by not answering the phone, it can put me really behind on messages that need to be returned. So please, if you need to get in touch with me during the month of November, please, please email instead. Emails get checked often and I can get back to you much sooner that way. I don't think you want me calling you at 5:30am. =)

I'm hoping to be better at blogging this month than I have since September though. I have some pretty cool ideas in store and will keep you posted.

Lime Tree Beach Wedding

2011-10-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

I took a photo of this set up with my iPhone on Tuesday and posted it to our Facebook page but I have the old version iPhone and the photo was pretty "not great". But the set up was fabulous! I wanted to share some more pictures taken by a real camera of both the set up at Lime Tree Beach (also known as Bluebeard's Beach Club) and the reception at Havana Blue. Havana Blue is located at Frenchman's Reef, which recently underwent renovations. Havana Blue is a great spot for a luncheon or dinner reception.

These flower arrangements were supposed to be up on the candelabras that you'll see later on at the reception. Unfortunately, because of the breeze, we weren't able to use them. The candelabras are $750 to replace if they are broken...and um, no one wanted to take that risk! I'm going to rename the candelabras "how to give your wedding planner a heart attack". The breeze at Havana Blue was a bit...strong...and these things would lean ever so lightly, making my eyes bug out of my head and my heart skip a beat.

I didn't get a great photo of the rose petals we had put down. The breeze was not to kind to them, scattering them pretty quickly, but the did look lovely on the aisle runner.

The pomanders from the ceremony were reused at the reception...

This was such a fun wedding to work on, I love this set up, so pretty!

Enjoy your Halloween weekend!

Sugar & Spice Luxe Beauty Studios

2011-10-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize in advance because I know this blog post is going to sound like an advertisment. It is totally not meant to be! I am not being paid or rewarded for my following rave on Sugar & Spice Studios. As all of my clients know, when I am asked for a recommendation on hair & make-up services, Sugar & Spice is the only company that I recommend. Before this year, they were a traveling team, coming to your hotel or villa to help you get ready for your big day. But this year, the opened up their very own salon and I could not be more happy for them. Their space in the prestiogious Yacht Haven Grande is just gorgeous. Check it out for yourself:

Check them out on Facebook as well for additional photos - especially their bridal section. They also have a great website, which includes booking and pricing information. They do everything from bridal hair & make-up (and flowers for your hair!) to eyelash extensions, Brazilian blowouts, waxing, massage, whatever you need to be pampered on your wedding day. And they can still come to your room to help you get ready there!

And want to hear a funny story? The owner, JeT'aime, has been doing make-up and hair services for my brides for years. In May 2010, she actually met her boyfriend, now fiance!, at one of my weddings! He is now living in St. Thomas and opened his own jet ski business at Bolongo Bay, 340 WaterSports! Look how amazingly gorgeous they are, inside & out!

Poms and stands - need a good home!

2011-10-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

A bride of mine that is getting married later this month is looking for a good home for these gorgeous silk pomandors and iron stands.

We'll be using them to mimic this look:

Please let me know if you would be interested in doing something similar for your own wedding - if I have enough brides that are interested, we may be able to "rent" them out instead which could break down to some fairly inexpensive elegant decor!

Welcome Me Back! =)

2011-10-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

So as most of my clients know, I've been home for a little over a week now (actually two weeks! I wrote this last week and it never posted!). But I haven't had much of a chance to get the blog updated. My laptop is on it's very last leg. It will definitely be dying soon (I go through one every two years!). I have been moving my files over, one by one, to my new laptop but it is not completely set up yet. I had to log into my old, dying laptop to update the blog with photos. As I type, I can feel it slowly dying in my arms and I just hope it lets me finish this post before it says goodbye...

My husband and I had a wonderful two week vacation to Europe! I lived in Amsterdam as a nanny for a year before I went to college and so I took him back to Holland to visit my old stomping grounds. You can not go to Holland without taking a cheesy tour of windmills, wooden shoe factories and cheese farms...

While sitting in the plaza in Haarlem,

we were surprised to see a crowd form in front of the town hall and then a white car pull up as the crowd cheered. Out popped a bride & groom to enter the hall and sign the wedding registry. Of course I popped up with my camera and got a photo to share with you all!

Even 1/2 way around the world, we couldn't escape weddings! It's nice to be back though and we're getting back into the swing of things. We have a busy fall schedule ahead and I'm excited to get started on it!

I know I'm on vacation but....!!!!

2011-09-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

Check this out!!

Island Bliss Weddings is featured on Style Me Pretty today!! Go check it out!

If you came to the blog by seeing us on Style Me Pretty, thanks for stopping by! Please see the post below, as our offices are closed for the rest of September. If you're looking for more information, please send me an email and I'll get back to you just as soon as I can!

Official Vacation Notice: see you in October!

2011-09-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Island Bliss Weddings will be on vacation from September 12th to the 30th. We will not be able to return phone calls during this time. We will do our best to respond to emails but may not have a lot of internet access while we are away. We look forward to serving you upon our return!

Underwater Wedding!

2011-09-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

Worried about rain on your wedding day? How about this as an alternative?? Go ahead and get wet.

!

A unique cocktail hour...

2011-08-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Sunset colors...

2011-08-23T04:57:00.000-07:00

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!

They may even still be on their honeymoon...

2011-08-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

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!

Love love love DIY

2011-08-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-08-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

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).

Object: Splendor

2011-08-12T06:13:00.001-07:00

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!

A Norbu Wedding

2011-08-06T03:49:00.000-07:00

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!

August 1st already?!

2011-08-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

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?!?!

Kismet, St. John

2011-07-27T04:28:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to coordinate a wedding last month at Kismet on St. John. To say I was blown away by its beauty is a complete understatement. It was Ahhh-Maaazzing (channeling my inner Oprah).

My bride actually lucked into this villa. She had a different villa reserved for the wedding but unfortunately, there had been a fire a few months prior to the wedding and the owners of the villa did not think it would be ready in time for her event. I could tell she was disappointed but at the same time, the owners of her originally villa reached out to Kismet and they were able to secure this villa for her at the same price. I feel bad saying this, but that fire was the best thing that could happen to her! Not that her original villa wasn't great, but Kismet is just the most amazing venue, completely set up perfectly for a wedding. Check out the pictures!

It had this awesome look out tower (seen in picture above) that you could climb out of and walk around on the roof. This is their photographer out there grabbing some bird's eye photos.

If you're interested in having your wedding at Kismet, let me know! I have some insider information on how to grab a great deal on it (and no! it does NOT involve setting other villas on fire!).

Hola!

2011-07-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am back from Mexico! I've been home for almost two weeks now. I'm always very slow to start blogging again after a vacation. It's a reminder that the vacation is over! Another delay was caused because the little diorama's that I purchased to share with you broke on the way home. My wonderful husband fixed them for me last night so I could finally blog them!

I'm a huge fan of Mexican art & culture. The little town we stayed in had THE MOST AMAZING GIFT SHOP EVER. I know I've told you all about my tendency to hoard things. But I'm not a trash hoarder, I'm a shopping hoarder. If I could buy everything in this store, I would have (and probably would have been served divorce papers upon my return home...shortly after covering my house with shelves to display everything). I'm not kidding, this shop was so cool, I even took a picture of it:

Doesn't it make you want to go inside??

And here are some of the things I just had to bring home to share with you. Love them!

The entire family gathered one night on the beach so we got a family photo of everyone together. Five "original" kids, five spouses and eight grandchildren, two very happy grandparents:

And there just so happened to be a wedding taking place at the end of the beach! After the ceremony, the couple took a walk with their wedding guests, serenaded by a mariachi band, that went right past us on the beach (I had actually bought my diorama's a few days earlier - who knew the exact same scenario would play out on the beach a few days later!):

And before you ask, no...we don't have mariachi bands in the Virgin Islands! I wish we did though!

It was pretty amazing that everywhere I looked, I could hardly get away from work. The stores with their brides & grooms...the wedding taking place on the beach...and get this, on a visit to the Maya Ruins with our girls, I turned around and saw THIS:

That's right, he's proposing!! I already had my camera out so I started snapping photos right away and then asked my husband if I had a business card on me. He laughed and called me an ambulance chaser but NO, that's not why I wanted a card. I told them to email me so I could send them the photos but sadly, they haven't yet. I didn't have a card on me and maybe they forgot my business name...so if you know anyone that recently got engaged in Mexico - let them know I have their photos for them!!

And one last photo because it's so darn cute...my girls, Marley and Maya, in front of the Mayan Ruins (and yes, we did partially name Maya after the Riviera Maya!).

We go to Mexico now!

2011-07-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law is celebrating his 70th birthday this year and has invited all the family down to their condo in Akumal. I have never been but have been dying to go, ever since my first date with my husband when he told me his parents had a condo in Mexico! Finally, about 8.5 years after that first date, I finally get to go!

I bought my daughter Maya this dress from The Gap once we bought our tickets. I thought it was a perfect Mexico dress. I tried it on her when it came in the mail and she insisted on wearing it even though I begged and pleaded with her to take it off, as I wanted to keep it nice for Mexico. Of course, she won the battle and it has been a popular choice in her weekly wear. She has never forgotten my pleas though and every time I take it out of the closet to put her in it, she says, "we go to Mexico now??" - all excited to hop on that plane and go right now!

We'll be gone until the evening of the 10th but I will have my laptop with me. I just don't know how great the internet connection will be in Akumal. Please excuse any delays while I'm away! Enjoy your Fourth of July weekend and well....Adios!

A few random photos for a rainy Monday...

2011-06-27T14:52:00.001-07:00

This bride liked my blog post of the seahorse tote bags and decided instead of filling up their welcome bags, they would be rolled up and had the guests place settings attached to them. Know what was really cool about these tote bags? She had one for each guest from Cafe Press that reflected their personality or a funny story from their past together. Guests had an awesome time untying their totes and showing each other what they had.

This guy was hanging out by a tree next to the reception - by the end of the reception, he had eaten all the pink flowers!

Guests stamped out a congratulations to the bride & groom - the bride was greeted with this as she made her way down the stairs to the beach...

I love Caribbean Rum Balls for welcome bags...

And all these other fun goodies...but see that bag of chips? Do not send those in advance - we can get them so much cheaper for you here! I noticed the bride spent close to $40 in express shipping just for a small box of chips! Yikes!

This is why I say not to send sunscreen in advance - she got very lucky that it didn't explode more than it did (you will not have a happy wedding planner on your hands if I'm washing sunscreen off all your goodies!).

Our new chalkboard sign to "warn" guests that there is rum in the punch...you have no idea how many toddlers I see parents almost give their first rum drink to!

An Indiana Wedding...

2011-06-21T04:44:00.000-07:00

As all of my clients and Facebook fans know, I was off island for about a week at the end of May. I often go up to Indiana to visit family & Target (yes, I very much miss Target) but I rarely go at the busiest time of the year for us here in the islands. But a very dear friend of mine from college was getting married and I just had to be there...especially when she asked me to photograph the wedding for her!!

I absolutely love photography. Everything took shape when I was pregnant with my daughter Marley. I really wanted to capture some great photos of her growing up and purchased a nice amateur camera that at the time, I thought was WOW! Over the last five years, I've learned a lot about the differences of "a nice camera" and "professional camera". I've also learned that it doesn't make that much of a difference in a nice camera and a pro camera if you know what you are doing, have the creativity to make something work and well, Photoshop isn't a bad thing to understand either (which I am light years away from fully understanding!). Last year I upgraded to a full frame, pro camera and often have it with me at wedding to capture the fun details that I want to share with other brides. I've even shot a few weddings here when no one in our budget photography team was available.

As a wedding planner, it's a lot of fun to step outside of my coordination role for a bit and wear a different hat. I had an absolute blast at Shanna's wedding playing the photographer. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to edit even a 10th of her images, but these are a few of the teasers I sent over for her (fortunately, she is a very understanding friend while I wade through our busy June!). I hope you enjoy the teaser as well and would love any feedback!

Right before walking down the aisle

A fun little photo prop I brought along

I wanted to share this one because of the milk glass. Shanna's grandmother spent a year prior to the wedding collecting antique milk glass to use as centerpieces. The reception was held in a rustic old barn and the combo of the hydrangea, milk glass and old barn feel was so awesome and huge difference for me - I'm used to starfish and beach glass!

So far, this is one of my favorite images of the ones I've edited. I love the emotion on her father's face as he hugs his baby girl...but did you notice the guest seated at the table in the background? The what her father is holding in his hand? I love the little bit of comedy infused in such an emotional moment. I remember taking this image and it was the first one I pulled up on my computer - I was so excited about it!

Shepherd Hooks

2011-06-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

I've seen a few island weddings that incorporate shepherd hooks for the ceremony - usually with a hanging jar either filled with candles (not always the best idea for a beach wedding) or flowers. I've also seen them with pompador flowers, which is always pretty. But in all my years of wedding planning, I can only really recall two brides that did the same. I was shopping around online today and contemplating buying some hooks & hanging mason jars...but is this a trend that is here to stay? I figured I'd better hold off until I get more requests (currently I have none!). It's hard to resist shopping for stuff so cute though...

I really love the idea! Just waiting for a bride to come along and say, "let's do it!"

Sand Dollar Estate Wedding

2011-06-14T04:41:00.000-07:00

We do a lot of weddings at Sand Dollar Estate. It's a wonderful venue, has it's own beach (which is not always there, depending on the water level), and two great decks for dancing & dinner. I always love it when brides bring a photographer with them from the mainland...it's very interesting to see an "outsiders" take on things. Kristina & Brady sent me a link to their photographers blog over the weekend and I wanted to share it with you here. Their photographer, Jules, brought along her twin sister, Joy, the help with the event. I LOVED the fact that it was twin sisters in business together! I grew up with parents that ran a business together (and still do) and my husband and I are partners in our businesses. I love family operations. Seeing two sisters work together just melted my heart. I can only hope my girls can grow up and get along enough to work together one day too! Many days, the "getting along" part seems impossible!

Kristina put a lot of work and thought into her wedding. She was an Etsy girl, which you know I love! Here are some photos I took of the event as well...

Chalkboards everywhere! And fun straws and umbrellas for the drinks at the bar (this was the second set of umbrellas, the straws were gone before I got a photo):

Beautiful blue wooden hearts to decorate the appetizer table:

Wooden birds for the bride & groom's chairs at the dinner:

I'm so glad Etsy wasn't around when I got married...I'd still be paying it off!

A note on name cards....

2011-06-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Just a quick blog entry while I'm thinking about this particular topic. A few weeks ago, I posted a link to an Etsy seller on my Facebook page with a picture of an adorable name card holder. Did you miss it? If so, here it is!

These are by Gallery360 - I think the price of $80 for 50 holders is pretty good. Now you may be thinking, are these really necessary? Cute yes, but many of the cards come as "tent style" where they stand up on their own.

Well, they are necessary! 98% of the receptions we do here are outdoor which means there is a very good chance a breeze is going to sweep through here and there. And when a breeze comes through, we have this:

Or all over the floor, garden, sand, etc. This picture really doesn't do justice to just what the wind can do. At Villa Botanica, we had namecards set up on a table in the garden - a nice gust of wind came through a blew three or four of them into the pond!

My final thoughts:

- Name cards and assigned seating are definitely a good thing.
- Name card holders are even better!

Operation Lemonade 2011

2011-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

About this time last year, I had a bride that decided to forgo favors for a lemonade stand. Not just any lemonade stand, but one that supported Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. We set up the entry to Villa Botanica so that as guests entered, they could have a nice cup of lemonade before making their way to the ceremony site.

To be honest, there was so much going on at this wedding that I didn't really take the time to learn much about the charity that the bride was supporting. I hadn't thought much about the lemonade stand until recently, when I got an email from K12, an education site that I just signed my oldest daughter up for. Remembering the name from last year's wedding, I took a closer look.

If you're not familiar with the story of Alex's Lemonade Stand, here is a little synopsis from K12's site:

In 2007, we met Liz and Jay Scott, the parents of this remarkable young girl. They told us the story of the diagnosis of cancer Alex received shortly before her first birthday, and of the inspiring events that followed.

The doctors told Jay and Liz that even if Alex beat it, she would probably never walk again.

Alex endured many chemotherapies and surgeries, and by her second birthday, appeared to be beating the odds. In time, she managed to stand up and walk with the help of leg braces.

But the next year the tumors were growing again, and the family was shattered. When Alex was four she had a stem cell transplant, and told her mom, “When I get out of the hospital, I want to have a lemonade stand”— to raise money for cancer research.

Alex’s first lemonade stand raised $2,000. But Alex told her mom and dad her goal was to raise $1 million.

News spread about this remarkable child. People from all over the world, moved by her story, held their own lemonade stands and donated the proceeds to Alex and her cause.

When Alex passed away in 2004 at the age of eight, she had reached her goal of raising $1 million.

Now in its eleventh year, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised more than $30 million for cancer research.

Isn't that amazing?! Would you like to help?? Consider having a lemonade stand this summer in honor of Alex and all the things she accomplished in her eight years. Learn how here. And if you do, please let us know so that we can send you an awesome printable download lemonade stand banner!

Enjoy your weekend!

2011-05-25T20:52:00.001-07:00

I'll be off island from May 26th to June 1st for a wedding I'll be assisting with in the mainland. I will not have access to email during this time. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!

PS Happy Anniversary to my hubby! Our 6th is on Saturday - he'll be here in St. Thomas covering weddings for me here. I'll miss you sweetie!

Cool little flower...

2011-05-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

First - I want to let you all know we've had some computer issues in the past couple of days and I'm way behind on emails while still planning a few events this weekend. I'm hoping to be all caught up by Sunday evening...please hold tight!

Second, wanted to also check in and share this little photo. The bride decided not to get flowers for her wedding day, but bought some "flowers" from the guys on the beach. They actually make these little gems out of palm leaves

I am a nerd.

2011-05-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile, when I know a bride's colors, I will dress to match the wedding. Other times, its completely random. I was in the car on my way to the wedding when I saw a new necklace I had purchased sitting in the car mysteriously (something about having an almost 5 year and almost 3 year old gives me a small hint about how it ended up in the car). But when I saw the blue necklace and realized I was wearing a yellow dress, I had to put them on together...

Sigh...always the wedding planner, never the bridesmaid...

Carnations!....what?!?

2011-05-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

I always get a giggle when brides tell me, "no carnations please". Carnations have such a bad rep as "cheap" flowers. I understand now wanting to have cheap flowers in your bouquet - I think the giggle comes from the fact that it is just so well known that carnations are NOT acceptable wedding flowers, that I tend to roll my eyes and think, "I know, I know...". You will not see any carnations in our bouquet albums.

Until now. But can you see the carnation??

See those fluffy little green things?! Those are a part of the carnation family! I immediately noticed them when I picked up the bouquet from the flower shop and asked what they were - completely surprised and tickled to see they were carnations!

See, they ain't so bad. =)

Floating orchids revealed...

2011-05-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

I forgot to revisit this post about the floating orchids. We've done an arch like this before, but it had been a few years. I forgot how difficult this orchids are! We set up our normal bamboo arch (did you know this arch was stolen earlier this year?? Heartbreaking. The replacement arch took forever to get here but is finally on island!) and attached orchids to "float" down. The problem with this is the wind. Those little buggers whip around and get tangled like mad. We buried the end of the string in the sand to anchor them as best as we could. I joked with the bride that she may just be the last bride to get this type of arch!

Another thing I wanted to share about this wedding was the really cool idea the bride & groom came up with for the sand ceremony. We placed a seashell on each share:

And were invited during the ceremony to come up and place their shell in a special jar:

Close family used shells that they had found together on the beach:

After everyone had add their shells, the couple poured in the unity sand. The end result is a very memorable keepsake that unites all wedding guests together and is a great way to involve them in the ceremony.

One last thing to share - how great are these bamboo chairs?!

They just fit so well with the natural elements of the beach.

Congratulations William & Catherine!

2011-04-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

And just a word of advice:

PS They're already selling knockoff's of Kate's dress on Etsy!

Awesome Welcome Bag Ideas

2011-04-20T05:16:00.001-07:00

I had to admit this, but I am a knick knack kind of person. I watch the show Hoarders on TV and I'm pretty sure I could slip into that given the right conditions. Unfortunately, the home that I live in has ZERO storage space. It was build in the 1960s as a vacation home. Vacationers do not need a lot of storage, they live out of the luggage, right? So I neither have space to display knick knacks nor do I have space to store them (and my husband is so very thankful).

I think because this knick knack loving, hoarding tendency that I posses is the main reason that my favorite part about my job is favors and gift bags. I just love "stuff" and am always fascinated with what brides decide to do for these two items. I also have a lot of brides asking for ideas, so whenever possible, I do try to get pictures and add them to our Fun Stuff album on our Shutterfly pages. I think this particular album gets overlooked, so before I update it, I wanted to share some of these photos on the blog.

First up: welcome bags! I do have a list of items that I'm happy to send to clients with suggestions of what to put in the bags - but ultimately, those items and the bags themselves are up to you to decide. A recent bride gave me my own gift bag (yeah! love more stuff!!) so I took a bunch of pictures to share with you:

I love this particular bag because it's so practical and earth friendly! Instead of having the couples name & dates on it, which may make guests not really use it again, its just a simple reusable grocery bag:

And here is a peak inside:

I love the St. Thomas Survival Kit with Pepto tablets, Advil, mints, etc.

The bride & grooms initials were going to be AC and GC - so they did a little AC/DC thing and the groom made up a playlist - there were songs from each of their hometowns, their favorites, some island songs, very cute!

You can also go the more personalized route with a bag like this:

You can bet I flipped my lid when I saw the seahorse! The bride found these on Esty by seller beachchik - here is a photo from the Esty listing:

I wanted to show this photo as well because look how pretty the bags are just rolled up with a piece of raffia ribbon? You don't even need to fill the bags, but they could simply be gifts all by themselves.

Next up: favors! Check back soon for an update!

Busy busy week!

2011-04-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

Every now and then, we have a week that is just booming with weddings and this has been one of those weeks! I've taken so many pictures and have so much to blog about! But unfortunately, my camera is in the car that my husband is currently driving around so no photos of my own to share. Fortunately though, Blue Glass Photography sent me over some photos of a recent wedding they shot for us so I will share those instead!

In my next blog post, I'll show you how this "floating orchid" shot was possible.

And a picture of our bride - I just love this photo. She is such a natural beauty!

Hopefully more blog posts to come very soon!

Something new...

2011-04-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for new ideas on how to do anything better for a wedding - I love change and evolvment, I don't want to offer the same thing everyone else does, or even just offer the same thing over and over again. A few months ago, a bride came up with this idea and I just loved it. I'm very excited now to be able to offer these lush orchid aisles...

A beautiful sunset

2011-04-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

Stephanie hired Island Bliss Weddings to help her pull off her St. John wedding. She really didn't need coordination, but just assistance with the ceremony set up on the beach - an arch, chairs, etc. We're happy to offer whatever services a bride needs, even if it something simple like arranging favors & centerpieces on the table at the reception before guests arrive or setting up chairs & an arch on the beach.

Stephanie shared a lot of the ideas she had with me, this one is one of my favorite:

she had all of her bridesmaids in a different "sunset color". Look how nicely they all compliment the sky!

Grooming her to be a wedding planner...

2011-04-05T11:23:00.001-07:00

You have to start somewhere, even if it is "back up logo":

Happy April Fools!

2011-04-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

How funny would it be if someone proposed tonight with this lovely "one carrot ring"? Ha! Would your man have gotten slapped or would you have rolled on the floor laughing? I found this little gem on...well, Etsy of course! This is by jujulee.

Perfect for your bridesmaids...

2011-03-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

When I was getting married, I found these ridiculously cute "Wet Bikini" bags on some bridal website, no idea now where I saw them (it's almost 6 years ago that I said "I do!"). They were ridiculously cute, but also exceedingly overpriced. I think they were a crazy $48 each? Well, I just happened to be in Rainbow the other day (do you have these stores near you?) and found one almost exactly like it for the wallet friendly price of $5.99! I think they're perfect for either stuffing in the welcome bag for your bridesmaids or even using it as a mini-welcome bag and stuffing it full of fun stuff (cheesy romance beach novel, lip block, sunblock, mini-rum bottles, bottle of water, cheap pair of shade....).

A special way to remember loved ones...

2011-03-26T10:59:00.001-07:00

Quite often, I'll have a bride ask me for ways to incorporate loved ones that have passed on in their wedding day. We often have a moment of silence during the ceremony for those that could not be with us physically, or we'll have an empty chair with a flower in place of where they would have sat.

Amy, who I blogged about a few posts back, unfortunately lost her step-mother a few months before her wedding day. I love the idea she came up with as a way to still make her step-mother a part of her day. Very hopeful that she would be able to attend, her step-mother already had her dress picked out and purchased for the wedding day. Upon her passing, Amy had some strips of fabric cut from the dress and used this as the ribbon around her and her sister's maid of honor bouquet at the wedding. The result was a beautiful and meaningful wrap for their bouquets. How special is it that her step-mother was able to "walk them down the aisle" in a sense?

Combining everything I love...an Etsy Beach Wedding!

2011-03-19T05:54:00.000-07:00

I am a fan of MODWedding on Facebook which means I get daily updates in my news feed containing some pretty cool ideas for weddings. It's not "destination wedding" oriented though so while some of the ideas are very cool, they don't really translate well for our weddings here. That changed yesterday though when they updated their Facebook page with a link to their blog article:

http://blog.modwedding.com/love-and-surf-a-beach-wedding

Now...looking through the photos without reading the text, I was wondering, "is this a fake wedding? I don't see any guests?" and upon reading more, it was indeed a fake weddings, just set up to show some really cool ideas for beach weddings. The whole thing was absolutely gorgeous though. I LOVE the surfboards used as an altar area...the vintage feel of the table settings, so very lush and full. But my favorite thing of all? The bride (kind of what I imagine Jennifer Anniston to look like at her next wedding). Loved her hair, her dress and OMG...her necklace!!! I was hooked! I don't think I can pull off a chunky necklace like this, but I'd sure like to try, or at the very least, have it sit beautifully in my jewelry box. I thought, I bet I could find something similar on Etsy...and wouldn't you know, they credited the necklace's creator at the end of the article and lo & behold, she sells on Etsy!

Check out ideafarmdesigns for some crazy cool jewelry. And definitely flip through all the photos in the above blog post - sooooo pretty!

Unusual Wedding Dates

2011-03-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

I have blogged before about 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 wedding dates and how we expect to be busy those days this year (I've already had to turn down a few 11/11/11 weddings). It's also fun to see how many weddigns get booked on days like 9/10/11. But my mother just sent me a forward (one of those annoying chain letters - don't worry, if you read a chain letter in a blog, you are not obligated to send it on!). But it got me thinking...my October dates are already starting to book up, maybe this is why???

> This year we're going to experience four unusual dates. 1/1/11, 1/11/11,
> 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that's not all...Take the last two digits of the year
> in which you were born -now add the age you will be this year, and the
> result will be 111 for everyone...!! This is the year of Money..!!! This
> year October will have 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays and 5 Saturdays.
>
> This happens only every 823 years... These particular years are known as
> 'Moneybags'... The proverb goes that if you send this to eight good friends
> money will appear in the next four days as is explained in Chinese fengshui
> Those who don't continue the chain won't receive.. Its a mystery, but its
> worth a try.
>
> Good luck.

I'm a very supersticious person, so you can believe I'll be sending this little forward on. I'll let you know in four days if I win the lottery! But as for anyone considering an October wedding, this may just be the very year to do it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T11:39:00.001-07:00

Only one of my little leprechauns would smile for me today. The other isn't feeling well and stayed home sick from school. I felt so bad that she didn't get to wear her green shirt to school today, but as she is resting in my bed watching cartoons, she couldn't care less!

Hope everyone has a great, green beer filled day!

Amy & Greg's Wedding!

2011-03-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

I am sooo far behind on my blogging! Do you know I have a list saved on my desktop that says "BLOG" full of things I want to share? Some of them are really simple posts, wouldn't take more than 5 minutes to blog about...but, I did a very important wedding last month for a dear friend of mine and I know she is dying for me to blog about it! I haven't wanted to put up just any blog post until I could put HER blog post up!

Amy is very good friends with my friend Ally. Ally and I went to college together and Ally has an AMAZING group of high school friends. I'll admit, it took me a couple of years to get their names straight - Amy (who would also go by Am-O), Eden (real name Jamie) and Kozar (real name Jaimen). With the nicknames (really just their last names) and the real names, I really never knew who was who and my friend Maddie would have to brief me on their names before they came to campus to visit. They would come visit us at IU and we would go visit them up in Cleveland. I'll never forget one of their visits during freshman year when I proudly announced, "hey, let's all jump in my truck and drive around listening to Mellencamp" (yes, I AM a proud Indiana girl at heart). I think it was Eden who stated with just a hint of disgust, "oh wow...we really are in Indiana now".

We've all stayed in touch through the years and all the girls came down to witness Maddie's wedding:

It was at this wedding that Amy fell in love with St. Thomas and the idea of an island wedding. Almost one year later, everyone returned for what is quickly becoming an annual trip. On their first night in St. Thomas, Greg dropped to one knee and proposed.

Her little trick to get Greg down St. Thomas and fall in love with the idea of a destination wedding worked. We began almost immediately in planning their wedding weekend. She even got to visit Villa Botanica for a site visit before flying back to Chicago.

First up on the wedding weekend agenda was a welcome party at Robert's American Grille:

It was reeeealllly fun being a guest and not a planner at this event!

The next day, we had the ceremony overlooking the pool & harbor at Villa Botanica.

Cocktail hour was held afterward in the garden.

Dinner & dancing in the pavilion!

The above photo was taken by her photographer Elisha Orin. All of us girls decided to wear the same color to be "faux-maids".

Then a couple days later....BoAT TrIP!

We went out on Limnos Charters and while I can't post any more pictures of the boat trip (too scandalous!), I have to say, Limnos did a great job. Fully stocked open bar all day (which may be the reason additional photos can not be posted) and a trip to the Willy T and Jost Van Dyke's White Bay. Such a fun day out with friends and a great way to show your guests the islands!

There are a few more elements of Amy's wedding that I will blog about over the next couple of weeks, special touches that I want to share with you. I'm just glad to finally get a post up about the event! I had to email Amy to see if she had that picture of the two of them right after their engagement - she's a smart cookie and realized it was for the blog. She wrote back:

I can't wait to see what you write about me "pain in the ass bride," "bridezilla," "worst experience of my life."

Ha! Hardly! I had a blast and am always thankful when my girlfriends take the long trek down to St. Thomas to see me (and maybe get married on the side while their here). I love the fact they they are already planning for their February 2012 trip. Love you all!

Is Purple the new Pink?

2011-03-07T02:35:00.000-08:00

There always seems to be a trend with wedding colors. When I first started Island Bliss Weddings, the hot colors seemed to be pink and green. Green slowly faded out and orange replaced it - with pink & orange being BFFs. But lately, there has slowly been a rising number of brides requesting purples. All purple or purple & green (I wonder how purple & orange would look together and how pink would feel about that??). We had two weddings last week where the brides chose purples for their bouquet and I have to say, I was blown away by how beautiful they were. I discovered that I really love purple flowers...and that I could take pictures of bouquets all day. Unlike my children who never look at the camera when I tell them to, these bouquets were fun little models for me!

The middle bouquet was just breathtaking. The way the florist had arranged it, it looked different from each angle:

LOVED IT. Those dark purple flowers? Parrot tulips. I'm a Dutch girl, and anything tulip is part of my "favorite things" collection. I hesitated about highlighting those tulips on the blog though, as I'm worried I'll get a lot of requests for tulips. They really don't do so well here - I've actually seen them "bloom out" of a bouquet - weirdly, they poke their little heads up higher and higher than the rest of the bouquet. They are mainly grown in Holland and Michigan (Holland, Michigan probably!) so you can imagine that they like cooler temps. But I have to say, even though I put them in the high risk category for flowers, they totally rocked this bouquet.

Hair flowers out, rose petals in.

2011-03-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

I'm always looking for ways to improve our packages. Over the last year, it seems I had a lot of brides tell me that they did not need the hair flower that was included in the Happy Hibiscus and Platinum Bliss Packages. And often times, even when brides did not tell me this, I would see that they went unused on the actual wedding day. I try to tailor the packages to include items that brides need or want and I realized that the hair flower was not falling into this category. So for 2011 (maybe I should have updated this sooner!), I've decided that the hair flower will no longer be included, but instead, we will have extra rose petals - to be used in popular "petal toss" photos like you saw in my previous post.

If you booked your package before this change, I still have you listed for the hair flower. If you prefer the rose petals instead of the hair flower, just let me know and I'll make the changes. As with anything in our packages, if there is anything you would like to change or customize, let me know - we're more than happy to tailor the package to you and your needs. We never want to restrict you on your choices!

MIA

2011-03-02T18:46:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long! The last two weeks of February and the first two weeks of March are busy, busy, busy...but I have a long list of things to blog about! One of which has to do with the following two photos:

Above photo by the amazing Eric Johnson of Paradise Photos

But you'll just have to wait to find out why. We have two more weddings to finish off the week!

Another amazing photography contest!!

2011-02-19T04:17:00.000-08:00

Elisha Orin is giving away an amazing album to one of the lucky brides using her services this spring! Check out her blog for more details: http://thatstalk.elishaorin.com/?p=3550

PS Above is one of my fave images she took of my girls last October. Love!

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

My wonderful husband got me a new wedding bag for Valentine's Day this year. My old one, which I adored since it had my logo on it, just wasn't cutting it. Too small and it was just one big open bag. Everything got thrown in there and mixed up and made it hard to find. And dangerous. Loose boutonniere pins were ready to strike any time you put your hand in there. My new bag may not be as pretty, but it's certainly going to be handy!

So he gave me an hour away from the kids yesterday so that I could organize my new bag. I started emptying out my old bag, finding zip ties, safety pins, Advil, all the normal things a wedding planner needs to have on hand...and came across something a little strange...

I wasn't quite sure how this little rubber frog ended up in my wedding bag. I asked my oldest daughter Marley why her froggie was hiding in my bag. And her answer was quite brilliant..."for the princess mommy! In case she needs to kiss a frog!".

How awesome is that?? I never thought to keep spare frogs in my bag, just in case any of my "princesses" (aka brides - they are one in the same in the mind of a 4 year old) needed a prince on her wedding day!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Photography Give-Away!!

2011-02-13T05:01:00.000-08:00

I know the above image is hard to see - so click on it to be taken to The Loveliest Day blog to learn more about the amazing wedding photography giveaway by Love n Joy Photography. I have to disclose, I've never worked with Love n Joy before - but they contacted me and asked if I would help promote their giveaway. I've looked through their website and blog and really love their images. Check out the lovely slideshow on their website, so sweet! Love n Joy is run by two photographers, Kimothy Parker & Tess Polivka - friends since elementary school. I'm lucky enough to run a business with my best friend as well (hubby Stuart Scott!) so I'm very excited to help them reach a goal of expanding their destination wedding portfolios. How fun if one of my couples was the chosen winner??? So go! Deadline to apply is March 31st.

Yeah!

2011-02-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

I'm still stuffed....

2011-02-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

My husband and I took the ferry over to St. John on Saturday night to enjoy a night out together, and to finally eat at Rhumb Lines! I have done a handful of wedding receptions there, but never really got to sit and try all the yummy food. So Saturday night, we headed over. Rhumb Lines is a delicious ensemble of Pacific Rim foods, featuring ah-mazing pupu platters. We ordered way too much food but with so many great options, it was a little hard not too. I think if I was to have my wedding there, I'd focus mainly on the pupu platters - giving everyone a taste of everything. On our platter was:

Spicy Peanut Sate (chicken) on a skewer - I'm always sold on peanut sauces
Fried Quesadilla - OMG good!!
Coconut Crusted Shrimp - huge piece of shrimp
Chinese spare ribs - I'm not a rib kind of girl, so this was all up to my hubby, who said they were amazing - but you'll have to take his word on that
Duck pot stickers - the sauce for this was too good to be true

We then EACH had an appetizer AND an entree. We overdid it a bit - and my pad thai was able to come home with me for lunch the next day! When the key lime dessert was brought out, we had to fight over who was going to finish it - neither wanting to be the one to polish it off for fear of having to be rolled home.

Funnily enough, there was a wedding reception going on while we were there. The cool thing about Rhumb Lines is how the space is broken up - you can have a reception going on in the back portion/courtyard, while the front area stays open for the public - which will cut down the cost of a traditional buy-out. But you can buy-out the whole restaurant if you like too. The vibe is definitely island-y, which I think is what people are going for when they chose St. John and the Virgin Islands for their wedding day.

Here are some pictures from a past event we've held there:

Mr. & Mrs. Starfish

2011-02-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

I am a huge fans of vintage bottles topped with seashells. I first saw them at a local shop and squealed with joy when I saw them...then cried a little when I saw the price. Now, the store I was in is not exactly known for having great prices. So as with everything in life, I headed to etsy to see if I could find anything similar for less. I was very happy to find them on etsy (slightly disappointed that they were just as expensive)...but I did find something pretty amazing I had to share with you!!

How perfect is this for a destination wedding?? I think it would of course be fabulous if used for a sand ceremony, but I think it would also make a cute gift to give to someone. The seller, beautifuldetailswed, has a lot of other great ideas for beach weddings as well (look for the cute ring bearer pillow/shell).

And while your shopping, pick this up for me from peacockstainedglass, m'kay?

Mind if I share?

2011-02-03T11:50:00.001-08:00

Check out the video our Peace Hill bride put together of her photos...this is a perfect way to show friends & family your wedding day! Great for showing at receptions you have back home...

Boat Trip! Actually....boat wedding!

2011-01-28T06:28:00.000-08:00

I don't want to say "often overlooked" twice in one week on the blog, but I do have to say, when it is just the two of you escaping to the islands to be married, a boat trip wedding is really pretty awesome and not considered nearly enough. It combines your wedding day with one of the best things you can do on vacation in the Virgin Islands - boating! The cost is really not too bad - you can combine the boat trip with a wedding package (or a customized package) and just pay for the cost of the boat, captain (who is also your officiate!) and gas - which is probably between $450 and $500 total. You have the boat as early as 7am and we can come back anytime before 6:30pm. You will not find a better boat rental value on the island!

This lovely couple wanted to sleep in a bit, so they were not actually pick up from their hotel until 9:00. We motored over to a private little beach on St. John (although there are other private beach options on neighboring islands, they preferred St. John).

Preparing to hit the beach...

The beach could not be more deserted - not a soul in site...

Check out the view with the British Virgin Islands in the background...

After enjoying their private little beach for awhile, we headed over to Tortola for some drinks at Pusser's Rum...

We also stopped off at Sandy Spit, which is really nothing more than a large sand bar that boats can pull up to and you can swim in...how is this for the most perfect spot in the world to do yoga??

Boat weddings like the one above can accommodate up to 7 guests, including the captain. If you hire a photographer for the day, they take up space too, so 6 guests can be included. And if you'd like to have your wedding planner join you (yes please!) then that's 5 guests - but it's not really necessary for me to come (sigh). Of course, bigger boats can be arranged as well. It's such a fun and memorable way to spend your wedding not, just a bit out of the ordinary!

Peace Hill, St. John

2011-01-27T07:36:00.001-08:00

I think Peace Hill is a fantastic, often overlooked spot for ceremonies on St. John. Just look at this view!

Often times, if we are going to have a lot of chairs set up, the parks department will cut down the grass for the ceremony. But when it is just the two of them, I love the tall grass. So pretty.

And the best part? This gorgeous old sugar mill ruin:

Isn't it awesome? Makes them look like they are in some fairy tale...

Since it was just the bride and groom, the photographer had time to take them down to Oppenheimer Beach for some beach photos.

You just never know what to expect from some grooms...

A Christmas present to Island Bliss Wedding...from me!

2011-01-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, we had brought home a huge box of trash from a wedding - whenever we have wedding cake at the beach, it creates a lot of clean up. The box had plates, napkins, old cake, etc. I took out the plates and forks and got them cleaned and I knew I still had the cake cutting set in there but would get it later. The box, with old cake, napkins and cups, sat in the driveway for a day or two, waiting to get thrown out. I knew I needed to get the cake cutting set out of there before it went to the dump...but just never got around to it. A couple of days later, the box was gone. I asked my husband if he had taken it to the dump...and he had...with my cake cutting set inside! It was completely my fault, being lazy, not getting it out of there and getting the box to trash myself...but alas, it was gone and there was nothing that could be done about it.

Do you know how hard it is to find a cake cutting set on St. Thomas??? Near impossible! We found ONE cake cutting set and it was so hideously ugly and overpriced, I said no way. And for some reason, Crate & Barrel wanted to charge me something riduculous like $60 in shipping for a $40 cake cutting set. No thanks!

So while I was in the mainland over the holidays, I was browsing through Macy's and found the most awesome cake cutting set EVER. The name alone says it all, don't you think ladies?

I'm so excited to have a "proper" cake cutting set for my couples to use now. I love the clean & classical lines of it. I hope you like it too!

If you follow us on Facebook, you saw that we did a boat wedding on Monday. Looking forward to sharing some photos with you soon!

Welcome 2011

2011-01-16T06:31:00.000-08:00

And my apologies for such a late welcome! I can't believe we're 16 days into 2011 and I haven't stopped in to say hello. A few reason - I didn't make it back to the islands until the 7th. My daughter Marley, loooooved the snow she saw at her grandma's house:

Once we got back, I was busy catching up on emails. A lot of clients wait until after the holidays to tie up loose ends with their wedding plans - which usually makes for a fairly quiet December around here and a busy January. Not to mention all the newly engaged couples from Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's that start to send out requests for information. Lots of time behind the computer! But that's a good thing - my job really is a lot of fun, helping people through this exciting time in their life. Kind of like an OB-GYN who helps their clients through a lot of nerves & excitement - but you know, without all the pain and screaming on the big day. =)

And then of course, in addition to planning, we have actual weddings as well!

This is our new "Shoes Optional" sign for beach weddings. I love the casual shabby chic-ness about it.

I'm excited for 2011, are you? 2010 was an amazing year for Island Bliss Weddings...oh the stories I could tell (but won't! Also like a doctor, there's some confidentiality going on in wedding planning as well!). But I know 2011 will be just as much fun and I'm looking foward to the journey!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-12-24T18:09:00.001-08:00

Mod Ornaments Holiday Card

Shop hundreds of holiday photo cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I'm in love with my holiday cards this year! Elisha Orin took these for me back in October. I just love her work and am so happy to capture these moments of my girls.

I'll be leaving island on December 27th for a trip up to the mainland - my oldest has been asking to see snow this year and so we're taking a trip in search of the white stuff! I probably won't get to blog too much while I am gone so I wanted to wish all past, present and future clients a very Happy Holiday season and a Happy New Year too! See you in 2011!

52 years and such an honor...

2010-12-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

Monday afternoon, on my way to set up for a wedding, I got a phone call from Valerie, telling me she was on the Eurodam, headed for St. Thomas, and wanted to know if she could get married...tomorrow! Turns out, she was really looking for a vow renewal. She had 12 others joining them and just needed something simple - some flowers, an arch and a little coordination.

We often do vow renewals - sometimes for couples that legally married just a week or two before coming to the islands. Either they did the legal paperwork back home and wanted the ceremony here or they had the big wedding back home to make family & friends happy....but had really wanted an island ceremony for themselves, so they do the ceremony on the honeymoon just for fun. We've helped people renew their vows for their first anniversary, 8th, 10th, 25th - 32nd....you name it. I didn't ask Valerie on the phone how many years it had been, so I was shocked when she told me it was 52! Not only because 52 is such a significant number, but because look how YOUNG they looked!

And so, so in love...

I have never felt so honored to be a part of something. It was magical. They had run off as teenagers, behind her parents unapproving backs, and married...just the two of them.

On this day however, they were surrounded by children & grandchildren.

It was so touching, loving and beautiful. Congratulations Valerie & Mike.

(PS And thank you Sunny Liston of Sunny Liston tours for referring them to me! Thanks for adding to the majic of the day!)

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-21T04:02:00.001-08:00

I took my girls to visit Santa on Sunday. The little one is still a bit afraid of the big guy and did not want to sit on his lap. Normally, I am a big fan of the Santa photos with terrified children - but my oldest was doing so well, was so excited to sit on Santa's lap...I didn't want to ruin it for her. As much as I appreciate the crying tots on the big mans lap photos, I appreciate a photo of me and my girls, all smiling, all looking at the camera, a lot more. Thank you Ashley of Ashley Photography for creating such a wonderful keepsake!

Caribbean Tourism Organization

2010-12-18T11:48:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take part in a mini-trade show that the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism was sponsoring for the Caribbean Tourism Organization. I actually took a part of it with the St. Thomas & St. John Wedding Association. It was really a fun way to meet travel agents in the Caribbean market. I, along with Eric Johnson of Paradise Pictures and Ashley Armitage of Ashley Photography, represented our group (which includes Passion Fruit Chefs, VI Desserts, Chris Robbert music, Sugar & Spice Artistry, East End Flower Shop, DJ Snow and HiDef Video - check out the website at www.viweddingassociation.org!).

Our little booth:

We didn't have any give-aways at our booth, but Biras Creek of Virgin Gorda had killer canvas tote bags they were giving away! I chatted up the rep from their resort in hopes she would hand me one, but no such luck. I love give-aways! Next year, I'll have to pretend I'm a travel agent instead. =)

The highlight of the show for me was the Caribbean Ritual Dancers. They put on an AMAZING show and even had a traditional moko jumbie perform and entertain the crowd. We've hired them before to entertain at weddings and they are always a huge hit.

Thank you to the Wyndham Sugar Bay for hosting the event and to the tourism department for sponsoring it!

Our First Christmas

2010-12-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

I'm taking my little girls up to Indiana this year, shortly after Christmas and through New Years...my oldest has been talking a lot about snow this year and while I had planned to wait until they were both older to visit the white stuff, I decided we could use a vacation from their school vacation (three weeks at home - ACK!). I like to have a special ornament for them each year and decided to buy a snowflake ornament while we're in Indiana, preferably with 2010 on it and 75% off after the holidays. =) I couldn't help myself today though and sneaked over to Etsy.com to see what they had. I didn't find a snowflake ornament for the girls, but I did find these incredibly cute First Christmas together ornaments from aphroditecanvas...

from MyPrimitiveBoutique...

and thebackporchshoppe...

Peterborg Wedding

2010-12-10T18:48:00.000-08:00

I hope to share some more photos of this wedding with you - the day started off rainy but was so beautiful by time the ceremony began! I just loved the whispy clouds!

The ceremony was held at Villa Jamie, which made it easy for the photographer to zip the couple down to the famous Peterborg Point for some additional photos. Beautiful!

Sometimes you need a little elbow grease...

2010-12-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

I was going through some of the pictures of this wedding last week at Lindquist Beach and just cracked up when I saw the ring photos. A lot of our brides & grooms tend to overindulge a little on the ships (this couple was from the Freedom of the Seas) and well...all that salt & sugar can tend the fingers to swell up a little, making something like a simple wedding band a bit tough to slide on!

New Addition to My Blog Roll!

2010-11-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

Introducing BelAmi Voyages!

I don't know how I got introduced to BelAmi, but I started getting email updates about new posts on their blog....so I journeyed over and fell in love. If I could redo my honeymoon, I would TOTALLY be booking a trip with BelAmi and sailing around the USVIs and BVIs. Their blog is a fun read and an interesting peak into the islands, especially boat living (which is an awesome way to live if you're not familiar with it). Check out their blog - linked on the right side. You may want to bookmark it as winter continues to creep upon you northerners! =)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

To all my American clients - past, present and future!

Who is going to be out shopping tomorrow at 2am? Here in the islands, the only store that really has a Black Friday sale is KMart and they open at 6am. I did it one year - to save $4 on a carseat! Ha! I'm sleeping in tomorrow...

Plan Bs

2010-11-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

The weather has been so crazy this past year. I used to be able to tell brides, "oh, it hardly ever rains! We've done hundreds of weddings and rain has only ever affected about 2 or 3". That, my friend, is no longer true. This past spring (April & May) and this past fall, things have been WET. Quite a few weddings had to be rearranged, often very last minute.

But, this is why you hire a wedding coordinator! I'd like for all my brides to wake up on their wedding day and not fret about a thing. If a Plan B is necessary, we will take charge and make what changes are needed. It's often moving to a covered location and if possible, moving the time or even the date. Our ultimate goal is to make sure your wedding is beautiful, rain or shine.

Did you meet Skylar?

2010-11-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

I posted this picture on our Facebook page last night (excuse the poor iPhone quality photo!). I believe this is the first time I had a couple bring down their furbaby for their wedding! I love it - little Skylar got all dressed up to celebrate with mommy & daddy. So cute! I thought she'd make a good laugh for all of you about to start your weekend...

And for another laugh...this week has been very crazy busy with weddings. I've been running around a lot this week and haven't carved out a lot of time to feed myself. On my way to set up for my wedding yesterday, I grabbed a snack bag of Oreo cookies at the gas station. This morning, I was getting my girls in the car to take them to school and my four year old sees the empty bag of cookies. Our conversation follows:

Marley: "Are those cookies??"
Me: "Yes, but they are all gone."
Marley: "WHO ATE THEM?"
Me: "Well, they were for work...."
Marley: "So a bride ate them?"
Thinking it will save me a lot of grief for eating them all and not saving her any, Me: "Yes, the bride wanted them for her snack."
Marley: "Cookies are not a healthy snack."
Me: "Yes, but a bride can have whatever she wants on her wedding day."
Marley: *puckering her bottom lip* "I wish it was my wedding day."

Cruise Ships & Flowers

2010-11-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Some of the cruise lines have a policy about taking fresh fruits/vegetables and flowers on and off their ships. Thankfully, I have never had a bride tell me that she wasn't allowed to bring her fresh flower bouquet back on board of the ship (if you are a past bride that couldn't get your flowers on board though, please do leave a comment and let us know!). I think the security guards don't have the guts to tell a bride all dressed in white that she isn't allowed to keep her bouquet!

Some brides have not wanted to take the chance - or simply want to keep their bouquet forever. If this is the case, silk bouquets are a popular choice. I wanted to share a picture I took of a bouquet that a bride brought down a few months ago for her island wedding. There are a lot of online shops that sell silk bouquets (to my surprise, at the same price or much more than fresh flowers). Silk bouquets are also a good alternative for brides that want phalaenopsis orchids (live phalaenopsis orchids are very fragile and do not hold up well in bouquets). In the bouquet below, there were pink phalaenopsis orchids. They really do a great job replicating these in silk flowers!

The pink phalaenopsis boutonniere:

We have a winner!!

2010-11-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

When my husband asked me how I was going to chose a winner, I told him that I take the number of comments and put that in www.random.org - he asks, "did you just make that up? Is there really a website called Random.org???" and yes, there is! It is not made up.

And I did just that - and it chose number SIX! Which is Carrie L'Abbe! And, interestingly enough, Carrie had commented on my post about the cool wedding invitation and it turns out, she used the same Etsy vendor for her invitations! She even sent me a picture that her photographer, Elisha Orin, had taken of the invite.

Isn't it awesome??

Carrie, I just sent you an email - congratulations! Thanks everyone for playing!

Happy Halloween!!

2010-10-31T04:00:00.000-07:00

We are in the midst of a very busy family weekend! My father (shown above) is in town to visit his grandbabies (also shown above in their adorable Halloween costumes!) and we've got back to back Halloween parties all weekend long.

The giveaway contest ends tonight at midnight! Make sure you leave a comment before the end of the day. I'll be announcing the winner tomorrow afternoon.

Have a safe & Happy Halloween!!!!

Too cool not to share...

2010-10-27T07:52:00.001-07:00

I think passport invitations or Save The Dates are a great idea (event though you do not need a passport to visit the US Virgin Islands!) as you can cram some really great info in their booklet style. This one popped up on my Etsy homepage today and I just loved it!

Check out the listing for other great stuff: http://www.etsy.com/listing/60033535/deposit-passport-wedding-invitation-or?ref=fp_ph_26&src=favitm

Make your plans for 11/11/11...or 1/1/1 or 1/11/11 or....

2010-10-26T07:57:00.001-07:00

10/10/10 was a crazy busy wedding day! As was 9/9/9, 8/8/8, etc etc. I was thinking how next year, there are going to be a ton of these kind of crazy days. Just imagine:

1/1/11
1/11/11
9/10/11
11/1/11
11/11/11

We're already starting to book up for these dates! If you're considering a unique wedding date for 2011, let us know. We'd love to help before we get too booked up!

Love these colors...

2010-10-23T09:04:00.001-07:00

I love how the orange just popped against the green bridesmaid dresses!

Don't forget about the giveaway below! And yes, if you have already been a fan of our Facebook site, you are still eligible! =)

Exciting giveaway from MissNowMrs.com!

2010-10-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

I got to meet with a lot of great people in the wedding business while I was out in Las Vegas for the Wedding MBA convention last month. One of the coolest exhibits was MissNowMrs.com. This great website makes changing your name so much easier than trying to figure it all out on your own. And because they are so awesome, they have given me a gift card to give to one lucky blog reader! You do not have to be an Island Bliss Weddings client to win. All you have to do is go to our Facebook page and become a fan - or hit like, or whatever it is Facebooks wants you to do these days! Once you've become a fan of our Facebook page, come back to this site and leave a comment on this post letting me know you have done so. We will then use random.org to chose a winner from the comment sections.

Contest ends October 31st! And considering we haven't had any comments on like, the last 5 posts, good chances are you could win!! =)

A new addition to the blog roll...

2010-10-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

Check out our newest blog addition to the blog roll (on your right, towards the bottom). Eric Johnson of Paradise Pictures has joined the blogging world! EJ has lived on the island for almost 20 years - his blog focuses on photographer but also island life, which will make for an intersting read!

Check back on Thursday - I have a giveaway for my clients, straight from the Wedding MBA convention in Las Vegas!

Congrats Tom & Amy!

2010-09-30T19:24:00.001-07:00

This fun couple was married just the other day at Lime Tree Beach - very simple, just the two of them! I loved this photo of them walking up the aisle together - they were so cute!

Viva Las Vegas!

2010-09-22T11:34:00.001-07:00

Island Bliss Weddings is in fabulous Las Vegas this week to attend the wedding MBA. It's been very informative, not to mention fun. Being in Vegas reminded me of a thank you card my husband received from a bride & groom last year and I just had to post it and show you. The Virgin Islands Montessori School puts on a Las Vegas Night fundraiser every year and one of the staff wanted to actually get married at Las Vegas night and have an Elvis impersonator as the officiate. Who better than my husband, Stuart Scott, of USVI Services?? Didn't he make a great Elvis?

Better than these bozo's that I met on the street yesterday.

Back to normal....

2010-09-19T04:40:00.000-07:00

Things on St. Thomas...or at least for me (I think St. Thomas is as normal as ever, if you can consider St. Thomas normal!), are getting back to normal. I finally have internet back at my home & office. I do apologize for the lack of blog posts, but for the past few weeks, I've had to find Wi-Fi hot spots to download & send emails. I'm hoping those days are behind me!

I wanted to share a few images of what Hurricane Earl did to St. Thomas. We were really lucky - things could have been much, much worse. Just a lot of trees down (our landscaping was a mess!) and power lines. Some people just got their cable fixed last week.

View from my hotel room, this was probably the worst of the storm...

Conditions of the roads the next day...

Beautiful Magen's Bay

We actually had two weddings cancel because of the Hurricane. And I have never had a wedding cancel due to weather - usually just fiances that turn out to be jerks (am I allowed to say that!?). I have always been able to tell cruise ship brides that we've never had a ship not come to port but that's no longer the case. Do you think it will be comforting to clients if I tell them there is a greater chance that they'll call off the engagement then the ship not coming to port??? =)

Hurricane Earl

2010-09-02T13:00:00.001-07:00

Please be patient with us as we deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Earl. My office is still without power but I am travelling wherever I need to be to get internet connection and get caught up on emails. A huge apology to any clients that received 10 or more emails in a row from us! Not sure if that happened or not, but we had about 20 messages stuck in our outbox yesterday and they finally all sent - but not sure if they sent multiple times. Ugh, technology. One day I'll grasp it. =)

I'll post some pictures of the storm and it's aftermath in my next post and HOPEFULLY it will be the last hurricane related post of the season!! Fingers crossed....