Congrats Stephanie & Brian!

I'm hoping to do a lot more blog posts in June! I feel bad that I haven't been highlighting some of my awesome couples...like Stephanie and Brian below.

Thank you to Blue Glass Photography for this image! I took some photos of my own of her reception at Villa Botanica that I promise to post soon.

Congrats to Emily & Michael!

These beautiful images were captured by Blue Glass Photography. Emily & Michael hired them for two hours to capture their ceremony on Hawksnest Beach and then a few other locations, including the Trunk Bay overlook and Maho Bay Beach. I just love the palm trees at Maho Bay!

Congrats Leah & Richard!

Thank you Blue Glass Photography or sending me these beautiful images! Leah & Richard were married on Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands!

So glad Blue Glass sent me a photo of their sea turtle cake topper! I loved this! Look at the cute little pink octopus!

St. John Beach Weddings

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

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

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

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

Certain rules pertaining to Cinnamon Bay Beach weddings:

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

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

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

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

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

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

PS Thank you Blue Glass Photography for the above images!

Maximize your photos!

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

A few shots before the ceremony...

Of course, the group shot!

Beach photos...

And then off to explore!

Drakes Seat....

A few urban shots...

Some shots along the ruins...

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

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

Gibney Beach Weddings

My husband did a wedding last week on Gibney Beach, St. John and immediately came home and said, "you have to do a blog post on Gibney, we need to do more weddings there, it is GORGEOUS". The photogarpher, Blue Glass Photography, was kind enough to send me some photos:

We don't really do too many weddings here because the site fee is pretty high at $500. But they have a wonderful beach for catering as well and it's only $500 more for the reception site fee (a total of $1000). A great feature of the beach is the villas - you can rent villas right on the beach for you & guests to stay in and enjoy. Check out Gibney Beach Villas by click on the link.

Congrats to Krystal & Jamie - what a wedding!

Krystal had been planning for months to surprise her groom with an over top "Bachelor" style wedding. Krystal asked me if I ever saw the mega dates on The Bachelor - she wanted something grand! And her idea of the seaplane was definitely something awesome!

The plane touching down in the water:

I'm wondering if the groom was thinking, "did they really have to land that plane now, while we're trying to take pictures?!"

But I bet he was so excited to see it was for him!

Taking off for their tour:

Thank you to Seaborne Airplanes for this amazing service! And thank you to Alain of Blue Glass Photography for taking these beautiful images! Stuart Scott officiated and HiDef Video took video, which I can't wait to see!

Brewer's Bay Wedding

In the past few months, I've had two different photographers tell me "I've never shot an event here before" when arriving to Brewer's Bay for a wedding. I then overheard a life guard tell me, "you're the only wedding planner I see here!". Now, I know for a fact that I'm not the only wedding planner that uses Brewer's Bay, but I do think its a bit of a hidden secret. I love it for it's diversity in photo backdrops, the fact that there is NO site fee, and the laid back atmosphere it has. It's a bonus that it's close to downtown for down photos as well.

Thanks so Blue Glass Photography for sharing these photos of last weeks wedding. Congrats to Courtney & Michael!

Pretty tropical arch!

My bride Lindsey ordered this tropical arch from Roses Too for her wedding last month - I've never had an arch quite like it at one of my weddings and wanted to share - very tropical!

Thank you Blue Glass Photography for the photo! This lovely couple was married on the deck of Villa Ventana...they has such lovely views there:

Congratulation Yuliya & Ander!

Congrats to Yuliya & Ander who were married on 5/3/12 on Lindquist Beach! Alain Brin of Blue Glass Photography sent me these photos - I love the last one, she looks like she's floating!

Love these kind of emails...

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.

Congratulations Jennie & Jonathon!

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...