July Re-Cap!

I have to say, I'm kind of impressed that my July Re-Cap is getting done by August 8th! Last month was busier than expected and then my trip away got extended a few extra days (I thought I would be back on the 29th but didn't fly in until the 31st). I had such a great time in Vegas with my friends and it was the first time in a long time that I got to participate in the bachelorette party instead of plan one!

I only saw one wedding while I was in Vegas - the photographer and the couple were taking pictures in front of the fountains at the Mirage. A few years ago it seemed I saw at least a couple of weddings  day in Vegas...maybe everyone is realizing the Caribbean is best?! :)

So here we go! July re-cap! Again, if your July wedding is not featured its probably because I don't have any photos of your day - please send them to me and I'll be happy to do a blog post on your wedding! I love sharing photos with our clients but I don't always have them available.

This is one of my favorite types of weddings - more for the adventurous couple that just wants to have fun! It's perfect for just the two of you or up to 2 other couples. You just rent a boat for the day, get married on a secluded little beach and spend the rest of the day island hopping, snorkeling and having fun!

I need to do a full blog post on this wedding - this reception was so lovely. This was at Bolongo Bay under the tent. Dancing in the sand, waves lapping up near your reception, what could be better right? This is just a teaser, I promise to do a post on just this wedding soon.

And my monthly bouquet dump...I like to post them here before putting them up on our photo album site. 

And I still want to do a blog post just dedicated to boutonnieres.

How cool are these guys? The bride & groom were actually crew members of the Disney Ship. You'd be surprised at how many crew member weddings we coordinate each month!

The following photos and the one above are from Brewer's Bay. Brewer's Bay gets mixed reviews but at the same time, I think its a great spot for photos.

I especially love the ruins there for photography.

I love this couple below...and no, they didn't get married with these shirts on, but they wanted a photo with them so they could submit it to The Chive. I hope they get selected!

And adorable little cake with a good lesson - make sure the cake topper isn't too heavy for the cake. This cute little couple took a header right into the icing. Thankfully it didn't break and the only damage was a bit of frosting in the "grooms" hair.

I love creative toasts shots! The photographers usually end up sandy but it's worth it.

This couple was sooooo sweet! They met in South Florida at a tango class. After the ceremony, they tango'd to three different songs the groom had chosen for them.

Lovely photos from a sunset wedding on Hawksnest Beach - she had on a short dress but you can't tell in the first photo!

And a morning wedding on Hawksnest. This group arrived via Calypso Charters to Hawksnest for their ceremony - that's a fun entrance!

Possibly one of my favorite images from July - American Beach Gothic

This couple had all the guests wearing the Hawaiian print shirts and all the ladies had on matching ankle leis - this was on Lindquist Beach, St. Thomas:

And some gorgeous centerpieces from a Sand Dollar wedding. This color scheme is becoming very popular with the mercury glass and silver tones.

The couple had little silver picture frames with photos of themselves dispersed throughout the tables, I thought this was a great little touch.

Another bride opted instead of rose petals or rice, they had a gold pirate coin toss exit! How cute is that! The coins were actually very light plastic so no danger of anyone getting hurt!

A birds eye view of Sand Dollar Beach.

July was definitely "Donkey Season" in St. John. They came out in droves to cheer our couples on (and eat any bouquets they could get their mouths on)!

This couple below sent me some great images captured by Blue Glass Photography - I plan to do a blog post on them soon.

Our white lanterns have become very popular for centerpieces as well as aisle decor. 

I attended the first US Virgin Islands Bridal Symposium - they pushed me into opening a Twitter account. Follow me! (click the Twitter link - but I don't post often - it still confuses me)

How beautiful is this boat?! Hoping to do a blog post on it very soon.

And that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed our July Re-Cap post!

Amy & Greg's Wedding!

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!

Boat Trip! Actually....boat wedding!

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!