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!

Wedding Videos...

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.

Lime Tree Beach Wedding

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!

They may even still be on their honeymoon...

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!

A beautiful sunset

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!

Caribbean Tourism Organization

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!