Congrats to John & Stacia!

I meant to get this blogged before my trip last month! Stacia was so nice to send me these images from her wedding on Lime Tree Beach, shot by Elisha Orin Photography!

Congrats again Stacia & John, it was such an honor to be a part of your day!

Tiniest Wedding Crasher to date!

We had a lovely vow renewal lsst week - I was watching the cremony when a tiny little crab crawled out to say hello. Can you see him in the sand?

I'm still off island and will return on Sunday. I do have email access but can not configure my laptop to send mail from the place I am staying, so I have to drive a mile away just to get my emails to send (thank you free wifi at Starbucks!).

Mimosa anyone?

I had a lovely wedding yesterday on Lime Tree Beach (aka Bluebeard's Beach Club). We knew in advance that many of the guests did not really enjoy champagne, so we brought a bottle of OJ for guests to make mimosas. I really didn't want to bring a carton of OJ with me to an elegant wedding - something just didn't seem right about pouring from a Minute Maid jug into a champagne flute! So I brought along this beautiful Mason jar. I really like the way it presented itself!

Orange you glad to see me?

We have a beautiful wedding last week at Lime Tree Beach (aka Bluebeard's Beach). As I was setting up, I was reflecting over the fact that orange has really become a very popular wedding color. When I was married about 5 years ago, the hot colors were pink and green. Now, I'm seeing a big trend for orange and pink. I can't help but think if you throw the color brown or yellow in there, it would be a total throw back to the 60s. I think my mother's wedding colors were yellow, orange and brown. That and the couch I grew up with - a nice yellow, orange and brown plaid tweed beast of a couch. But I digress...orange & pink for wedding colors = hugely popular and hugely pretty!

As you remember from Amber's post a couple of weeks ago, the iguanas are plentiful at Lime Tree Beach and as I was setting up for the wedding, I noticed no less than 8 of them surrounding me. They do not bother me, as you can not have a fear of these creatures if you live in St. Thomas - they are as inevitable as waves on the sand. But they were taking a very keen interest in my set up. It wasn't until I threw down a bundle of the orange chair ties and saw four of them rush over to investigate that I figured out why they were so eager to watch me today. Orange, red and pink are their FAVORITE colors, as they are the same colors as hibiscus flowers...their favorite foods. This little bugger was keeping guard over the chair ties and I had to shoo him away to complete the task of tying them on our chairs!



This one was getting a little inappropriate with my conch shells.



I was finally able to finish and the set up looked superb (if I don't say so myself).



But unlike Amber's wedding day, there was no act of sabotage by the iguanas during the ceremony! Our bride and groom were very happy and iguana-trauma free.



Favorite Element: Orange

Special touches...

David & Tracy were married just over a week ago now (boy I'm behind) and had an absolutely lovely ceremony on Lime Tree Beach and a reception at the beautiful Villa Botanica. Unfortunately, I didn't get to grab as many photos of their day as I had wished.

I had some time to grab some photos of the flowers before everyone arrived...



The bride's all white bouquet...



I love this new trend with the boutonnieres...going all green instead of floral...



Once everyone arrived, there just wasn't time to pick up the camera again. But my favorite elements of the day really had to do with the reception and I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of the complete set up. I was at Villa Botanica earlier and can you believe I didn't have my camera with me? But I was able to capture these elements with my iPhone - judge for yourself the quality of iPhone pictures!

The first is of the centerpieces that Tracey had brought down with her. She purchased these at IKEA and had them spray painted a bronze color. We then took rose heads and surrounded the inside flowers. They came out just beautifully.



But...drum roll...here is my favorite part of their wedding - the place cards that doubled as favors that doubled again as an entree chart for the caterer. These sand dollars were placed at each individuals table. Orange indicated fish, blue indicated beef...very easy for the waitstaff to know who got what! They were pre-strung as well, so guests can take them home and use them as Christmas ornaments - love them!!

Blog Post #2: Unexpected Guests!

This was submitted from a past client of mine, beautiful Amber, who was married at Lime Tree Beach. Her photographer, www.bludoorstudios.com, captured some amazing pictures!

Unexpected Guests!

One of the advantages of hosting a destination wedding is that the chances of having “wedding crashers” is unlikely right?

In the instance that you are thinking of these wedding crashers you are probably right.



As it turns out, on our wedding day in St. Thomas we had none of the above referenced “Wedding Crashers” however we still ended up with a few “unexpected guests”.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine those moments as you are standing with your significant other saying your vows.

Tears of joy are being shed all around as your closest friends and family are watching the two of you become one. What a wonderful day!

What’s that you hear? Someone sobbing. Oh, no worries it is probably just Aunt Joyce overwhelmed with the emotions of the day. Yet it continues…..

You think to yourself “Wow, we aren’t as emotional as she is, something must be wrong with us”

Then out of the corner of your eye, you see something dart across the ground towards your bridesmaids while in the same moment your entire wedding party and all the guests scatter.

There are screams, tears, and laughter while everyone tries to regroup and figure out exactly what THAT is scampering across the ground?!?!?

Meanwhile, the locals are laughing hysterically at the scene that has just unfolded. To them the “unexpected guests” are merely a part of life on the island.



To you, they are the scariest looking iguanas you have ever seen who also appear to be on a mission. Of course they are, the locals say as they tell you it is iguana mating season in St. Thomas. Not only that, they are extremely attracted to toenail polish.

:Cue the horrified bride and bridesmaids here:



Yes, ladies and gentlemen this was the story of our wedding day. It is one we shall never forget. To this day (almost three years later) the story brings a smile to the face of everyone who was in attendance that day.

Surely, your wedding day in St. Thomas will be memorable in every way even if it does include a few “unexpected guests” along the way!

Shhhhhhh!!

Very exciting wedding last night! It's definitely not rare for a bride & groom to come to the island alone to be married. Leaving friends & family at home can, let's be honest, make things a bit less stressful and relaxing! But for the most part, everyone back home is aware of the plans and the newlyweds head back for a fun at-home reception. It is rare these days that an elopement isn't a surprise for everyone but such was the case for our wedding yesterday. I think the only people that new these two were getting married was the officiant, the photographer, the hair & make-up artist and myself!

And of course, I wanted to blog this morning about her fabulous hair accessory (you know how much I love accessories!) but just as I was editing the photo, I realized....what if someone back home might have suspected something was up? What if someone is snooping on her computer and finds my blog in her favorites list? Hmmm...so, you'll have to wait til next week. For now, I will only post this very non-descript photo captured by Blue Glass Photography. This was sunset at Lime Tree Beach, also known as Bluebeard's Beach Club.



Cheers! It was very fun planning an true, traditional elopement!

Glowing

Look at that smile on his face and that little smirk on hers. Just amazing the love you feel on your wedding day (and every day after, of course). Psst...click on the photo to make it larger.