September Re-Cap!

It's that time again - recaps!! I love doing the monthly re-cap and sharing some of my favorite photos from the past months weddings. Please keep in mind that I do not have photos from each wedding so if you were married in September and do not see a photo from your event, its just because I don't have any to share! Feel free to email me your favorites and I'd love to do a blog post on you!

The water at Lindquist Beach (above and below) has been soooooo blue lately.

It only took about 30 times to get them all jumping at the same time! :) 

Gorgeous morning light at Hawksnest Beach, St. John

 One of my favorite parts of my job is checking out all the rings! I love jewelry.

Everyone loves our palm trees. These at Lindquist Beach are tall & majestic!

This bride made her own boutonnieres and you know I love it when my brides incorporate my seahorses!

 Don't you LOVE our new sign?! I posted a photo of it on Facebook and 114 Likes!!

I like to give a little love to our florist - they always do such a great job for us! Some of the great bouquets from September.

 

And a cute little vegan cake by VI Desserts!

 

I snapped this before a gorgeous sunset wedding on Trunk Bay for a couple visiting all the way from Greece (well, both are from Greece, he lives in Atlanta and she recently moved there to be with him!)

 

But this couple?! This is my favorite couple of the month! Why? Because she is an awesome freind of mine from college! Erin just visited this past week her with fiance and will return next May to be married at Sand Dollar Estate, St. Thomas. I can't wait!!

 

Not so simple centerpiece

 

If you are on Pinterest I have no doubt you have seen this photo - it's everywhere!! And I must have brides send this to me at least 3 or 4 times a month. I recently sent it to my florist to get an update on the cost and I mentioned to her how this is the centerpiece that just won't stop and she said this was the 4th request she had for it this week alone!! 

But I think this simple centerpiece is not as simple as it appears - it's deceiving, that centerpiece is lying to you!! First, the price tag. With the fresh sand (you can't use beach sand for this), the vase rental and the flowers (a peony is most likely going to be used here instead of the garden rose), delivery and set up, you're looking at $30 per vase. $30 for a centerpiece isn't bad, I agree. But that's where the photo is deceiving. This vase is really not all that large is size and would look very small on a table by itself. It should be used as an accent piece to a larger centerpiece. If you look closely at the photo, you can see there are two more of these vases in the background. You'll need to use a lot of them to make an impact on the table. Then the simple centerpiece idea starts to add up in price. 

 This centerpiece is a similar in it's soft romantic tones but has more impact and at less cost:

Boutonnieres for the men in your life...

We have a bridal bouquet post, a maids bouquet post and a centerpiece post but it's finally the boys turn: a boutonniere post!

I've been wanting to do one for awhile now but recently our florist has asked for a change in the pricing for a boutonniere and I realized, now is the time! For years, our florist has included the grooms boutonniere in with the cost of the brides bouquet and each additional boutonniere was $10 each. But over the time, boutonnieres have received more attention and become more stylized.

Before I go any further on this post, I'm going to say that our florist will always match the boutonniere to the bouquet UNLESS request not to. A lot of brides will email me and ask if the boutonniere will match and I always wonder, "why wouldn't it?!". A florist isn't going to add a bright red boutonniere when a bride has asked for soft peach and sage bouquet.

Back to our posting. :)

From now on we'll have "simple" boutonnieres for $10 each or "premium" boutonnieres for $20 each. All bouquets included in the package will include a simple boutonniere but can be upgraded for $10. Simple boutonnieres will have 1 flower and a simple stem (no ribbon) such as this:

Sometimes they may add a 2nd bloom, but it will be up to the florist discretion.

The premium bouquets will have a ribbon or burlap wrap on them like this:

So I've gone through some of the boutonniere pictures I've collect and figured I would post them here and state whether they were "simple" or "premium" to give you an idea of what to expect.

These are examples of premium boutonnieres:

I know this boutonniere is small but it is considered premium due to the intricate twine wrap.

These are examples of "simple" boutonnieres:

Yes, this has a ribbon but the flower very small so its still considered simple

So I hope this helps when considering a boutonniere. Overall, you'll need to make two decisions: which color you prefer and if you'd like to upgrade. And if you don't have a preference on either, that's OK too!

August Re-Cap!

Almost two weeks in to September and I'm finally getting to the August re-cap! I always look forward to the fall thinking we'll slow down and have more free time but I find when I'm not at a wedding, I'm busy catching up on other things. We have some exciting stuff happening this fall which will be blogged about soon. In the meantime, checkout some photos from our fabulous August events!

Check out the new "beach lounge" at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort! This little area is right near where they set up the tent for wedding receptions and makes a beautiful cocktail hour area.

PHOTO BOMB at Lindquist Beach!

How cute is this couple?!

This couple chose to have a 2nd hour of photos back at their hotel after the ceremony. These two photos were taken at Frenchman's Reef. I love the splash of color inside her dress.

A lovely morning wedding at Hawksnest!

Sometimes morning weddings are just tiresome though. Poor little guy fell asleep as mommy and daddy were saying I Do!

But you get some really great morning lighting likes these Lindquist Beach weddings:

I thought this was a fun picture - completely by accident - I took a photo with my camera to check the setting and accidentally  caught this moment on Magen's Bay right before the bride walked down the aisle.

Magen's Bay palm trees...

If you have your wedding at Oceana, you'll have the honor and distinct privilege to meet Morris the Cat.

Pretty Klip Point at Sapphire Beach...a gorgeous spot for sunset weddings (and sunrise!)

Look at the sunset!

I love the rose petal toss photo - and its possible to do even if its just the two of you - the officiate stood off to the side and tossed these! I love how they have a 3D effect in the first photo.

This bride had a few photos taken in her room before the ceremony - and a cool room it was at Sapphire Beach and Marina. Some of the rooms are really nicely updated.

One of our Sand Dollar Villa events last month. I love decorating the tables here.

And a few of the yummy wedding cakes we had last month.

I love this photo - the bride made this the morning of the wedding - just glued some starfish together and slide the rings on - awesome ring "pillow"!

I thought this was a fun ring shot too - two sea urchins found on the beach added the right beachy touch

The next two photos were taken by Megan Biggs Photography. This couples was just so sweet - they had their sunset wedding on Trunk Bay followed by a reception at Ocean Grille in St. John.

And of course my daughters want to know why he is wearing a "skirt".

I'm often asked what my favorite beach is and honestly, I absolutely love Trunk Bay weddings at sunset. Just look at that beautiful light.

And that's it for August my friends! Hopefully the September re-cap will be up around October 1st instead of mid-October!