MIA

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long! The last two weeks of February and the first two weeks of March are busy, busy, busy...but I have a long list of things to blog about! One of which has to do with the following two photos:


Above photo by the amazing Eric Johnson of Paradise Photos



But you'll just have to wait to find out why. We have two more weddings to finish off the week!

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!

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Five blissful years of happiness with my wonderful husband! We were married 5 years ago, on May 28th, 2005. Pictures by Paradise Pictures, ceremony & reception at Oceana. I can't believe we are already at five years! Two beautiful kids later, a wonderful wedding business, life just couldn't be better!

I had just gotten into the wedding planner business when our wedding unfolded and going back to look through the pictures, I had to cringe here and there! I can't even begin to tell you how many countless weddings I have been to in the last five years and how many AMAZING things I have seen brides do. Looking at my photos, I realize just how much of an amateur I was!! I see soooooooo many things that I would have done differently or wish I had put more thought in to. But in the end, none of that matters. What matters most is the marriage, the person you look in the eye and say, "I do" to. I couldn't ask for a more supportive partner in life. I'm more amazed at how much he can love me, even after all these years! Thank you love, for being my best friend and number one fan (you are a fan of mine on Facebook, no??). =)
I love and can't wait for the next five, and the five after that and the five after that and....

Pyros of the Caribbean!

We've used this group before and they always amaze me! I think its one of the best fire shows in the Caribbean. Pyros performed for us last week at our Rhumblines reception in St. John - if you're friends with Island Bliss Weddings on Facebook, you may have seen my iPhone pictures of the performance. EJ of Paradise Pictures sent these over though - much better than iPhone pics!

Wedding Gifts

Did you and your husband/wife exchange gifts to each other on your wedding day? Do you plan to if you are engaged? There are two schools of people in this category - those that do and those that don't. Those that don't either don't know that this is something that they can do, or they know about it, but figure the honeymoon is their gift to each other, or saving the money for something else. Those that do, they're probably a lot like me and will look for any excuse to give each other a nice gift (or get a nice gift!).

I begged my husband over and over to tell me what he wanted as a wedding gift when we got married in May '05. He is in the school of thought that wedding presents aren't necessary. I was not. So I was very specific in what I wanted for myself! I reminded very subtly about 10 times a day that I thought this would be a perfect gift:



I stole this picture from an eBay seller - it's a horrible picture of a very beautiful Roberto Coin palm tree pendant. He knew if we were to start our married lives as happily ever after, he'd better have it! =) And he did, I was "so surprised" to get in on our wedding day. =) These are sold at Jewels here in St. Thomas and St. John - what a perfect thing for your groom to pick up while he is here, no need to hide it in the luggage! And if you are married between the infamous palm trees on Magen's Bay? Even more fitting!

Something to be thankful for...

Chenoa and Mike renewed their wedding vows earlier this month on Magen's Bay. There are many different reasons why a couple will decide to renew their vows...they hit & survived a rough patch and want a new beginning...they are celebrating a big milestone anniversary...their mainland wedding wasn't their dream wedding and they want the sand in their toes to say I Do all over again...whatever their reasoning, we are happy to help. Mike & Chenoa though, has a different story and I loved that we (and mainly Eric Johnson of Paradise Pictures) were able to help.

A few years ago, their basement flooded. Among many possesions ruined was their wedding album. The photos were destroyed and they were heart-broken. The decided to have the photos redone but with an upcoming cruise to the Caribbean, they decided, why not redo the whole thing?? They laughed as they recalled their old wedding photos with the old school puffy sleeved dresses and the reception decorated with balloons! I love looking at those old albums, I can only imagine!

Eric did a wonderful job with their photos, even without balloons and massive sleeves!

Simply Photography

Not simple photography...don't get me wrong there. But my first wedding of October was on the 5th for Stacey & George and there are two words that describe their wedding: Simple & Photography. As part of my promise to blog something about every wedding I have this month, it didn't take long to review this wedding and figure out my favorite aspect...the photography. First, Stacey and George had a very simple wedding set up on Hawksnest Beach, St. John. It was them, his parents, her parents and their love...that sounded cheesy, right? Sorry. =) We had some conch shells and palm leaves to add some color to the beautiful white sand and with nothing but the beautiful sound of waves lapping at their feet, they said I Do. It was really just lovely.

But here's the best part. Yes, it was simple, yes it only took about 20 minutes...but Stacey LOVES good photography and knew that the images of her wedding day will last forever and she wanted them to be GOOD and varied. Not just beach pictures, not just the traditional parents with their newly inherited son or daughter-in-law...but fun stuff. She hired Paradise Pictures for THREE HOURS! This is not very common for such small and simple ceremonies but I LOVE IT and think it's a great idea!

They got great shots of the ceremony...



But then headed to Annaberg Ruins for some really fun stuff,



stuff that shows their personalities...



and then headed back to the beach to cool off!




If it can work in your budget, I highly suggest having the photographer for multiple hours and working in multiple locations. Your wedding album will be AMAZING.

Now don't forgot to go read the guests blog posts and leave a comment - contest ends tomorrow at midnight!

Sunset Ceremony at Secret Gardens.

I helped plan a beautiful sunset ceremony at Secret Gardens on Peterborg, St. Thomas. Secret Gardens & Coral Gardens are two villas right next to each other, sharing the same driveway. They are perfect for renting for large groups - there are NINE bedrooms between the two villas! Our bride had a total of 24 guests, all of which could stay on the grounds - it was a wedding and family reunion wrapped into one! Dinner was catered on-site, eliminating the need for guests to travel on the wedding day. It was a gorgeous setting and a fun atmosphere for everyone. It's my favorite thing about villa weddings - with a group of 24, it's the best way to provide a private, intimate reception.

The best thing about this villa is the fact that there is beach access. EJ from Paradise Pictures captured some beautiful photos of my bride & groom at sunset.



And I'm TOTALLY diggin' this shot of the bride's shoes!! Way to go EJ, love it!

A Photographer's Wedding

My dear friend, EJ of Paradise Pictures, was married last Saturday at the St. Thomas Reformed Church. I was very honored to have EJ ask me to handle the day of coordination for him and his beautiful bride Ashlee. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony in a gorgeous church setting.

The St. Thomas Reformed Church is located in the heart of Charlotte Amalie. After the ceremony, I took a few pictures of the surrounding architecture. I absolutely love these backdrops. Don't you think it could make for some excellent wedding photography?






And speaking of wedding photography, let me just say, there are a ton of cameras at a photographers wedding. I joked around that they wasted money on the videographer - with all the photos being taken, they could surely put a flip book together and it would play out just like a video!


Last photo courtesy of Sean McCoy & Bridget Gallaher

Congratulations Ashlee and Eric!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my brides, past & future! Congratulations to all those couples that said "I Do" in 2008, to those that will say it in 2009 and especially to all those couples who said, "I will" over the holidays. Looking forward to an amazing 2009...

Trash It Girl!!

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile now - how great are these photos by EJ at Paradise Pictures?? You just have to love a bride that is willing to trash the dress!

Love these colors!

Remember that beautiful cake from my last post...see the groom's tie and the bride's fan? How perfect! These pictures were taken my our very talented photographer, EJ of Paradise Pictures. This little lookout spot is known as Drake's Seat. The views of Magen's Bay and the British Virgin Islans are unbeatable!


And I just had to share this photo of the bride and groom on Magen's Bay. I love how her dress is swirling behind her. The lighting is just outstanding.

New ways to preserve....

Occasionally I have a bride that asks me about preserving their bouquet. We do actually have a vendor on St. Thomas now that can help with this process. It does involve boxing the bouquet on dry ice and shipping it off island - overall, it's an expensive process. And in the end, you just end up with the world's best dust collector. Ever tried to clean dried flowers? Not easy.



Of course, you will always have photos of your bouquet to remember it by. The above picture is from my own wedding. I purchased the silver starfish on eBay and had the florist attach it to my bouquet. I still have that starfish tucked away in my jewelry box - it will be used again one day. For what, I don't know...but I hope it involves my daughters somehow. But the photo itself isn't something I would really frame and stare lovingly at, you know? The day after my wedding as I was sitting in our hotel suite, looking at my gorgeous bouquet, I wondered, what can I do to preserve its memory? I hated to just throw it away. Pluck a flower and press it between the pages of a book? That seems so high school prom to me. So I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures...wondering, what am I going to do with these pictures other than file them away somewhere?

Then inspiration hit me. I started shaking the crap out of my bouquet, snapping photos of it as I went. The result? Some pretty cool abstract photos! I loved the way the photos came out and have always planned to order them in an 8x10 photo, frame them an hang them in a collection of three. The almost look like artwork, don't they?





Have I actually gotten around to doing this? Well, after almost 3.5 years of marriage...no. I haven't done it yet. I'm too busy framing photos of my babies! But, one day I think I definitely will. In fact, I may go ahead and place the order. They're more apt to get framed if I actually print them! Don't you think they would look cool with a white matte and black frame?

And yes, the look of my new husbands face was priceless as he watched his bride shake her bouquet like a mad dog with a rabbit in its mouth! I'm surprised he didn't run screaming from the room!

Cake Toppers

When a bride plans a destination wedding, many don't think of their cake toppers as top priority. Well, I guess when any bride plans her wedding, a cake topper isn't a top priority! Many destination brides are looking for ways to keep their luggage light and hauling a cake topper with them just doesn't make the most sense. Most destination brides opt for beautiful flowers on their cake to keep things simple but elegant, like the cake above. And while this is a beautiful option, I have to say, I love it when brides add a touch of personality to their cakes. I admit, it's my favorite, because it's what I did for my own wedding!



I had so much fun researching personalized cake toppers and finding the company to do this for us. I actually had mine made from a company I found on eBay. They even went to far as to put a little Corona bottle in my groom's hand and scuba fins on our feet - how perfect! I don't believe they are in business anymore (it's been almost 4 years since I ordered it!) but there looks to be some artists on eBay still making similar ones. Search for personalized clay cake toppers.

One thing to look for when you purchase a personalized cake topper like this is one that is made with poly-clay - this clay is waterproof & will not mold. Unfortunately, I did not know this when I had my own topper made and we recently had to depart with the mold ridden creation (our tropical environment was not friendly to it, but I'm sure it would have been ok in a cooler climate). If you google these types of cake toppers, a lot of companies out there make them as well. I think if I was to order one again, I would go with www.claymyfigure.com. www.clayfigurines.com and www.designsbydorian.com also looked like fun sites.

There are other great ways to personalize your cake as well - don't feel you have to drop over $100 on one of these babies. It could be as easy as dropping $10 at your local toy store, like this couple did!