Magen's Bay

Rated as one of the Top Ten Most Beautiful Beaches in the World, Magen's Bay is a wedding location favorite for many. Here are a few photos of a recent wedding we did there.



One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is, "What do we do in the event of rain?" (this question deserves it's own post and I will address it soon). Rain was threatening this couples ceremony all day and eventually, you have to roll with it. I think the rain clouds made for some pretty beautiful pictures.



And I had to post this picture of her bouquet. I love the orange calla lilies and white roses together. I think it looks seasonal in a way too - like the perfect "Caribbean Fall" bouquet...

Guest Books

We don't often have guest books at a destination wedding, usually there are only a handful of guests and it just doesn't seem necessary. That's why I'm a big fan of using a local photography book with enough free space to allow guests to sign their names & a loving note. Not only is it a record of your wedding guests but it also doubles as an awesome coffee table book with wonderful photographs of the island where you said, "I do".

There are a lot of different options out there - vitraders.com has a few of my favorites on their website but my ultimate favorite, a Virgin Island combo of all three islands, I couldn't find online. We're happy to purchase a book for you and add it to your invoice or tell you where to go once you arrive on island to find the perfect book for you. Here are a few samples from the VI Traders website:

For St. Thomas:



And for St. John:

No oil can needed...

Worried that I may be a little rusty, I had some pre-wedding nerves yesterday but never fear, it couldn't have gone smoother even if I doused myself in WD-40! It was definitely nice getting back to the office...



My favorite part of the wedding yesterday (other than the brides' dress, which I didn't get a photo of, but believe me, it was killer) was the wedding cake. How beautiful is this? Another gorgeous creation from VI Desserts.







Doesn't this look so yummy? Our couple boxed up the cake after the cutting so they could enjoy it with their dinner that night on the ship. I like this idea better than eating the cake at the beach, which inevitably, you'll end up with sand on your plate!

Ok, so not everything went smooth yesterday. We did have one wedding crasher...little booger was looking for some cake!

Wedding tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my first official wedding since the birth of my daughter on June 24th. I've had a few smaller elopements since her birth, but tomorrow is my first bigger wedding. Oddly enough, I'm a little nervous! I haven't been nervous about a wedding since I first started in this business almost four years ago. I'm glad my bride & groom have already left for their trip and are enjoying their cruise even as I type...last thing I'm sure they want to hear is that their wedding planner is nervous! Don't get me wrong, I know everything will go great (and I'll be sure to post pictures soon!), I'm just feeling a little rusty.

I'm spending today getting prepared for it - making sure the table cloth for the cake table is cleaned and ironed, picked up the colorful blue ties for the chairs from the rental company this morning, polishing the champagne flutes...very exciting stuff! Perhaps my most important job today is hugging my sweet Maya. She'll be left in the arms of a babysitter tomorrow for the first time while I'm at the wedding. Do you think she'll be able to forgive me?

Orin Foto

I wanted to share a few of the photos Elisha took for one of my brides this past summer. I just love her work and her website is just beautiful - www.orinfoto.com. She does a great job of capturing those tiny details that are so popular these days.

Elisha does not currently live on St. Thomas but is hoping to make the move here soon - possibly working here part of the year and in the mainland the other part (best of both worlds!). She offers a great destination wedding package to brides. We don't often recommend photographers unless they are local, but her work is just so special, I can't keep her a secret!

A new look for Island Bliss Weddings!

Check out our newly updated website at www.islandblissweddings.com We've added our new logo and streamlined some of our packages & pricing information. We've also added a Book It! page which makes sending your deposit easier.

The best new feature was added to our packages. We are now offering a court concierge service which will make filing and obtaining your marriage license effortless! This service has been added to all of our packages and is available as an add on service to those who do not have a package. We are offering this service for only $199 - which is much cheaper than any of the hotels charge (I won't name names but one ritzy hotel on the island charges $500 for the same service!).

If you have already received pricing information or booked your wedding with Island Bliss Weddings, the new prices changes will not affect you. With the rising costs of everything these days, we've unfortunately had to follow suit. Tell you what...as soon as gas drops below $3 a gallon (cheapest I've seen it on St. Thomas is $4.34), the first five booked weddings will get a free bouquet!

Ring Pillows!

Ah, lovely ring pillows! I have to say, I don't think I've ever had a wedding with a ring pillow in the Caribbean...except maybe my own! I had to dig DEEP to find this photo of my ring pillow - I had it saved on my shutterfly account from three years ago. I don't remember anymore which website I had ordered it from - if anyone recognizes it and knows, please tell me so I can give them credit!



Obviously you can see my inspiration came from the sea. I was hoping my nephews would be at the wedding and could be able to carry the pillow down the aisle for me but they couldn't come...so I had my 24 year old cousin carry it for me! I didn't actually make him walk down the aisle but he brought up the rings when the officiate asked for them. It was pretty funny, he's lucky I didn't make him wear knee socks. Ring bearers in knee socks are the best!

But to get to the point of my post, you don't need a ring bearer or a ring pillow in the Caribbean. Very few of my weddings have these elements. Although if you have a cute nephew you want to include - great! Kids are always so cute! But if you don't, or even if it is just the two of you getting married, it doesn't mean you have to "miss out" on having something special to carry your rings in.

I found this ceramic sea urchin on etsy.com by seller elementclaystudio that would be perfect for holding a pair of rings. Then you have a cute keepsake to keep of your wedding day - something to hold special jewelry in when you return home (I personally do not sleep in my wedding rings, so I would use this to hold my rings at night).



This is what was important to me about my own wedding - I wanted the elements of my wedding to either have a special meaning or potentially have a special meaning. So while some may think my starfish ring pillow is a little cheesy, after the wedding, the ribbon comes off and it looks great as a throw pillow on our bed. Actually...the ring pillow is made of silk and our tropical environment, as already mentioned, does not do well with such materials, so it looks great on my mother's guest bed...but one day, if we ever leave this island, it will look great on our bed!

I've also seen brides use a real starfish or clamshell as their ring carriers - this is a great way to bring nature into your ceremony. A recent bride brought with her this copper ring orb which I loved...



Of course, being a fan of anything homemade, I found a very similar one on etsy.com by seller palomasnest - imagine tying your own rings with color coordinating ribbon....so pretty!



Honestly though, we all know this is a small element of your wedding day. But for true shopaholics? The possibilities are endless!