Trunk Bay, St. John

Trunk Bay on St. John is a wonderful location for a ceremony. I can not wait to get the professional photos to share with everyone. This bride added a lot of personal touches. I love the fabric used on the arch - so colorful!



And her reception was just outstanding. Held on the deck of their privately rented villa (Villa Rhapsody), the view was just stunning!



I'll post professional photos as soon as I can.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Emerald

"aisle"!

Every once in awhile...

I have a groom that tries to escape. Don't worry ladies. Part of my coordination fee goes towards dragging their butts back to shore...

Sorry Disposable Camera Industry

I know you're not going to appreciate this post. But these days, I just don't see your relevance anymore. Everyone owns a digital camera and almost everyone knows how to upload their images to the internet. I just feel that the days of leaving a disposable camera on the reception tables are long gone. But how, do you ask, do you get everyone to share with you their digital photos? Ah...I have the solution for you! Most photo sharing & printing websites (like shutterfly, snapfish, etc)allow you to create websites easily (and for free) to allows friends & family to upload their photos to. I have a website like this for Island Bliss Weddings (www.islandblissweddings.shutterfly.com) and even have a site for my daughters so that the Grandma's can see & order photos of their grandkids (www.marleyandmaya.shutterfly.com). Personally, I love Shutterfly but mainly because it is what I'm familiar with. I'm sure the others are just as easy and great (although if you have any experience with any of them, please feel free to leave a message in the comment section to share with others).

The best way to inform guests of these sites are to leave a little card on the reception tables (a little note such as, "We'd love to see the photos you've taken of our wedding day! Please share with us at www.ourwedding.shutterfly.com) or to put a note in your welcome letter, programs, etc.

Now, before the disposable camera industry issues a hit out on me, I do want to recommend this little treasure for the welcome bags. Wouldn't everyone love a cheap little disposable UNDERWATER camera for their Virgin Islands vacation?? I found this cute little thing at www.weddingcameras.com

Are you on Facebook?

Island Bliss Weddings is! Become a fan!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Island-Bliss-Weddings/59742451415?ref=ts

And just for fun, check out this hilarious video clip. If you've been a member of Facebook for awhile, you will definitely get this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVA047JAQsk&eurl=http://www.stthomasblog.com/&feature=player_embedded

Just a tip on boutonniere's....

A boutonniere is always a nice touch for the groom, best man, groomsmen...and of course a nice way to recognize the special men in your life such a dad, grandpa, etc. A boutonniere will always look best on a jacket lapel. A lapel is strong enough to hold up the boutonniere to prevent "floppy-ness". I always joke with my grooms that a boutonniere pinned to a shirt reminds me of jr. high dances - remember when the boys would give the girls corsages? Do kids even still do that?? So cute to remember those days...

I digress...=) Anyway, if the men in the bridal party will not be wearing jackets, you may want to skip boutonnieres all together. It will make for a cleaner look in the photos. If it means a lot to you to have them, be sure to inform your wedding planner that the men will not be wearing jackets. This way we can let the florist know and they will make sure to make the boutonnieres either smaller in size or with lighter flowers.

Adorable favor idea...

I am a favor nerd, I will totally admit it. Cake and favors are the two things I totally look forward to when I attend a wedding. Which is probably not what a lot of brides want to hear since the big trends lately have drifted to dessert tables instead of cakes and charity donations instead of trinkets. But I'm a traditionalist - I love the little tulle bags of Jordan Almonds and the big slice of cake with thick sugary butter cream frosting! And if I can, I always steal a second piece...at weddings I'm attending mind you, not the ones I'm coordinating. =)

A post or two ago I posted about my friend Maddie's wedding here. As I was taking her and her groom (ooops! I mean, husband now!) back to the airport, I subtlety asked if they would be doing favors at their reception back in Indiana and had a plethora of ideas to share. Maddie actually already had in mind what she would like to do for favors, since she had attended a wedding last summer and loved their favor idea. This isn't exactly what she described, but the best I could find online...



A coworker had silver drink stirrers, or swizzle sticks as favors. These pictured above are acrylic and can be personalized with your name & wedding dates were found at www.hqweddingfavors.com. Maddie says she uses hers all the time - which is exactly what you are looking for in a favor - something that won't be tossed out at the end of the night or forgotten on the table! I like the silver idea best but couldn't find any online in the short search that I did. I suggested adding a little something to make it more "Virgin Island-y" since this is where they were married. Why not attach the swizzler to a miniature bottle of local Cruzan Rum?



How cute could that be? A little bottle of rum and a silver swizzler at each place setting? Definitely appropriate for a drinking crowd, which I'm sure Maddie's reception will fall into! And if you really feel confident about your crowd's drinking abilities, just skip the swizzler and put a little shot glass at each setting with the bottle of rum inside!