acireta

Ceremony Janelle from Island Bliss Weddings has been a life-saver in organizing a day that could potentially be very hectic. We have to go to the courthouse before the ceremony to get the license. The ceremony will be on the grass at Limetree Beach (aka Bluebeard’s) at 11 AM, followed by lunch at Iggie’s Beach Bar at noonish. Not including us, we have 19 guests attending, 13 cruising and 6 meeting us on the island. We’ve been able to customize everything with Janelle, from the arch fabric color, to the palm/conch aisle, chairs, ceremony refreshments, etc. We’ll have a steel drum player for the hour that we’re at the ceremony, along with rum punch, ice water and champagne for everyone. This is the general idea of our ceremony set-up: Instead of a pillow or bowl, we’ll be using an engraved shell (Hanson Ellis) to hold our rings. I bought bamboo and paper fans from a BDW member, and I made tears of joy packets, which will all be set up in a black basket with blue ribbon trim. To remember my dad, we’ll be reserving a chair for him at the ceremony. I have a frame with “In memoriam†in it and a boutonniere for him on the chair. I made reserved signs for chairs for our parents, which I shipped to Janelle with other ceremony items about a month before the trip. Inspiration: Conducting our ceremony will be Janelle’s husband, Stuart Scott. She gave us versions of the script he uses, and we were able to adjust it to fit us. It didn’t really need any work, it was beautiful. I made a little cover for it. Our photographer is Eric from Paradise Pictures. His pictures are gorgeous, vibrant, happy pictures, which is exactly what we were looking for. We’ll be paying a rush fee to get the pictures in time to make a slideshow for our AHR, two weeks after we return. I can’t wait to get a petal toss photo at the ceremony site!! I also made some signs for a photo op – “Thank You!†on one side, and “I’m His/Her Mr./Mrs.†on the other. Reception We are having a shoreside lunch after the ceremony at a little beachside bar called Iggie’s Beach Bar at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort. It’s a very casual location, and we’ll just tell people to order what they want, and we’ll pick up the tab for everyone’s food and drinks. The wedding package from Island Bliss also comes with a cake which will be served at the lunch reception. We’ll be having yellow cake, white frosting, and simple blue accent frosting, with green orchids and white roses as a cake topper. After the wedding, we’ll just hang out at Bolongo Bay with our on-island guests, since we only have a few hours to spend with them before getting back on the boat. I figure if cruising guests want to explore St. Thomas, that’s cool. We just plan to spend as much time as possible with the guests who aren’t cruising. We plan to have dinner in the formal dining room with all of our guests that evening, wearing our wedding clothes (haven’t decided if I’m going to wear my short or long dress). Then we can party in the ship’s club after dinner! To be continued... reserved signs for chairs.docx mr mrs thank you signs.docx

Gifts Gift for my mom: Card, hair flower (Etsy seller itsashorething), live flower wrist corsage (provided with wedding package instead of a bouquet for me), handkerchief (Etsy seller gosiadesigns) & jewelry (some hotel gift shop in Orlando on a business trip) in clam shell box (Hanson Ellis), packaged in muslin bag (Etsy seller flirtdeux). Gift for my stepdad: boutonniere & engraved cigar holder (www.mygroomsmengifts.com) Gift for Al’s mom: Card from Al, live flower wrist corsage (provided with wedding package instead of a bouquet for me), handkerchief (Etsy seller gosiadesigns) & jewelry (Etsy seller dazzledesigns) in clam shell box (Hanson Ellis), packaged in muslin bag (Etsy seller flirtdeux). Gift for BMs: white sunglasses for a photo op at the beach (Focal Price), flowered belts for their dresses (David’s Bridal) and hair flowers (Torrid). Gift for GM: engraved pocket watch (www.mygroomsmengifts.com), black sunglasses (Focal Price) and boutonniere. We also gave his girlfriend, my good friend, some jewelry (Etsy seller GetNoticed) and a flower for her hair, and I’m paying to have her hair done with the BMs and me. My gift to Al on our wedding day will be a BD book. He knew I had done the shoot and that this was coming, but he didn’t really know the format. I had these done by Serenity Boudoir in Greyslake, IL. It’s a husband-wife owned studio, I preferred to just work with the wife, and she was wonderful. Harper is the sweetest woman in the world! I wish I could do this again, now that I know how to act and what to expect… maybe someday. I made the tag for the book and a card in a petal fold enclosure to go along with it, inspired by Brandy. To be continued... tag for BD book.pptx