After my sister came back from a recent trip to St. Thomas gushing with enthusiasm, I made a mental note to add it to my travel list. And now this wedding has come along and sealed that deal. St. Thomas is officially moving up to my #1 must-see destination and it has everything to do with these gorgeous images by Clary Pfeiffer. We’re talking crystal clear water views and peony filled details crafted by Janelle Scott. St. Thomas, I think I love you. See it all right here.
From the Bride…Jon and I were high school sweethearts, together for 10 years before he proposed on top of Old Rag Mountain. Jon insisted on going camping even though it was freezing and even snowed at night! We were supposed to go hiking with a couple friends the next morning but because of some bumps along the way, were two hours late meeting them. They had gone up thinking we left them and we raced up the steep 9 mile hike to try and catch them. Eventually we caught them, exhausted and numb from the cold. When we reached the summit, I saw my dog, Eden, running towards me. Very confused, I looked further and saw my sister, best friend, and other close friends and family. I still didn’t know what was happening and asked them why they would come here and not tell us! It was not until Jon removed the ring tied around Eden’s neck and got down on one knee, that I realized what was happening. It was the most perfect surprise.
We wanted our wedding day to be fun and relaxed, surrounded by our close friends and family, so what better way to do that then to get away to the beautiful island of St. Thomas! Through all our years together, some of our favorite memories are our vacations together, always to a different place. So this would be no different, we would choose a new destination once again. I knew this would be difficult, so having Janelle as our wedding planner was the peace of mind I would need throughout the planning to make it all happen.
I wish I could say I had a specific vision when planning my wedding, in fact I think my vision changed several times throughout the course. I would read wedding blogs all day and every time I saw a beautiful wedding I changed my mind again. I would worry and worry and second guess myself after every decision. One thing I knew was that I wanted my wedding to look like a dream. Of course, a very hard vision to explain to anyone but myself. When we found Clary, I knew that she would make this come true through her gorgeous photographs that always make me feel like I’m floating on a cloud. The Sand Dollar Estate was an amazing venue to make this dream come true, perfectly situated on the most beautiful Magens Bay Beach. We knew right away this was where we wanted our wedding to be. The view would be incredible from the ceremony on the private beach to the reception on the pool deck. A lot of the design was thanks to my amazing sister who had the patience to sift through my many, many ideas and create my invitations, signs, menus, and name cards. My husband’s passion is food, so we were so grateful to have Ched who went above and beyond to create a menu that we loved.
Now, one thing about me is that I wouldn’t take no for an answer when it came to achieving what I wanted (once I figured out what that was) and no matter how difficult it seemed to pull off, it just had to be. We found WoW Events to set up the lighting for us, which no one had ever done before at that venue. I bought the chandelier myself and shipped it down there. I rented the linens from home and lugged the 80 pounds of linens over there with me! Or, my husband did at least. That is one thing about him, is that he always just wants to make me happy. So no matter what hurdles seemed to stand in our way whether it be flight delays or storms before the wedding day, I knew that it would be perfect in the end because I have him to stand by me.
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Photography: Clary Pfeiffer | Wedding Coordination: Janelle Scott | Ceremony + Reception: Sand Dollar Estate | Cake: Cynthia Portillo | Catering: Ched Sharpless | Cinematography: Andrew Orleans | Signs: The Primitive Barn | Wedding Dress: Watters | Veil: Maggie Sottero | Bridesmaids Dresses: Lela Rose