Turks & Caicos Wedding
Aside from the fact that this wedding is off the charts beautiful, I'm absolutely tickled pink that the (stunning) bride found her photographer, Kellie Kano, on the pages of SMP. It's just so rewarding to hear the work, if you can really call it work, we do to shine a beautiful light on these stunning weddings and the vendors behind them is really paying off. This one from Tropical Destination Management is one that is most definitely going to inspire a few of you lovebirds. But don't forget to save a few moments for the film from Inkspot Crow Films below!
See more of this stunner on Kellie Kano's Blog!
You're going to love this film from Inkspot Crow Films!
From the beautiful bride... My husband and I met while watching the World Cup in 2010 in the West Village. We were both there because of our mutual friend, who later we decided would be the best fit to officiate our wedding ceremony. Years later, I found out that our friend intended to set us up, but did not want me in on the secret so it would happen organically… well it sure did. When we met that day and started asking one another questions about our lives, interests, families, etc, we quickly knew something was going on that was extra special. I was being coy while Rizan casually asked me to play tennis when we parted ways that day. When we finally played tennis, I knew he was a keeper when I saw how patient he was with me on the court.
I grew up in North Carolina and moved to NYC for my career and Rizan was raised in Midwest Minnesota and also moved to NYC for work. We were both pretty private people and it took meeting one another to finally be able to open up naturally. When we got engaged, we knew that a huge wedding was not a fit for us. A more intimate, yet incredibly exciting affair was what we wanted. We briefly considered having a small wedding in a NYC hotel, but realized that we also wanted our wedding to be a retreat for our guests. Being lovers of the beach, we quickly thought that our best past vacation spot had to be our wedding location. During the first visit to Turks and Caicos, we were blown away by how strikingly beautiful the sand and crystal-clear water was. We loved how raw, pure and natural the entire island felt. The Gansevoort was the perfect backdrop for our day. Not only did the Gansevoort allow us to have a connection to NYC, but the boutique feel and charming white surroundings were a perfect mix of sexy, sophisticated and classic, which is exactly what we wanted for our destination wedding.
Being pretty decisive made planning the wedding much easier for me. Although I am quick with decisions, I am thorough in my research. It also helped that my then fiancée and I did all the planning so we could crank through options pretty quickly. He let me do all the aesthetic decisions, i.e. table design, flowers and colors and he was great at executing the contractual details. So we were a pretty good team, a good test for a marriage I would say!
On a wedding planning trip to Turks and Caicos, which luckily we managed to squeeze in some R&R as well, we met with Teresa Brunner from Tropical Destination Management who helped execute all my ideas. I told her I wanted a classic and modern look, something elegant and clean and she definitely delivered. I chose silver and pink as my colors because truthfully, I always imagined those colors to be the perfect fit for an elegant wedding and thankfully, they worked so well with the design at the Gansevoort. I also wanted lots and lots of flowers. I originally picked hydrangeas and peonies (my favorite), but unfortunately peonies were not growing well this year so I had to change to hydrangeas and garden roses, which actually turned out to be a great alternative. I told the florists the more flowers the better! Flowers by EA was able to make amazing arrangements for us. I wanted each table to have a white hydrangea “cloud” and lots of smaller arrangements, full of pink hydrangeas and roses. They made striking arrangements and definitely made the centerpieces look like clouds floating. The cake was white with silver accents and was understated, simple and elegant and fit so well with the rest of the design elements.
My ceremony gown was a dress I saw in a French magazine advertisement while on vacation in Montreal months before we were even engaged. I ripped the advertisement out of the magazine, quickly folded it up and put in my purse. I hid it for months and once we were engaged, I was on a hunt to find this dress. It was the first dress I tried on and the only one I needed to try on. I knew it was the one before even putting on. With that said, it’s a heavy gown for a girl that likes to dance, so I needed another lighter gown. The Reception dress had an ethereal feel and flowed so nicely with the breeze and best of all, it was light and airy and afforded me the comfort of dancing the night away. My something blue were my cute Manolo’s. My veil was custom made with Swarovski Crystals on the perimeter to complement the Romona Keveza Belt I wore with my ceremony gown.
Now all those decisions were pretty easy. What was difficult was finding the perfect photographer and videographer to capture our wedding. I am a sucker for romance, love, and anything sappy. I particularly love seeing pictures that generate emotion and even better, a tear or two. Once I spotted a few entries on Style Me Pretty that were photographed by Kellie Kano, I knew I had to investigate this talented photographer. I was blown away by her ability to capture innocence, sensitivity and deep sentiment through her lens. And once we spoke over the phone (since she is in NC and we are in NY), we knew we had an instant connection. She was so genuine, gentle and thoughtful and I was certain she would be able to provide us with the treasured pictures of our most important day. Kellie recommended Inkspot Crow Films to us after we had some trouble finding a videographer that fit our vision. They do not just make wedding videos, they make masterpieces. Philip and MacKenzie of Inkspot Crow were such charming, kindhearted, and loving people, but best of all, we immediately connected with their personalities and their incredible work. We love how our video included all the emotion of the day and still maintained the exciting atmosphere throughout. Kellie Kano and Inkspot Crow were amazing finds and now we are lucky to have them as friends.
Finally, many told me that the wedding day would be a big blur because there are so many moving parts and elements and so many people surrounding you. Luckily, having a small intimate affair allowed for me to really get to enjoy every second of it. It was the calmest I have been in years and it was the most magical day of my life. I’m so thankful for all that were involved in making it a dream come true and especially thankful for the lovely pictures and video I have to look at to relive the day.
I grew up in North Carolina and moved to NYC for my career and Rizan was raised in Midwest Minnesota and also moved to NYC for work. We were both pretty private people and it took meeting one another to finally be able to open up naturally. When we got engaged, we knew that a huge wedding was not a fit for us. A more intimate, yet incredibly exciting affair was what we wanted. We briefly considered having a small wedding in a NYC hotel, but realized that we also wanted our wedding to be a retreat for our guests. Being lovers of the beach, we quickly thought that our best past vacation spot had to be our wedding location. During the first visit to Turks and Caicos, we were blown away by how strikingly beautiful the sand and crystal-clear water was. We loved how raw, pure and natural the entire island felt. The Gansevoort was the perfect backdrop for our day. Not only did the Gansevoort allow us to have a connection to NYC, but the boutique feel and charming white surroundings were a perfect mix of sexy, sophisticated and classic, which is exactly what we wanted for our destination wedding.
Being pretty decisive made planning the wedding much easier for me. Although I am quick with decisions, I am thorough in my research. It also helped that my then fiancée and I did all the planning so we could crank through options pretty quickly. He let me do all the aesthetic decisions, i.e. table design, flowers and colors and he was great at executing the contractual details. So we were a pretty good team, a good test for a marriage I would say!
On a wedding planning trip to Turks and Caicos, which luckily we managed to squeeze in some R&R as well, we met with Teresa Brunner from Tropical Destination Management who helped execute all my ideas. I told her I wanted a classic and modern look, something elegant and clean and she definitely delivered. I chose silver and pink as my colors because truthfully, I always imagined those colors to be the perfect fit for an elegant wedding and thankfully, they worked so well with the design at the Gansevoort. I also wanted lots and lots of flowers. I originally picked hydrangeas and peonies (my favorite), but unfortunately peonies were not growing well this year so I had to change to hydrangeas and garden roses, which actually turned out to be a great alternative. I told the florists the more flowers the better! Flowers by EA was able to make amazing arrangements for us. I wanted each table to have a white hydrangea “cloud” and lots of smaller arrangements, full of pink hydrangeas and roses. They made striking arrangements and definitely made the centerpieces look like clouds floating. The cake was white with silver accents and was understated, simple and elegant and fit so well with the rest of the design elements.
My ceremony gown was a dress I saw in a French magazine advertisement while on vacation in Montreal months before we were even engaged. I ripped the advertisement out of the magazine, quickly folded it up and put in my purse. I hid it for months and once we were engaged, I was on a hunt to find this dress. It was the first dress I tried on and the only one I needed to try on. I knew it was the one before even putting on. With that said, it’s a heavy gown for a girl that likes to dance, so I needed another lighter gown. The Reception dress had an ethereal feel and flowed so nicely with the breeze and best of all, it was light and airy and afforded me the comfort of dancing the night away. My something blue were my cute Manolo’s. My veil was custom made with Swarovski Crystals on the perimeter to complement the Romona Keveza Belt I wore with my ceremony gown.
Now all those decisions were pretty easy. What was difficult was finding the perfect photographer and videographer to capture our wedding. I am a sucker for romance, love, and anything sappy. I particularly love seeing pictures that generate emotion and even better, a tear or two. Once I spotted a few entries on Style Me Pretty that were photographed by Kellie Kano, I knew I had to investigate this talented photographer. I was blown away by her ability to capture innocence, sensitivity and deep sentiment through her lens. And once we spoke over the phone (since she is in NC and we are in NY), we knew we had an instant connection. She was so genuine, gentle and thoughtful and I was certain she would be able to provide us with the treasured pictures of our most important day. Kellie recommended Inkspot Crow Films to us after we had some trouble finding a videographer that fit our vision. They do not just make wedding videos, they make masterpieces. Philip and MacKenzie of Inkspot Crow were such charming, kindhearted, and loving people, but best of all, we immediately connected with their personalities and their incredible work. We love how our video included all the emotion of the day and still maintained the exciting atmosphere throughout. Kellie Kano and Inkspot Crow were amazing finds and now we are lucky to have them as friends.
Finally, many told me that the wedding day would be a big blur because there are so many moving parts and elements and so many people surrounding you. Luckily, having a small intimate affair allowed for me to really get to enjoy every second of it. It was the calmest I have been in years and it was the most magical day of my life. I’m so thankful for all that were involved in making it a dream come true and especially thankful for the lovely pictures and video I have to look at to relive the day.