There I was – standing under the shade of majestic coconut palms. A hundred of my favorite people gathered around me as the sun slowly set over the Caribbean Sea. A flirtatious breeze sweeping through my dress.

In front of me was this amazing man – handsome and sexy like Fifty Shades of Grey meets Aragorn meets McDreamy. And there he was, making life-long commitments to me and professing his love.

And I found myself thinking: Wait? What? I can’t wait to taste the cake.

Ok, maybe cake wasn’t the only thing on my mind.

Anyhow, I love weddings – especially the cake – and everyone always asks ‘how I got into planning weddings?’

Blue Sky Ceremony came about because of on an off-hand comment that reminded me of happy childhood memories growing up in the islands.

I’ll try to give you the short version of how it all went down.

I’ve loved weddings since forever. You see, I’m an island girl – born and raised right here on St. Thomas. And as a child, one of the greatest treats on my weekend beach adventures was seeing a bride – in her wedding dress – getting married right there on the sand!

Sometimes it was an intimate elopement with just the bride and the groom. Other times, the weddings were large affairs with pretty decorations and of course those big fluffy ballgowns that I still swoon over. It was like a watching a real-life fairy tale. And my friends and I would pretend, from afar, that we were part of the wedding. There was just something magical about it all.

But then I grew up. And those carefree childhood days on the beach became a distant memory. I think the 4 frozen winters at Amherst College in Massachusetts did that to me – anything below 70 is freezing to an island girl.

When I returned to the islands I found myself in a fast-paced career at a financial services company – putting my economics degree to good use. But taking an island girl and burying her in Excel spreadsheets is kinda like making a city girl milk a cow.  It just doesn’t work out well – for the girl…or the cow.

My then fiance/now husband sensed my growing dissatisfaction with cubicles and conference calls.

And then one day, he uttered some fateful words:

“Do What You Love & You’ll Love What You Do”

To be honest, I was so burnt out and I didn’t even know what I would love to do.

In pondering who I was, what I loved, and other deep thoughts on the meaning of life, the memory of those real-life fairy tales, witnessed so long ago, warmed my heart and put a silly grin on my face. 

Thinking of those childhood memories of brides with their toes in the sand made me giddy.

In fact, I still get giddy thinking about peacock chairs at a head table, clear slipper shoe favors filled with Jordan almonds wrapped in tulle, and beverage fountains – glorious beverage fountains – the brassier, the better (yes, this was the late 80s and early 90s and I am not ashamed! It was awesome!). 

Back then, I didn’t really know what a wedding was, just that you got to wear a pretty dress and walk down the aisle to “Here Comes the Bride.” I knew the words: ‘dearly beloved’, ‘honor’, ‘cherish’, ‘you may now kiss the bride’, etc. But I didn’t know what they meant (except for the kissing the bride part). I remember that the weddings always seemed as easy and fun as a day at the beach.

Today, I know it’s not always that simple. I know just how much time, work and emotion go into planning such an important event. And for me, being part of that excitement, even if I’m not the star of the show, feels like making magic.

You see, for the average couple, planning a wedding can be a daunting task. And the whole point of a destination wedding is to get away from the stress!

For me, however, planning weddings is my superpower. Finding the perfect colors, assembling the puzzle of timelines and logistics, and making sure that everything is planned out in meticulous detail, and then seeing it all come to fruition is like making magic happen. And, of course, I still love the cake! 

I believe that no matter the size of a wedding, it’s a momentous occasion and should be celebrated and enjoyed.

You’re getting ready to commit your lives to each other in the most beautiful place with the most beautiful words and profound feelings. And your wedding should be a personalized event that encapsulates who you are – as a couple and as individuals.

That’s why I’ve designed my services to create one-of-a-kind weddings, where there are no hard and fast rules, where you can choose to blaze your own trail (down the aisle) or honor tradition as you see fit. Your day should be all about giddy, happy, butterflies-in-your-stomach excitement – and it should be your way.

And I’m here to be your partner in (wedding planning) crime, and to keep the ship going, even when your hectic life gets in the way.