Catching up with weddings and other things

Vernon & Francine Jackson of "Cayman Weddings" - 6o Years of Marriage

Peggy's wedding had an art-deco theme with masses of fresh peonies

Peggy & Brett's December wedding

I can't believe how time slips away! I have really neglected this blog, which is unforgiveable but... so many things have been going on in our family that I have tried to keep up my website and my other blog. But you know what, I miss Blogger, and I prefer it to Word-Press, so I think I might be blogging more over here in future.

Peggy, my wedding co-ordinator for 2 years, is now my daughter-in-law. She and our second son Brett were married at Pedro St James Castle in early December. It was a fairy-tale wedding with an art-deco theme designed by the great folks at Lions Productions.

Then in February I went off to the US for 6 weeks to await the arrival of our newest grand-daughter who arrived on 8 February. This makes 4 grand-children for us, and three of them live in Cayman so we have to divide our time to make sure we see all of the sweet little ones.

Last night was yet another big event in our family as Francine and Vernon Jackson, my parents, the owners and operators of Cayman Weddings (for the past 26 years!) celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. We had a fabulous event at the Retreat at Lookout (also a great setting for a wedding!) with all the family, and their closest friends. There were at least 4 of their original wedding party present!

So, all those who like to see what the Joy of Weddings is doing, you're caught up. Of course I wore a hat to Peggy's wedding, a fascinator from Henri Bendel New York. For the next two weeks I am indulging myself by featuring a picture of me with my boa and facinator on my profile picture, so catch the look now. For "Royal Family" watchers Kate, the future Queen of England likes fascinators as well, so I think we will see a resurgence of these lovely hats especially this spring.

Unusual features for these Cruisers Cayman Beach Wedding

This couple had a lot of special features in their Cayman cruise wedding, some of which I had never seen before. The bride planned every detail of her personalised wedding script, and the wedding included special order flowers, special order cake, a conch-shell aisle and flowers on the sand representing the couple's married name.

The Bride's father had a few words to say before handing over his daughter to the groom.
This was the set-up on the beach at Governor's

The Bride and Groom wore these little containers containing salt, around their necks

These are some of the words in the 'Covenant of Salt':

Joy: "Because Groom and Bride desire to seal this commitment between each other and God, they are giving each other permission to hold each other accountable to the promises made here today. Because they want to preserve these promises they will now partake of the Covenant of Salt.

Groom and Bride, today you join your separate lives together. The two separate bottles of salt symbolise your separate lives, separate families and separate sets of friends. They represent all that you are, and all you'll ever be as an individual. They also represent your lives before you today. As they two containers of salt are poured into the third container, the individual containers of salt will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one. Just as these grains of salt can never be separated and poured again into individual containers, so will your marriage be."

The salt was poured into this hand-made wooden container which was crafted by the bride's father.

The bride and groom take the forefingers of their right hand, dip it into water in the earthenware bowl provided, and then put their finger in the salt which they have both poured into the wooden container. They then put the salt in their spouse's mouth (usually on their tongue). Just before the salt is put in the mouth, the one receiving the salt says,

"I agree to do all that I promise for my (husband/wife), so help me God."

This beautiful two-tier cake was made by Faith at CayKes.

A wedding kiss on the pink sands of Seven Mile Beach

These photos were shot by Yvette McField for Island Photo.

Find out more about our company Simply Weddings -Grand Cayman Wedding Celebrants and Planners by visiting our website, and "like" us on Facebook at SimplyWeddingsCayman

to see daily weddings, great locations and other facts and ideas about your Destination Wedding in the Cayman Islands.

Governor's is in Top 10 of Wedding Beaches in the World

There is a growing trend towards Destination Weddings, especially in these tight economic times. If you're thinking of combining a cruise vacation and a wedding, look no further than the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman, the largest of the three Cayman Islands is a popular port for most cruise-ships sailing in the Western Caribbean.

Most of the clients we see at Simply weddings want to be married on world-famous Seven Mile Beach, which is consistently voted in the Top 10 beaches for a romantic wedding by travel magazines.

The "We did it!" shot

These outstanding pictures are all by Heather Holt Photography for Simply Weddings

On a week-day morning, Seven Mile Beach is virtually deserted in this area

Governor's Beach is about 5 miles away from the cruise-ship landing. You can see the ships in the background of this picture. It is very simple to arrange a tour bus to take you here, and bring you back to the capital, George Town, after the ceremony.

This beach will take your breath away, and your Cayman beach wedding is so simple to plan.

Our Cayman Wedding packages start at $700 for a "no-frills" wedding. You can add pictures like these, wedding cake, champagne for toasting , a wedding bouquet, and transportation for under $2000 for you and your group. Call Simply Weddings, your cruise wedding specialists today at (345)9499933 and speak to Joy or Isobel.

Be sure to visit our new Simply Weddings website for lots more information. Come join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimplyWeddingsCayman and see our featured daily wedding as well as vow renewals.

Grand Cayman Beach Wedding for Swedish Bride

This Swedish bride wanted a special, romantic Grand Cayman wedding on world-famous Seven Mile Beach. We took the couple to Mary Molly Hydes Beach, and although the water was quite rough that day, Heather Holt, their photographer, got some fantastic pictures.

While we were setting up, the bride frolicked in the water

I called this image the "Hollywood" shot


This couple were a delight to work with.

I wanted to share these pictures of Mary Molly Hydes beach with my readers. This is a quiet spot in the district of West Bay that we often use with groups. It was very impressive on this particular day. The next week the wave action had temporarily removed a lot of the sand, but in a few weeks time it'll be back, pristine as ever.

We always have a back-up wedding location, because we want to make sure our couples are 100% satisfied.

The colours in these pictures really popped. We were happy that this couple were able to take their images with them, to share with family and friends.

Please visit my new website to find out more about getting married in Grand Cayman

New Grand Cayman Wedding Location Rocks!

Yesterday 10/10/10 was considered by many to be the perfect day in history for a wedding, and a local couple found the perfect place. Camana Bay, is fast becoming the social centre of Grand Cayman. You only need to go over there on a Saturday morning to see all the activities going on.

However, yesterday afternoon's wedding on the island in the lagoon was private, and beautiful.

There is a promenade deck leading to the island, perfect for a wedding aisle

This sandy area on the north side of the island was perfect for this simple, casual wedding.

One end of the island s sandy, and the other end has decking and built in benches, and...a hammock! You don't have to go far to get many opportunities for great wedding pictures.

This young couple both work for the Cayman Islands Red Cross

Camana Bay has recently opened a Discovery Centre, which you can visit and learn about the project. Of course there are many other attractions, including a 3D cinema, some of my favourite restaurants, a bookstore and the number of retail shops and services are growing exponentially.

Find other FAQs, wedding packages, real weddings and wedding locations, application forms at the Simply Weddings website and visit Simply Weddings on Facebook to see our daily weddings .

Interested in a romantic beach wedding, or a stunning sunset wedding? See the best Cayman wedding locations at Cayman Beach Weddings also on Facebook.

Getting to your Cayman Cruise Wedding

Getting on a tender to go ashore
Originally uploaded by gailf548

Grand Cayman does not have a cruise terminal, although its in the works. You have to take a small boat called a 'tender' to get to the cruise landing.

Once you get ashore, I will meet you and take you to my spacious air-conditioned office where you can relax and get ready for your wedding in our Bridal Room while I go and apply for your Special Marriage License.

You will be married and enjoying George Town in less than two hours. Visit my new website at www.cayman-islands-weddings.com for FAQs, lots of pictures, application forms and contact details,

Cheers!

Joy

Meet your Cayman Wedding Officiant here

Downtown Fountain
Originally uploaded by CaymanIsBest

I wanted to show you the fountain near where I meet my wedding couples. These are the instructions to meet me. When you arrive in Grand Cayman the tender will bring you to the Rayal Watler Cruise landing.

When you exit this area, turn right. You will walk past a large white church, then Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Keep walking about 100 yards and you will see a red-roofed building. This is Bayshore Mall, and this is where the fountain is located, on Harbour Drive.

The Simply Weddings SUV and your Cayman Islands Marriage Officer will be waiting for you, just walk through the mall til you see the Hagen Daaz cafe.

Find out lots of FAQs, check our wedding packages, and download our application form and contact details on my new website http://www.cayman-islands-weddings.com