Saturday, May 31, 2008

This Seven Mile Beach Bride gets her wish!

When we were planning this wedding, the bride said she wanted three things, sunset, a private beach and lots of great pictures.

This is one of Fevi's great shots, which she calls the "Peter Pan Jump"!

Sometimes the light is just perfect, like these shots below.



These are just a few shots of what was an awesome wedding! We helped them enjoy champagne on the beach, and yes...the bride's wedding bouquet of white roses was perfect with her gown...altogether a stand-out event with a great couple!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Wedding Renewal at Mary Molly's Beach

This wedding renewal had quite a few first's for me. It was the first time I had a groom use a hand-held device to say his vows! I think his wife was very surprised! They were staying at Morritt's Tortuga and took the long drive down for a morning renewal on Seven Mile Beach.
As usual, Fevi's photos did not disappoint them.

As you can see, they were not averse to standing in the surf!


The second first was the shot below. I can't believe Fevi actually got me to do this jump! This couple will get some real action shots, fortunately they were in good shape.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Truly International Wedding in Grand Cayman

Sometimes I am privileged to officiate at a very outstanding wedding, like the one below. A's parents live in Australia, but they are from Cyprus and Greece. S's parents are from Chile and Greece, and this lovely couple met on holiday in Greece. They reside in New York. I'm happy they chose Grand Cayman for their special day, which I enjoyed sharing with them.

Beautiful "Esta", your photos were so lovely I hardly knew which ones to share. I know your family will have good memories of the beach called "Bus-stop 29".


The lovely bride, accompanied by her mother and father.

The family group. listening attentively to the marriage ceremony.

These pictures were taken by Marcos Montana, email him at mmontana@candw.ky. Wedding arrangements by Cayman Weddings, weddings@candw.ky. Flowers by Trisha's Roses of Grand Cayman. Location, Seven Mile Beach "Bus-stop 29".

Here is a thank-you note from the couple:

"Thank you so much for officiating our wedding and making the day wonderful for us. A romance that spanned across the globe starting with the meeting at the Greece Olympics, travelling to Europe again to meet each other then with Steve coming to Aus to ask for my hand in marriage and us settling in New York for now. Citizens of the universe :) Maybe a Hollywood movie one day!

None of us really wanted to leave the Cayman Islands and are hoping to come back again in the future.

Thank you again for all your help.

Best wishes for the upcoming year."


I loved the little wedding teddy bears, which were accompanied by good wishes.




Friday, May 23, 2008

MTV True Life: I'm Having a Destination Wedding


Wow! Look what landed on my desk today...

MTV's News and Documentaries Department has put out a casting call for couples living in the USA who are having a destination wedding this July or August, and who are between the ages of 18 -25. They want to hear from couples who have interesting stories to tell.

Here is the Casting Call:

"You don't have to be a celebrity to get married like one! Are you adding a twist to your big day, by tying the knot thousands of miles from your home? Is there something cultural/spiritual/emotional tying you to the spot you've chosen? Have you always been the adventurous type and could only imagine having a wedding somewhere completely off the beaten path?

Whether you're getting married in a tropical area such as the Caribbean, Mexico, or Hawaii or if you've decided to celebrate in Europe, Asia, Africa or even a domestic seaside location we want to hear from you. Make your wedding even more extraordinary by having MTV document your journey.

We're looking to follow young people who are getting married this July or August that appear to be between the ages of 18 and 28. Email married2@mtvstaff.com and tell us your story. Please be sure to include your name, location, date of the wedding, phone number, and a photo."

Here is the write-up for this exciting opportunity.

"True Life employs first-person narrative storytelling to provide a window into the lives of young Americans. To date, the series has explored topics as complex as living with a disorder such as autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder; living in extreme poverty; and being deployed to and returning from military service in Iraq.

From the MTV Website: “Since its initial episode in 1998, MTV's award-winning True Life documentary series has told remarkable real-life stories of young people and the unusual subcultures they inhabit. Whether documenting the lives of gay marriage activists, individuals dealing with obesity, or teens in high school--the True Life series tells its stories solely from the varied voices and points-of-view of its characters--putting the series in the unique position of reflecting the state of youth culture at any given moment. “

A follow up to our enormously successful True Life: I’m Getting Married - True Life: I’m Having a Destination Wedding will focus on the growing trend of young people choosing to get married thousands of miles from home. Formerly for celebrities and the ultra-rich, these weddings have become more accessible to couples looking to add a “twist” to their big day. Production will begin in the first week of July, with a tentative air date in September 2008. The crew will be following these couples at their job and home (personal life), through the planning process and all the way down the aisle. "

So in addition to being the star of your own special day...you could also star in what is bound to be a great TV documentary!

Cayman Wedding Traditions


Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...this week I had a bride from Australia, whose parents are from Greece and Malta and she was talking about this very old wedding rhyme, which got me thinking about Cayman wedding traditions again.

I am often asked if there are wedding traditions and customs unique to Cayman. One such tradition has to do with the champagne cork, and I have written about this before. In Cayman we have customs which are handed down by word-of-mouth, the origins of these have been lost in the mists of time.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that in those days, everything had to be imported from somewhere else, usuallly the port town that Caymanian men frequented like Port Arthur, Texas, Mobile, Alabama etc. Caymanian men were sailors and they would buy and bring the bridal trosseau home when they came home on leave. My mother once told me that her entire trosseau was bought and brought home by three of her uncles.

The brides-to-be, would store these items in their "Hope Chest" sometimes for years, before the happy event. I remember one of my cousins showing me her Hope Chest when we were still
teenagers. I can still remember the hand-crocheted antimicasters, since you also collected household linens etc to take to your new home.

When I was a bride, 37 years ago, one such tradition was "the laying out of the Bridal Trosseau"
I have never seen this written about anywhere else, certainly the modern Caymanian brides don't seem to know about it. After her engagement, but before her wedding the Bride-to-be would lay out all her finery on her bed, yes, everything including lingerie, and invite her friends to come over to see it. There was a proscribed number of things you were supposed to have. I remember I had seven nightgowns. Then there was the matter of "The Second Dress", or the going away dress you changed into after the reception. My Second Dress was a pink hot-pants number, those were the first mini-dress years, and everybody found it very daring. After the inpection of the trosseau, everybody had punch and corn-beef sandwiches, and cake of course, so it was sort of like a bridal shower.

I don't hear very much about Bridal Showers today, but years ago it was unheard of not to have one. The most important thing was that it was supposed to be a surprise! No men were allowed anywhere near the event, since they would have been shocked to hear the bawdy jokes and see the pranks the girls got up to. Of course the BTB sat under a decorated umbrella. The idea of a Bridal Register was very new in those days, so the gifts were very ordinary, every day things like towels sets, and pyrex dishes.

For my shower, the Maid of Honour was coming in from New York, and my sister was too young, so I planned the whole thing myself (and then looked suitably shocked, and delighted)!

Another tradition we had was "sounding the car-horns" after the wedding as the Bride and Groom drove away to the reception.  Perhaps this is not so popular now, being a "pagan" tradition, the loud noise was intended to drive away evil spirits.

Talking about evil spirits, many bridal traditions sprung from the ancients belief that the bride had to be protected from evil spirits.  For example, strewing the ground with petals was meant to protect the Bride from the "ground monster" by spreading a layer of protection between her feet and the dirt.

The bridal veil was also originally intended to disguise the bride so she would not be recognised by evil spirits which would try and harm her.  In a Jewish ceremony, the Chuppah provided a sanctuary from evil spirits.

Tying old shoes to the back of the going-away vehicle is a Hindu custom, to wish the happy couple good luck.  When I was married, the custom in Cayman was for the groomsmen to tie old cans to the bridal couple's car, and what a clatter they made!

Decorating with an abundance of flowers, symbolises the wish for the Bridal Couple to be fruitful.  In those days, there were very few florists on Cayman, and many of the floral arrangements were made up with silk flowers.  I was fortunate enough that my mother's cousin owned a Miami flower-shop and she came to Cayman to do my wedding flowers,  everything was pink rosebuds, 150 of them!  The thing I remember most about my wedding bouquet was that it had a detachable pink rose-bud corsage in the middle (which I took out, before I threw my bouquet) and wore with my pink hot-pants outfit to go on my honeymoon.

Since we were going to Trinidad, to see my in-laws who were Hindu, I shudder now to think how this out-fit struck them!  Fortunately they didn't hold it against me, as I only have good memories of that initial meeting, and a loving relationship with my whole Trinidad family over many years.

In my mother's time, no wedding finery went to waste.  My mother's wedding dress was cut and made into a christening outfit for me.  As a little girl I still remember dressing up in her wedding veil with its pearl tiara.  Did you know that the wedding tiara was made popular by Princess Eugenie when she was married to Napolean, and wore a diamond tiara?  These days I see very few tiaras being worn.

These days, the wedding "up-do" is very popular, many brides wear small flowers in their hair and eschew a veil.  When I was married, long, loose hair was still the norm.  This was before the advent of blow-dryers (at least in Cayman) so I spent hours at the hair-dressers with my hair put up in those huge steel rollers under one of those hard-topped dryers.  Unfortunately, that evening we had one of our frequent power outages, so I raced to my wedding with my hair in wet ringlets!

Well...quite a trip down memory lane for me!




Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Sunset Weddings in Grand Cayman

Apart from cruise ship weddings which are done in the morning while the ships are in port, usually from 7am - 4pm, sunset is the most popular time of day for Grand Cayman weddings.

This was taken by the mother of the groom, this Canadian couple live near the Arctic Circle. They were visiting his parents who live in Grand Cayman. This was one of the first weddings I did after I got my own Register in April 2007. Before this I shared a Register with my mom, Francine, also a Civil Registrar of Marriages (her company is Cayman Weddings, and she has been conducting wedding ceremonies for 25 years).

This is a local couple who were married on the beach at The Meredian. The photo was taken by one of the guests. I liked their wedding arch which was done with coconut fronds.

This photo was taken at Cayman Kai, one of my favourite spots. On this side of the island you can find truly private beaches, especially if you're staying at one of the villas up there.

This is another shot of a pier at one of the Villas of the Kai, taken by Rebecca Davidson of Picture This. Many couples who are married on this end of the island choose to have dinner set up and served on the beach by one of the island's very good catering establishments.

This is one of Fevi's shots of a wedding we did together at the West Bay Public Beach. Shots on the pier in the background are very popular.


I hope you'll come back and visit my blog often if you're thinking about a Destination Wedding.
This is probably the busiest time of year for weddings, it is not yet too hot. and by sunset the temperature has cooled off enough to be comfortable.

Whether or not I arrange your wedding photography, I will be happy to post your pictures for other potential brides to see. Please call me at (345)5256551 or email me at mywedding@candw.ky to start talking about your Grand Cayman Wedding.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Seven Mile Beach on Trip Advisor's Top World Destinations

We just got back from another of the world's top destinations, Lake Tahoe, NV (#10 ) where I spent Mother's Day two miles up, in the cool mountains pursuing my other life (video poker, if you haven't read my profile) My husband and I love to travel, and are fortunate to be able to do it often when we have the time (and I don't have any weddings or vow renewals booked).

I was delighted to see that Seven Mile Beach made #32 in Trip Advisor's Top World destinations. This is great for the wedding business, especially the Destination Cruise Wedding business. This could be you below! Can you see the cruise ships in the background? Call me today and book your cruise wedding in one of the world's "hot spot's". I only do ONE cruise wedding per day, so you can have my FULL attention. Coming, as a stay-over guest, no problem...just more choices for your dream wedding. Call me at (345) 525-6551 or email me at mywedding@candw.ky




Friday, May 2, 2008

Caymanian Wedding Traditions

Many of my couples reach me through referrals, like this one referred by a doctor friend. If you have had a good experience using the services of Cayman Weddings/Simply Weddings I hope you will tell your friends.



Couples often ask me whether they can include some local traditions in their wedding. Of course you can! Below is one of these traditions I like to use.

First of all, if you are having champagne to toast each other, the bridegroom must always open the bottle , and pour a glass for his wife and himself. Then I like to have them link arms, holding their glasses, and sip, and kiss. Sometimes this needs to be several kisses, to get the right shot! Then I like to take the champagne cork, split it, insert a Cayman coin, and add the date. Voila! A souvenir of your first drink together as husband and wife!

After the signing is over, I present the couple with their signed Marriage Certificate, and announce them as "The Newly-weds, Mr and Mrs........." This rather nice shot is from the wedding of a very lovely couple yesterday. Vacationing from Kankakee,Illinois and staying at Morritts Tortuga they chose "Aunt Julia's Beach" in West Bay for their simple, but special ceremony.

Fevi liked the effect of my lime-green and aqua outfit against the water, and even got me to take off my sunglasses. A wedding is such a special occassion, and as you can see, I love what I do. My aim is to make sure your entire experience is positive, and that Grand Cayman will always have a special place in your heart.

For a truly memorable experience in the unforgetable Cayman Islands, call me at (345)5256551 or email mywedding@candw.ky