Oh Happy Day for Oklahomians.

Visiting from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and staying at Sea-Spray Villas in Bodden Town, this family group chose My Secret Cove for C and M's special commitment ceremony.

Here the Maiden approaches her Secret Bower...

Celebrating love.

Wide shot of my favourite spot!

A beautiful couple, in a beautiful spot.

Everybody traipsed over the Ironshore to catch the last rays of the fading sun.

Even happier when it is shared with a sister.

Hail. hail the gangs all here!

"Maine-iacs" turn up the heat on Seven Mile Beach!

Once upon a time there was a policeman and a secretary from Kennybunk, Maine who decided to get married on Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman. So theygot their two friends who happened to be fire-fighters (and married to each other) and headed south to find some heat.
On the hottest day of the year, at 10am in the morning they headed to Bus-Stop 29 where they had their nuptials performed by none other than yours truly, and photos by Fevi Yu.
Here they are, making it legal! We were glad to get into some shade.
Then the fun started, first they hammed it up...
Then they jumped and jumped....1, 2, 33333333333333!

Then they all jumped, and jumped and jumped.

Then they climbed trees, because I wanted tree-photos to put on my blog.

And then they jumped in the water, in their wedding clothes to cool off..,the Maine-iacs!
This was a GREAT event, with a great couple. everything was perfect (except the heat!)

Here is Lisa's thank-you note, in her own words.

"Zack and I cannot thank you enough for THE most WONDERFUL wedding we could have ever imagined. The location, the ceremony, your words made our day unforgetable. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful memory and will hold your words to heart."

Come back now, you hear...and bring Randy and Carolyn, we'll do a double renewal!

Florida Couple have fun in the sun (and sand)!

One of the things I like best about my new "career" as a wedding celebrant and planner are all the lovely people I get to meet on a weekly basis. A bride can choose to make her own arrangements, and just get me to do the "official" part.

This bride brought her own floral arrangement, and I thought she did an excellent job. She also brought her own champagne and flutes.


J and R were staying at the Beach Club Colony, and we considered doing the ceremony there, as the beach is wide and clean, but not quiet...so they came down to Mary Molly Hydes beach where we could have more privacy.







The timing of the ceremony is crucial in a sunset ceremony. You want to get the ceremony, the champage toasts etc. and the "before" shots done while the water still has a lot of colour, then of course you want to capture the spectacular sunsets on Seven Mile Beach in the "after" shots.

I am saddened to report that the Divine Miss Yu (aka Fevi) is taking a sabatical next week to return home for a while. I will certainly miss her, and look forward to her return in the fall.
You can look for photos from some new photographers, and also from old favourites. Be sure to check back often, we have some GREAT weddings, a renewal, and a commitment ceremony coming soon.

Here is a quote from Jenny and Roy, the couple above who were kind enough to send me
some photos and this endorsement: (couples tell me all the time that hearing what other couples have to say about their Cayman wedding is very important to them in choosing a planner and a celebrant, so please take the time to drop me an email...spread the Joy!)

"Roy and I want to thank you so very much for all that you did to make our wedding perfect. The setting was beautiful and the ceremony was the best. Not having family and friends there was how we wanted it but still was hard. You and your husband and Fevi made it seem like we were with family. We hope to come back in the near future and will be sure to look you up."

Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park Wedding

This lovely young couple had been planning their wedding for over a year, They choose the QE II Botanic Park's "Colour Garden" for their early June wedding. They said their vows surrounded by family and friends, E was escorted down the aisle by her father to music by Michael Lemay's steelband.

E choose her own reading from the Book of Ruth, which encouraged me to write a special ceremony for her that spoke to the joining of two families. I felt that being able to have both families present meant a lot to E and M, they were so please to share their special day with a family group of 25.

Mr and Mrs...at last! Photography by Kirk, arrangements and florals by Trisha's Roses, ceremony by Simply Weddings.

I tell my clients that if you prefer to use another planner that's fine with me, I can still do your
ceremony and all the legal requirements for being married in the Cayman Islands. This is because our companies Simply Weddings and Cayman Weddings have both planners and marriage officers on staff. Just tell your planner you want "the lady in the hat"!

Sometimes you just have to do something special!

This couple, married for 3 years contacted me from Morritts Tortuga where they were staying on a belated honeymoon vacation. They wanted some special memories to take home of their time in the Cayman Islands, and decided to do a wedding renewal.

Sometimes you really have to take time out from the jobs, the kids, and re-connect with the one you love!

A little early in the day for champagne, we beat the heat with chilled sparkling cider.

I liked this shot against the sea-wall on Mary Molly Hydes road a lot.

These are sea-grape trees, providing welcome shade in this lovely spot. Oh yes, those grapes are edible when ripe, and they also make great sea-grape jelly!

Jumping for joy, and having a great and memorable morning with lots of pictures by Fevi and arrangements by Simply Weddings.

And a great time was had by all, I thimk we all went home exhausted after all that jumping around.

Awesome Cayman Sunset Wedding!

I get a lot of requests for a sunset wedding. During the summer months the sun doesn't set until about 7 pm so it's a matter of timing to get everything right, the before the ceremony shot below (don't you just love those white roses?)

PS Becky's mom called me and arranged the beautiful wedding flowers, and iced champagne on the beach as a surprise.


I wanted to show this shot because there is a bit of shade. However this is one of beaches that had its vegetation stripped by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.


Cheers to the newly-weds, long life, health and happiness.


One of Fevi's brillant sunset shots. After a lifetimeof seeing them, I am still in awe of Nature's
beauty. Photos by the divine Miss Fevi Yu, arrangements by Cayman Weddings.

Book your sunset wedding in Cayman today, or have a renewal ceremony to mark that special milestone in your marriage. Call me today (345)6551 or email me at mywedding@candw.ky

The Way the Texans Do it!

The day we got this wedding enquiry I knew they were going to be a fantastic couple to work with. Jan was just the kind of "encore" bride I love to work with, full of life and fun. I loved her e-bay wedding gown and the story of how she got it! Fortunately I got to meet them both when they came in to do the documentation for their Special Marriage License.


Robert knows he's a lucky man! Jan adores her Scotsman, and it is very obvious! Here they are barefoot on Seven Mile Beach.
the "woman with the 10 ft train". Pictures by Marcus Montana, planning and ceremony by Cayman Weddings.
I wished I could have been here too, but I was off on another wedding assignment.

Here is Francine, Cayman's wedding doyenne extraordinare doing what she does best, making people happy.

With the Marriage Certificate, and the happy couple.
A quote from Jan- "Robert and I had so much fun meeting you and your family. Thank you for everything!! It was the best day ever, nothing could of made it better."

Seven Mile Beach not for everyone

I had hoped to have some pictures of a wedding I did recently at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Park. but as we say in Cayman...soon come!

Not every bride wants a sunset wedding on Seven Mile Beach, as beautiful as that can be. In the same vein, not everybride wants a Tropical Bouquet. Particularly if you are wearing a traditional formal wedding gown, the bouquet below MAY be more appropriate. I have had recent brides chose this bouquet in all white roses, and white and cream roses, equally stunning.

This bride chose to be married at the Wharf Restaurant, on their little beach. This is a favourite spot of mine because the staff are so accomodating, and easy to work with. Then of course you can have your wedding reception right there on their beach patio, or inside in their air-conditioned dining room.
This is a shot of pool-side the Westin Casaurina Hotel. Sometimes if you have a largish group with elderly family members you might not want to traipse down to the beach, in which case the Westin poolside is a good alternative, you can always do beach pictures afterwards.
Because I am both a planner and a wedding celebrant, if you are using other wedding planners (all the big hotels have their own) you can always request my services to conduct your wedding ceremony. I am a Civil Registrar of Marriages, one of two in the Cayman Islands (the first and other Civil Registar is my mother Francine of the venerable "Cayman Weddings" which has been in business for 25 years. This long established company has performed over 6,000 weddings!)
This is the ultimate in "simple" and "private", we had to ask a lady from the adjoining property to come and be a witness and she was happy to oblige. I thought this was the perfect dress for the occassion, simple yet elegant. This bride had her make-up done at the new MAC store in Bayshore Mall while she was waiting for me to get the Special License. She told me one of the salesgirls asked her "Is Joy doing your wedding? She did mine."

I really do appreciate all the "big-ups" I get from the ordinary people you meet in Cayman, the taxi-drivers, the bell-boys, the sales clerks, the waiters etc. Many of them have attended one of my weddings, and word of mouth is my best advertisement.

Of course my best advertisement comes from the many photographers I work with, first among equals (not really) my dear friend Fevi Yu, whose fantastic work enables me to show our islands to the world in a much more personalised way than the tourist brochures.

Cruise Wedding at "My Secret Cove"

Last week I did a lovely wedding for a couple from Guelph, Ontario. It was the hottest day of the year so far, but we had a lot of fun anyway. Fevi got us to climb up on these rocks, and it was a good thing I was dressed for travelling in slacks, or I wouldn't have made it. I know she got some impressive shots, and I have been dying to see them.

I met the couple at 8 am when they got off their cruise ship and did their documentation for their Special Marriage License, then rushed off to the "Glass House" to pick up their license, and load up the blue "granny-mobile" with all my stuff, table, linens, flowers and champagne!
By 10 am it was all underway, and by 10:30 am I was at the General Registry (Public Records Office) where I filed their marriage certificate.

Then it was off to the airport, as S and I were going on a little trip. Sometimes I think I will start another blog about our monthly travelling adventures.






In the meantime our Canadian love-birds enjoyed getting wet and cooling off in the surf. I love it when couples so obviously enjoy their wedding day. After all, your day should be filled with joy, and if you get to do something a little different, well then my avowed intention of creating a very special memory of the Cayman Islands has been fulfilled.

I wanted to share this wedding because so many people write and say they want a "simple" wedding, but they also want it to be stress-free and fun. I want it to be stress-free and fun for me too, as you will know I am retired (from real work) so doing weddings is something I do because it makes me happy (ier) and gives my couples good memories of a special place where I am privileged to live...the Cayman Islands.

So if you're thinking of a simple destination wedding in the Cayman Islands, call me at (345)5256551 0r email me at mywedding@candw.ky. You can ask me as many questions
as you want, answers are free and I don't mind if you comparison shop. Remember I only do one cruise wedding per day, so book early.

Canadian Couple Enjoy their Governor's Beach Wedding

This couple from Mississauga, Ontario were married last week at the Governor's Beach. Photos by Art Pascuale, arrangements by Cayman Weddings.



What a fantastic shot!

This was taken outside the Westin Casaurina Hotel, which is just down the beach from the Governor's house, and Governor's beach. I loved this bride's dress, and thought it was just right for a simple, sunset wedding. She chose, and arranged her own flowers, which worked just fine with the dress and the groom's white linen outfit.