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.

Wedding Flowers for Your Destination Wedding

Brides differ in what they consider a "simple wedding". Yet, however simple, very few brides forego a wedding bouquet. Wedding flowers, a tangible sign of a celebration, are as popular as wedding rings. Certainly, I get many, many questions about wedding flowers, in particular about "tropical wedding flowers".

Today I thought I would have a look at some of the wedding bouquets in my photo archive and show you some of the more popular ones. Since we use different florists, I am unable to say (i.e. remember) which shop these flowers came from. However, I thought I might give some future brides a starting point in terms of flowers and colours.

(a) Tropical Bouquet with gerberas and lilies: (2) Tropical bouquet with red ginger and buttons:

(3) Tropical Bouquet with Gloriosa Lilies:

(4) Tropical bouquet with anturiums and birds of paradise:


(5) Muted bouquet with orchids, daisies, and carnations

(6) Simple white calla lilies:

(7.) Another choice for a tropical bouquet from "Inspirations"


This is my favourite groom's boutonniere. Remember a matching boutonniere is always included in your wedding floral package.
I can get you most flowers, however they might be special order. Special order flowers need two weeks lead time in ordering. They could also require an additional deposit. Let me know early if you are considering special flowers, to avoid disappointment.

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!

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.