Monday, February 28, 2011

Marina & Jhan - Bermuda Wedding - The Reefs


Marina and Jhan took three and a half years to say their I dos from when they were first engaged. But the wait was definitely worth it, or they planned the perfect destination wedding where they had their closest family and friends with them to enjoy a mini vacation on a paradise island. They were married in the most beautiful outdoor location overhanging the crashing waves where they felt as if they were indeed on the ocean, and were blessed with cloudless skies. And what made it even more special is that they chose such a fun date of 10.10.10. They are so glad they waited for so long; choosing the perfect date for their wedding day was absolutely a perfect ten.


The bride had her hair styled by Bex Jewell and Janae Foley did her makeup.



The couple used an elegant glass box and filled it with Bermuda sand and a shell they had bought on a trip to Hamilton. It was the perfect vessel (safe and beautiful!) for the sweet little ring bearer to carry and present the rings when the time came.



Marina's adorable flirty above the ankle dress was designed by Pesavento Couture.




Marina's shoes were Cole Haan and her antique style bracelet was a gift from her mum.




Marina chose orchids for her bouquet and hair because they are Jhan's favourite flower. Flowers by Gimi did a beautiful job with all the bouquets, boutonnieres and wedding flowers.


Marina and Jhan chose to have their ceremony on Caso's Point at The Reefs because of its unique proximity to the sea. Sitting on top of the cliffs overhanging the ocean was their dream spot and they knew they couldn't beat that view. They love the entire Reefs property and all its natural beauty.





The couple put together the starfish hanging on these pretty turquoise ribbons for the ceremony.





























This one below may be one of my faves ever!!!


This one just makes me giggle!


And the length of Marina's dress is just adorable - so playful and girlish - adore!







Sorry to bore you with duplicates, but I was agonising about whether I liked the colour or black and white better so thought would just include both and you can decide for yourselves.


Jhan designed Marina's engagement ring and she adores the modern style. Her wedding band has an antique design which she fell in love with the moment she saw it. She knows it doesn't really match her modern engagement ring, but feels like life, it makes an interesting combination.


Marina attached her grandfather's medal on the stems of her flowers. He was a WWII veteran and that was always a big part of him when he was alive. It was the bride's way of including him in their special day.


Perfect idea for thank you cards...







Jhan and Marina headed back up to Caso's Point where their guests were enjoying cocktails. There, they unexpectedly had their first dance, so the song was not chosen by them but rather happened to be what the guitarist played. Their spontaneous dance was adorable, but they later had their official first dance after dinner and that planned song was "At Last", which seemed appropriate as they couple had been engaged for three and a half years! They had been asked so many times when were they going to finally tie the knot so the lyrics "and here we are in heaven, for you are mine, at last... the skies above are blue..." were perfect given the glorious weather and the vows exchanged at last.



Marina's antique style bracelet was a gift from her mother.






There were some petals left over from the ceremony so I was keen to capture just the two of them enjoying the shower of flowers. The light was so glorious and the setting so stunning, I couldn't resist begging to take a couple more snaps and the newlyweds were more than willing to have as much of their day, and indeed their love, documented.






Rather than having traditional place cards, Jhan and Marina painstakingly painted the names of each of their guests on shells with the table number on the inside.



In keeping with the destination theme, the guest book was actually a travel journal.


Their dinner reception was held at the Ocean Echo Restaurant overlooking the entire Reefs property. The view is stunning and the couple were blessed with some amazing colours at sunset.


I went a bit nuts photographing the flowers on the tables but the late afternoon light just made them so glowy, I couldn't control myself! The couple made the starfish napkin rings themselves.



Marina and Jhan love to travel so they had their invitations and wedding paraphernalia designed like travel documents - such fun. The airline ticket invites were designed my Ceci. Their wedding favours were custom made luggage tags made by Marmaline from Etsy. Their save the date cards had been postcards, in keeping with the destination wedding theme.


Jhan was wearing custom made cufflings that Marina had given him. They were made from recycled keyboards because he works in IT and the J and M keys surprisingly made the number 10 when put together, just like their wedding date - too cute!




During dinner, they were able to look back down at their ceremony site and see the changing colours of the magical location.


The wedding cake was a simple beach themed cake covered in sea shells and coral to go with their other decorations that the couple created themselves.




Marina and Jhan - I just adored your wedding - the weather was perfect - you two were a bundle of fun and of course the love you two share makes my job not only easy, but also so fun. Thank you thank you for including me in your special day and I think it was certainly worth the wait! xxx