Destination Wedding in St. Maarten by A Brit & a Blonde

I am tickled with excitement because I get to feature a lovely little destination wedding that took place in St. Maarten and was photographed by the very talented destination wedding photography duo, A Brit & a Blonde {or you can call them by their real names, Jason & Jessica Hill if you wish to do so}. =) They may not know this but I’ve had my eyes on their work for a while now and hoped to feature them here on OSB one day! Love it!

So yes, today I have Cynthia & Dali’s wedding but will be featuring their gorgeous engagement session in a few weeks. Yes, I know engagements come before weddings & marriage, so call me backwards. But that’s what I’m feeling like these days just a week out from my own destination wedding. Like I have 3 countdowns in my head right now! And since I know you care what they are I’ll share. =) (LOL). So #1: my last day at work (which is um TOMORROW!!!), #2 when we board the plane to Cabo (7 days away), and #3 the actual wedding (11  days away). OH! And remember I live in Florida but my “wedding headquarters” is in Georgia where my ma lives and where we’re catching our flight from, and then of course the wedding is in Mexico. So I have just a little case of countdown explosion, location confusion, and a million other whichways, whereabouts, and whatchamacallits dancing all up in my head. My “weddingitis” has officially kicked in too!!

Okay anyway, enough about me (geesh- so selfish right?!?) and back to our beautiful oceanside couple!

From the lovely Oceanside Bride, Cynthia herself: We met in Toronto in the annex 5 years ago and got along right away. We chose St. Maarten because it’s where we got engaged. Dali proposed in a gazebo on the beach on the French side.

We did most of the elements on our own because we could get exactly what we wanted, it was cost effective, and it was more personal. I really love simplicity, and hand-made elements. I’m not into lavish styling, preferring the less is more approach. I designed the invitations based on vintage airplane tickets, brought our initials in wooden letters for centrepieces, made my own necklace, fascinator and veil. It was important to us to have an intimate, meaningful wedding with those we cared most about.

We spent hours choosing music, and chose Ben E. King’s Stand by Me for the start of the ceremony, Coeur de Pirate’s La Vie est Ailleurs for the walk down the aisle, and Bob Marley’s One Love for after the ceremony.

We had a lovely wonderful wedding coordinator in St. Maarten, Sharon Remy from Celestial Weddings. We couldn’t have done it without her as it was very difficult coordinating details from far away. The hardest part was finding a photographer(s) who were available, we loved their work, and could work within our budget. Jessica and Jason are amazing and we are so happy to have had the opportunity to bring them to St. Maarten and get to know them.

The best part was the whole trip! It was wonderful having our closest friends and family with us for the time. It was amazing to have so much friendship, family and love in one place. It’s rare to get that kind of time with those you care about.

Advice for other brides? Have a great wedding coordinator, try to let things go as it’s impossible to control everything. And the day goes by so fast, so enjoy it!

Bride & Groom: Cynthia & Dali
Wedding Date: October 20, 2010
Location: Philippsburg, Country St. Maarten
Number of Guests: 15
Ceremony Location: On the beach at Sonesta Great Bay Resort
Reception Location: Sonesta Great Bay Resort

The Creative Team Behind the Scenes:

Photographers: A Brit & A Blonde wedding Photography / Wedding Planner: Celestial Weddings / Wedding Inspiration: (we loved the Tree house and Jamaica weddings) from Snippet & Ink