THE PROPOSAL: When we returned home one evening after a lovely dinner, Alex was a little worried about where our cat was and began to frantically search for her. When she reappeared, I failed to notice the sparkles around her neck. She’d been running around the house for hours with an engagement ring on her collar.
THE PLANNING: My husband is Bermudian and I had been living on the island for many years, so there was no question as to where we would be married. We got in touch with Bermuda Event Solutions, and Emily Boden answered our request for somewhere a little different with the perfect suggestion—Long Island. It’s a stunning location and we were able to personalize the event to our own tastes. Emily encouraged us to lock in our key vendors early, which turned out to be one of the best tips as once the big decisions were made, we had time to work on personalizing the details.
THE LEAD-UP: A lot of our guests were traveling from overseas so we wanted to make sure they enjoyed their time on the island. We started off with a barbecue on Warwick Long Bay which was a good way to show off some of the beautiful beaches to our guests. The night before the wedding we held a happy hour at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, and the day after the wedding we invited our guests to join us at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club. Alex and I are keen sailors and we wanted to share some of the sailing hotspots with our friends.
GETTING READY: My bridesmaids and I got ready at the Three Graces Spa at Newstead Belmont Hills Resort. Their team was wonderful, and with our own area for drinking champagne and hanging out, the only problem was that the time went far too quickly. Alex and his groomsmen got ready at his family home, where they had bacon sandwiches and bubbles with visitors popping in throughout the day. We arrived at the ceremony in Cecil Lewis’s brilliant pink taxi, which he dressed up with ribbons. It was great fun.
THE WEDDING: The ceremony at Chaplin Bay was relatively short with a wonderful gospel choir, and several friends and family members giving readings. Pastor Dean performed a beautiful, uplifting ceremony reflecting the joy of our marriage. Flowers by GiMi personalized each bouquet and boutonniere, and they decorated the arbor as well as the rest of the ceremony location. It looked fantastic. One of the highlights was when both of our mothers painted a heart onto a canvas, which we later used as our guest book. It’s now displayed in our living room, helping us constantly remember our special day and those who celebrated with us.
THE PARTY: The reception was kept top secret from all our guests. Everyone was taken in minibuses to Daryl’s Wharf, where they boarded Calico Jack’s, and our guests enjoyed cocktails and a harbor cruise ending at Long Island, where they disembarked. They were served canapes and we cut the cake, then we 
moved to dinner, where each table was named after a different animal, with the top table being a unicorn. The theme was fun and whimsical, and not too serious. The Kennel Boys set a fun tone for the evening, and we had our first dance to a Kes the Band song. All the guests spent the rest of the evening on the dance floor, and we had a photo booth where people loved dressing up for silly photos.
SPECIAL MEMORIES: The entire day was fantastic but one of the most memorable parts was all the friends and family who came to celebrate with us. We were lucky to have so many people fly in to be part of our big day, and to have so many good friends in Bermuda to help us arrange everything and make them feel welcome. It wouldn’t have been the same without each and every one of them.
THE HONEYMOON: We took our honeymoon a few months after the wedding. We wanted to go somewhere off the beaten track, so we ended up travelling to Bhutan. For our wedding registry, we requested honeymoon experiences rather than gifts, so everywhere we went reminded us of different friends and family who had kindly donated each experience to us. We hope that choosing these gifts was as fun for them as it was for us to create and experience the list.
THE FUTURE: Following the wedding, we had some big life changes in store. Less than six months later we relocated to Switzerland for work. We’re now getting used to a life full of snow and mountains rather than beaches and ocean, but we try to make it back to Bermuda a few times a year to catch up with friends and family. Bermuda will always be a special place to us both.
WEDDING DETAILS
CEREMONY: Chaplin Bay
RECEPTION: Long Island
Wedding PLANNER: Bermuda Event Solutions
PHOTOGRAPHY: Two & Quarter Photography Ltd.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Moongate Productions
DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY: Visual Appeal Bermuda
FLOWERS & DECOR: Flowers by GiMi
CAKE: Dream Wurx Cakes
CATERING: Waterfront Properties
HAIR: Three Graces Spa at Newstead Belmont Hills Resort
MAKEUP: Afroditi Yiovreki
