Featured Links
Grand Old House Wedding
Sandra and Dan
Venue: Getting Ready – Ritz | Ceremony – Grand Old House
Planner: The bride | Livia – Day of Coordinator (Livia you rocked this wedding!)
Sandra – Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada; Dan – Wellesley, Massachusettes
Cake Maker: Grand Old House
Officiant: Rev Whittaker
Wedding Colours: Romantic Garden Theme – white, blush, lots of greenery/ kitesurfing theme with the guest seating chart surfboard…
White football mums, pink roses, purple stalk, lots of greenery
Celebrations (Andrea) did all of our decor (Flowers/decor), Poppet studio – surfboard sign and polaroid sign; Laurel Smith (our friend) did all of the black and white hand written signs
Music: Kate on violin for the ceremony; Trinity for the cocktail hour; Amber Attridge sang our first dance song with Trinity playing for her
Second Shooter: Jenna Arnold, A huge thank you to Jenna (amazing photographer) who tirelessly never says no :), thank you for helping me capture this day. It would not have been the same without you!
Kitesurfing in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA.
He took me for a drive after work that day out to the east end to watch the sunset – it was raining when we arrived at the lookout but he insisted that we get out of the car to watch the sunset in the rain… haha. Then he got down on one knee and popped the question! At that exact moment the rain literally stopped and the most beautiful sunset came out for just enough time for us to snap some photos and enjoy the moment! It was perfect!
I bought my dress at Bellissima Bridal in Coral Gables, FL on the Miracle Mile. I had a few friends tell me about the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables…this was the best place to find your perfect wedding gown as there is no where to buy wedding gowns on the island. My mom and sister were with me – we took a little trip to Miami together while they were visiting for Christmas that year. Bellissima Bridal was the first and only store I looked at dresses…I booked an appointment and came prepared with photos of what my style was. The girls at the store were amazing…they grabbed all kinds of different dresses for me to try on in all different styles. They also let me choose some of my own dresses to try on… I loved trying on different styles to see how they looked – and it is like they say…sometimes the dress that you least expect is the perfect one! I knew my dress was the one by the way it made me feel and the way I moved in it! My Mom and my sisters reactions to it were also amazing and very obvious that this one was the perfect one! I didn’t end up looking at any other stores… it was basically love at first sight 🙂
Dan says the first look and the minister saying I now pronounce you husband and wife 🙂
My favorite moments had to be when I first put on my dress and saw the finished product – it was so beautiful all my girls and mom’s and Dee Dee were there…what an awesome feeling to see their reactions to how I looked. Also the first look was fun… but the ceremony was one of my favorites moments…oh and the surprise open mic of speeches at the reception – how amazing to feel all that love and support at once!
Amazing! Easy! Fun! Calming! We honestly love working with you! You absolutely added to the experience of the day and we were so happy to have you share the day with us!
We did! We did a first look and photos of just us before the ceremony. We loved having that special time together to capture some beautiful pictures and memories.
The polka dancing – my family comes from a Ukrainian background and we always polka at weddings, haha. Dan and Rion (DJ) worked a few polka dances into the party perfectly. My dad couldn’t have been happier to get in a good polka dance with all of us!
Give your guests enough time to plan to come to your wedding… Organize some pre-wedding activities – we received lots of positive feedback and appreciation around the activities we organized for everyone before the wedding. We did a welcome happy hour at the Westin which our guests raved about! The beach, the sunset, the spot and they all loved meeting each other to get to know each other. We also did a pre-wedding boat party which again only added to the feeling of everyone knowing and being comfortable with each other when the wedding day actually came! I truly believe that these pre-wedding activities only added to the amazing vibe we felt on the day!
Super calm! I thought I would be so nervous…but the day was absolutely perfect (with only a few bumps) and I was worried the day before that I was going to be too nervous and mess up our vows. I had a tiny moment as my dad and I started walking down the aisle, but as soon as I saw Dan and all of our friends and family and how beautiful the deck look all I could do was smile! And I literally smiled through the whole ceremony! It was the most amazing feeling!
Yes we felt we had enough time… I am so glad we did the photos before the ceremony because I have no idea how you would fit it all in after the ceremony. I think meeting with you and discussing styles and photos/moments you want to be captured is an important part of preparing for the wedding photos. The more you have discussed, the more organized the photographer can be with capturing those moments. Again, an engagement shoot is always a good idea to help you prepare for the wedding photos.
Grand Old House – it was wonderful working with them! I feel they deserve a special mention as I have no idea how they fixed that deck so quickly and perfectly for our day! It was literally in pieces the night before the wedding. The staff at the GOH are professional and welcoming – very friendly and helpful. It was wonderful having Livia coordinating everything the day of… she executed everything perfectly and easily transitioned all our guests from one thing to another.
Studio V – Robyn Banfield – she and her stylists were an amazing addition to our getting ready party! She also is so very talented and absolutely nailed my wedding day look!
Laurel Smith – our dear friend who handmade all of our wedding signs – they looked gorgeous and she is so talented
Trinity and Kate – they were so easy to work with, flexible with supporting Amber in singing our first song and so very talented! We loved having them as part of our day and our guests raved about how good they were and how the vibe of the cocktail hour was amazing!
Poppet Studio – Pricilla was so great with making the signs we needed for the seating chart and the lovely polaroid – she was flexible with set up and full of good ideas
Celebrations – Andrea was a pleasure to work with! The decor was beautiful. I know that they also worked up until the last minutes before the ceremony to make sure everything was perfect. I appreciate their flexibility as the deck was still being repaired during the day…so they couldn’t set up
Follow all of Rebecca’s instructions exactly as she says…hehe. No honestly, you have this ability to make everyone feel so comfortable – you have this amazing talent to capture the most natural moments in a very artistic way! Your tips and directions are easy to follow and make for beautiful pictures. Book and engagement session if you can! – it will allow you to get comfortable with your photographer and look at the results – which can then lead to a discussion of what you liked and didn’t like about the photos. It also significantly decreases any anxiety you may have regarding how your wedding photos are going to turn out. Go over or send your photographer examples of photos you would like to have of yourselves… this makes its easy for your photographer to understand your exceptions and photography style
I was anxious about the venue/deck not being fixed and ready for us to use after the damage that occurred due to some inclement weather that came through a few days leading up to the wedding. I was also nervous about the vows and freezing up in front of everyone while standing at the alter. The outcome was wonderful! As soon as the day started I felt relaxed and happy! Everything came together so perfectly – the deck at the GOH was fixed and everything was perfect and looked amazing! I wasn’t nervous at all walking up the aisle or saying my vows – it was actually really fun! The vibe that surrounded the whole day was positive and filled with so much love and support! I want to do it all over again, without all the planning, haha.
Start planning early (from Dan) 🙂
First song – I Choose You by Sara Bareilles – but our very dear friend Amber Attridge sang this song for us live with Trinity playing for her. I was so special! Father-daugther dance – Stand by Me Mother- son dance – What a wonderful world All of our special dances were played live by Trinity directly following our cocktail hour
We live here – so it made perfect sense to marry here and share this little piece of paradise with everyone! Also, because Dan and I are from different countries (Canada and USA), we were dating long distance for over a year. When we decided to move in together we also decided to relocate here to Grand Cayman. So we both felt like our lives together really started here and that makes having our wedding here extra special.