“So where is paradise?”
Ashley Bouzianis April 09 Bride and SunCelebrations Marketing/Event Coordinator
*Announcing an “Ask Ashley” FREE conference call to answer all your questions about destination weddings from a bride who has been there. Please plan to dial-in Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m. EST/6 p.m. CST Click here to register! Already have questions in mind? Feel free to e-mail your questions beforehand (ashley@suncelebrations.com).
“So where is paradise?” Hundreds of strangers asked my husband Greg and I as they walked up the driveway of our moving sale in Texas earlier this year. “St. Croix!” we happily replied.
After taking several trips to our paradise and getting married on-island, we thought selling most of our belongings before moving to St. Croix would save on shipping. So we held a “moving to paradise” garage sale (complete with palms trees on our signs scattered around town), listed our stuff on Craig’s List or eBay and hit consignment stores.
We gave our remaining items to charities. Our DVDs went to a veteran’s hospital, while my stuffed animal collection went to less fortunate children in Central America. So far we have yet to need or want a single item we let go of (not even the two-thirds of my shoe collection I swore I couldn’t live without)!
Just as our three-day moving sale sold out in a matter of hours, everything about our move to St. Croix has fallen perfectly into place. From jobs to living situations, the stars have aligned in our favor! First and foremost, my new job as marketing /event coordinator of SunCelebrations.
Since my first phone consultation with SunCelebrations owner Cindy Clearwater, I was confident we were two peas in a pod. She’s a smart, savvy, no-nonsense business woman, which is precisely what a bride wants in a wedding coordinator! With my background in events, public relations and marketing, I set a high bar for the job. After a call and correspondence, I decided SunCelebrations was the right fit to coordinate my wedding.
Reviewing the details of the ceremony
Cindy’s first in-person activity with our wedding party was the ceremony rehearsal. She began giving instruction and as some side conversations continued among our large and social group, she stopped to get everyone’s attention in a polite but assertive manner. Perfect! Someone else to say the things that need to be said for our wedding to run smoothly, without me being labeled a dreaded “bridezilla!”
To all bride-to-be’s, I cannot tell you how priceless it is to be free of stress on your wedding day. My husband and I actually got to sit down and eat dinner just like the other guests at our wedding reception (which I have heard from countless brides is a rarity)!
Getting my hair done for the big day
On my wedding day, my job entailed getting pampered at the Carambola spa and taking in every moment with complete confidence the details were taken care of. Not by my bridesmaids or family members (they were on vacation too), but by competent and experienced professionals. Our wedding day was perfect!
So days after the big day, my new hubby and I met Cindy for happy hour at Fort Christian Brew Pub in Christiansted and told her we were considering relocating. Moving to paradise was something we had talked about since we first started dating! Cindy mentioned that I may be a good fit for her SunCelebrations team, which was just the jump start we needed to start seriously planning our move. Ever since, she has been an invaluable resource and friend during our transition.
Manicured nails are a must for perfect wedding pics!
Now that we’ve settled into a place on the east end of the island and Greg is also working, I’m ready to dive into destination weddings. I look forward to working with SunCelebrations, a business I truly believe in. Cindy is an incredibly talented event planner who is only limited by the fact that she can only be in one place at a time. I am confident my first-hand experience as a destination bride combined with my event planning background will lend itself well to SunCelebrations.
Ashley & Greg are Moving to St Croix!
October 2009 Issue featuring article "St Croix: A Virgin Isle to Call Home"
This month’s issue of Caribbean Travel & Life magazine features an excellent 6-page article on the prospect of moving to St Croix. The author turns out to be a friend of a friend and, as a result, many of the faces and places in the article are familiar to me. Well that and living on a rock that measures 6 miles (at its widest point) by 24 miles, you get to know most places and faces. Its perfect timing, because this is also the month that April 2009 St Croix Wedding clients, Ashley & Greg, move to St Croix!
The article highlights some of my favorite places and really gives a good view into our island lifestyle.
The opening 2-page photo of Christiansted Harbor and the seaplane is simply breathtaking. Its overlaid with the interior title “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I guess that is a good description. The island definitely has a bohemian feel, particularly for the expats or what locals call “Continentals”. Here, life is a little less materialistic, a little slower. Acceptable “business casual” attire includes shorts and flip flops. We savor meals, slowly. We sit back and enjoy life. We take the time to connect with our friends and lend a helping hand when needed. We hit the beach on a regular basis. And most importantly, we develop a strong sense of community. Life is good.
Whether you are interested in moving to St Croix or just visiting, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this month’s magazine. You can even download it to your computer for only $4.99 The article includes hightlights and info on Buck Island, Zebo’s Wine Bar (one of my favorite hang outs that features an amazing menu of locally grown organics), The VI Sustainable Farm Institute (another favorite place of mine), Restaurant Bacchus (yep you guessed it, I love this place too … and owner Natalie Collins also does bridal hair for us!), a high-adrenaline Jeep Tour to the Annaly Bay Tide Pools, and hands-down my favorite spot for St Croix weddings - Carambola Beach Resort & Spa (if you’re interested in staying there, be sure to contact us for our discounted rates!). Truly, it’s a great read and reminded me just why I live here in America’s Paradise.
Ashley & Greg wed at Carambola Beach April 2009. photo (c) Quiana L Duncan
It also reminded me that Ashley & Greg will be here soon!!! They’re taking the plunge and moving from Dallas to St Croix after having fallen in love with the island while planning their St Croix Destination Wedding. Ashley & Greg were lucky enough to make two scouting trips to the island during the planning process. With a background in PR and events, Ashley did most of the planning herself and hired SunCelebrations to step in and coordinate her wedding day with our Week of Wedding Planning Package. This gave both Ashley & Greg the opportunity to not only have the wedding of their dreams, but to also spend time with their guests and ENJOY their day. Ashley had a detailed vision and specific guidelines for what she wanted. By communicating that vision in detail to us, we were able to ensure that she was relaxed on her wedding day and able to simply focus on getting dolled up and walking down the aisle.
After working with Ashley on her wedding, I had thought to myself, “Wow, I would love to have her on my team, she’d make a great wedding planner”. So, when she told me that it was official that she and Greg were moving to St Croix, I offered her a position as an outside consultant. Ashley will be joining our team at the beginning of October and will bring to the table a fresh perspective as a former destination bride herself!
Stay tuned for more on Ashley’s move to St Croix and an upcoming chance to participate in a free conference call ”Ask Ashley” open to our clients and perspective clients. Contact us today for more information!
Yes, I’ve updated our blog AGAIN
phew – the curse of a designer is that you are never satisfied lol. I’ve updated to a new blog theme which is IN PROGRESS, but I wanted to get the core up ASAP as I noticed that when I moved my old blog theme over to the new version of WordPress, the “comments” link was gone. So, I decided to update to a more functional theme and will finish stylizing and making it more in brand when I get a chance. This week, however, the majority of my efforts are focused on selecting paint colors for my new apartment – complete with an office – yeah!!! I LOVE having a home office, but am so ready to not just have my office (which is growing and growing) in my house, but in its very own room. One where I can efficiently store all of our supplies and decorator items completely out of view. Bliss! Since I’m so drawn to color the entire house will definitely resonate that love. Below is my color palette – let me know what you think!
New Apartment Color Pallette
I’ll be using the sandy beige for the main walls in the living room, with the blue for accenting this really cool “alcove” where I’ll put a bookshelf and chair for a little reading nook. Furniture is beige and accented with bright, tahitian patterned pillows in blue, teal and coral. The kitchen will be a soft bamboo green with white cabinets and appliances. The office will have the same color scheme as the living room with the end wall in the blue & the closet painted blue inside as well. (left open with shelving for supplies). The bedroom will be the beige with a bright coral accent wall. Ahhhh the best part of living in the Caribbean is that playing with color is totally acceptable.
… Now to motivate myself to get painting – eek!
