Abacos Wedding
July 18, 2011 | Ashley and Roland
I have to admit, when Ashley contacted me to shoot her July wedding, I was pretty stoked to travel on a private plane, to a private island in the Bahamas, and stay in a private beach house on the most amazing stretch of beach I had ever seen. But Ashley’s wedding didn’t come without it’s own challenges.
The night before the big day, Tropical Storm Bret made it’s way on to our little slice of paradise, cancelling the day’s events.
But without challenges, you’re never quite as thankful for the moments that really matter. Although, we were a few guests less (they already had flights back to the states that couldn’t be rescheduled). The following day, the wedding , the decor and the weather – was perfectly beautiful for Ashley and Roland.
Their beach-side lagoon wedding on Scotland Cay, Bahamas (near Abacos) was picture perfect, and even more so when we all heard the stories of the glorious summers and vacations Ashley and Roland would spend there as teenagers. Every inch of the island held special meaning, and we were so happy to share it with them.
The Glam
Ashley told me she did 2 things when she got engaged – bought her dress, from the stunning Vera Wang White collection, and hired me. The rest of her wedding had literally been planned only weeks before – leading up to an event steeped in emotion and love.
I also got to spend the week with some of my favorite people – Jillian Caro. She did the hair and makeup for Ashley, her mom and her girls; and Bryan and Tracy from Tampa Wonderworks Films. I was really excited to hear Ashley was bringing them over with us – and we spent the week with them in a little beach cottage on the water. We were named, fittingly, “The Glam Squad” and stayed in the only nameless house on the island – which we dubbed “House of Gaga”.
We traveled by golf cart, drank more than our body weight in bottled water, and frequently Skyped our loved ones :) It was like our own little bonding time as we battled bugs, hurricanes and home-cooking!
There were no cars, no phones (we walkie-talkied every day!) and no shops (not even a grocery store!). It was definitely a trip I’ll never forget! But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled to be back to the A/C and restaurants back home in Orlando :)
“Glam Squad, Come in!”
Venue: Private Lagoon in Scotland Cay, Bahamas
Bridal Gown: Vera Wang
Bridal Shoes: Lily Pulitzer
Hair and Makeup: Jillian Caro
Cinematographer: Tampa Wonderworks
…and stay tuned for a blog posts of their AMAZING trash the dress modeling session the day after their wedding!
Let’s start with Bryan and Tracy’s film of our journey to the island in this Day Before Edit that they did for Ashley and Roland when we found out their wedding would need to be postponed thanks to Tropical Storm Bret.
And now, since I know how patiently Ashley’s been waiting… their blog post!
