Friday, April 17, 2015

Antigua and Barbuda Wedding #2 - Barbuda (Pink Beach) Wedding

Antigua and Barbuda are home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, with over three hundred of them how could they not, but in Barbuda the most notable beaches are the pink sand beaches. Not only strange and unusual, the pink sand beaches are beautiful and a great place to get married. The pink sand offers a great theme for any beach wedding and the beautiful water is a great backdrop for any ceremony. 


Flowers:
Any pink bouquet would work wonderfully with this wedding. Just because the sand is a certain shade of pink, doesn't mean that everything has to match it, and when finding flowers it will not be easy to match the colour perfectly and still have the bouquet look wedding appropriate. A nice option, so that the flowers don't over power everything, would be to stick to pastel colours.


The Dress:
Weddings on the beach are always done because of the beautiful scenery and because of the weather. When it is hot outside a bride doesn't usually want to be in a big, long, heavy dress. She usually wants to be in something more comfortable, shorter and something she can move easily in. In this case a stunning A-line Sweetheart Cocktail length ''Little White Dress'' would be a great pick. It is a wonderful dress, not too fancy, but not plain either and it would go spectacularly well with the beach theme. 


The Shoes:
The best option for beach weddings is always sandals or flip-flops. With an open shoe, the bride doesn't have to worry about getting sand stuck in her shoe and carrying around half the beach all night. Also in the warm weather, sandals would be much more comfortable and a lot easier to kick off. A very cute idea and great option would be the "Just Married" flip-flop set. It comes in men's and women's sizes and imprints Just Married into the sand as the couple walks. 


Make up, hair, nails and accessories:
It is always best to keep make up simple, but for beach weddings (hot, outdoor weddings) it is really key. Make up can always cause problems when it comes in contact with water (sweat, tears) and it will mess up the bride's make up sticking to just a lipstick or lip gloss would be ideal. For this wedding, I chose a short and strapless dress, because of this, having the bride's hair down would look best with a short veil or no veil at all. A beautiful addition to the bride's look would be the Amoro 18kt Pink and White Gold Necklace. There are two hearts, one pink gold and one white, and they are twisted together to become one. 


The Groom:
A beach wedding is more of a laid back type of wedding and it is common to see the groom (and his men) not wearing suits but more of just a shirt and pants type thing, formal but not too much. Great options for this would be the Cavala Custom Italian Linen Shirt and the Ventura Custom Linen Capri Pants. Both look great and are available in different colours. 


The Invitations:
Any out of town/state/country guests would really appreciated a Save the Date card, especially if the couple really wants certain people there, it gives the guests time to make arrangements like flight plans, house sitters, booking days of work, etc so that they can make it to the wedding. After the Save the Date cards, a formal invitation should be sent to all the guests (even the ones that already got the Save the Date card). A great option for invitations would be the Modern Swirly Rose. (It has the double sided invitation and reply card in the set).




Photographer and Videographer:
A great photographer that comes very highly recommended is Vanessa Hall. She take beautiful pictures and stages perfect scenes and moments with what she has to work with. She also has a beautiful portfolio and a lot of information available at her website. As for a videographer that can be tricky to find in a country that isn't home to the bride or groom or any guest. As stated before asking a friend or family member to do that favour may be best. 

Ceremony:
In a place as beautiful as Barbuda, that is known for its beaches, the best place to have a ceremony is on the beach! More than 74% of the population in Antigua and Barbuda are Christian so it would not be hard to find a church or a priest to perform a ceremony, any other religions may be harder to find someone to perform the ceremony and the couple should look into it ahead of time. Of course, any friend or family member that has been ordained can do it also. Beautiful rings for this wedding would be the Pink Gold Wedding Band, and the Pink Gold Wedding Band set with Diamonds. (And if the wedding party includes a ring bearer and flower girl this pillow and basket would match wonderfully). 


(REF #: b4087200 and b4086400)

Reception:
With the theme of the wedding being the beach, what greater place to have the reception than on the beach (consulting a wedding planner may be needed for this part). Having a wedding on the beach makes it easier to incorporate some traditions that the bride and groom shares, like throwing the bouquet and garter, cutting the cake and stuff like that. Also having a small table set up would be perfect to accommodate a guest book, money box and a basket of small guest favours should anyone just walking along want to join (this may happen in any wedding but especially when having a ceremony on a public beach). (Depending on how many people are at the wedding, place cards may or may not be needed.) 


Food:
In Antigua and Barbuda, the national dish is fungie and pepper pot. Fungie is a dish similar to that of Italian Polenta, made mostly with cornmeal. Other local dishes include ducana, seasoned rice, saltfish, fish in a tomato and onion sauce, and lobster. Fruits when in season are every where and at there best so making use of the local varieties would be a very smart and good idea for a wedding dinner. Some other dishes that may be served for dinner could include pork, chicken, lamb or turkey usually with some sort of rice, macaroni pie, and or salads (Antigua and Barbuda Cuisine).  Naturally, the choices would differ depending on who is making the food and what time of year the wedding takes place in. 

The Cake:
For a wedding on the beach, a cake that isn't too heavy, or rich, or sweet is the key. Highlight the nice weather and give it light so that everyone is in the party mood. A great cake for this wedding would be a Vanilla Cake With Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting. It is easy to make and it is delicious. Covered in strawberry fondant and it could look like the picture below (flowers optional).


A perfect wedding topper for this beach wedding would be the Lounging on the Beach Figurine.It is beautiful and it had the couple in a wonderful pose and would look absolutely wonderful on the top of any cake. Coupled with the Simple Silver Serving Set, and the Silver Toasting Flutes and the whole set up will be fabulous.   


Guest Favours:
A beautiful and creative guest favour for this wedding would be jars of sand. Mixing regular sand with the pink sand of Barbuda would symbolize the bride and groom coming together and it would be a beautiful gift for the guests in an engraved glass jar. 


Centerpieces:
Sticking with the sand theme, a beautiful tall vase with the mixed sand in the bottle surrounding a tall single candle would be perfect for the centerpieces for the tables. Also it could work as a table number but simply tying string around the vase and attaching the numbers to them. (Adding seashell are always optional.)


Thank You Cards:
Thank You cards don't always have to match the invitations. In this case any beach themed or pink Thank You card would work well. Some couples choose to send a picture from their wedding with a personalized note or a post card showing where they honeymooned. Anything is fine, its the juster that people care about. 


Things To Do:
Antigua and Barbuda are known for their beaches so naturally most things to do are water and beach related but there are some amazing options and sights to see and be apart of. Take a short boat ride to private Prickly Pear Island from St. John's for a half day of fun in the sun - snorkeling, strolling or just lying under a beach umbrella. Enjoy complimentary rum punch and other refreshments from the open bar, as well as tasty snacks and a home-cooked Caribbean lunch, while you take in the tranquil surroundings. Take a helicopter tour, it offers a variety of truly amazing panoramic delights, priceless memories and photographic opportunities for both around the island tour and the Montserrat Volcano tour. Visit Nelson's Dockyard, set aside as 30sq km of national park, the historical dockyard dates from 1745, and is Antigua's most popular attraction. Abandoned in 1899, it languished until the 1950s when its resurrection and restoration began.Today the handsome buildings have been converted into inns, shops, a market, restaurants an art center and a nautical museum. A number of tours visit Nelson's Dockyard, like the Round Island Tour, and the Antigua Shore Excursion (Things to do in Antigua and Barbuda). 



Take a city sightseeing tour shore excursion in Antigua. The tour visits a local vegetable market and spends time in the capital city of St. John's, where tourists can shop until they drop for souvenirs at Heritage Quay, home to designer and locally made wares all duty-free. Visit Betty's Hope, it is one of Antigua's first sugar plantations, built by Christopher Codrington in 1674, it was named in honour od his daughter Betty. Ruins of two stone windmills and a distillery remain on the site, along with a small visitors center. One windmill has been restored, and the caretaker offers informative tours peppered with historical insights. Or why not take the Island Safari 4x4 Discovery Tour. It visits some of the most beautiful landmarks in Antigua including Devil's Bridge and Betty's Hope Sugar Plantation.Spend a night at Shirley Heights Lookout. Celebrate the most dramatic sunset in Antigua with a night of music and relaxation. Enjoy a night under the moonlight while dancing to the sounds of steel band music and taking in the beautiful views from atop the lookout. Shirley Heights, named after the former governor Sir Thomas Shirley, overlooks the English Harbor and Galleon Beach and is the best spot to get a bird's-eye view of the island. Go snorkeling, many cruises are available for snorkeling like the Cades Reef Snorkel Cruise that highlights the Cades Reef, or the Snorkeling Island Adventure that includes kayaking and sightseeing in the Caribbean Sea, or snorkel in the protected bay on Bird Island (Things to do in Antigua and Barbuda) .


The next country alphabetically would be Argentina, in South America!