Thompson Family Holiday

Images courtesy of the Thompson family

Fleur de Lys Villa recently welcomed the Thompson family who were on holiday to celebrate two birthday's, a graduation, and a new career path! In their own words:
"We have had a great time celebrating the various happenings in our family. I would recommend your place highly to friends of ours that might want to travel to Turks and Caicos. What a great retreat. Thanks for your hospitality . . . "
"We had such a wonderful week in TCI and at your place. Your home is amazing and we have been sharing our pictures with all our friends and family . . . "
Big thanks to the Thompson's for sharing their photos with us, and leaving such a delighful token of appreciation at the villa.

Charlotte & tipit

Images by Sarah Worden of Charlotte Fine Jewelry of Memphis and http://www.moshiri.us/

To wrap up our wedding, there is one tiny detail I would very much like to highlight. I have been a huge fan of this innovative jewelry for well over a decade. It is a perfect combination of genius engineering and limitless creativity, bound in precious metals and gems by it's designer, Wolf-Peter Schwarz, and his creative team. I was first introduced to the German made collections by chance in Kansas City, where the first US gallery had just opened. I was so taken by the concept I applied for a job and was fortunate to have spent my last two years of study at the Kansas City Art Institute working for such an incredible company.
In essence, it's all interchangeable, so the images you are seeing above are all the same ring, simply combined with different pieces. Your center stone, or head piece, could be a diamond, a saphire, a topaz, a garnet, a pearl, an aquamarine, a peridot, a whatever you choose depending on your occasion, your mood, or your attire. From there you can then combine that center piece with hundreds of different accent pieces; from industrial steels, to delicate ornate golds, to modern technicolor acrylics, to vintage-esque hand painted enamels . . . And it doesn't stop there. Once your eyes are shiny and satisfied with your self styled design, you may then take that combination and wear it on a ring, a necklace pendant, a brooch, a bracelet, an earring . . .
It's hard to believe but see for yourself Charlotte & Tipit. What is even more unbelievable to me is that this company is still one of the best kept secrets in North America. If your in Europe you have a wide variety of galleries to visit in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but if your located in the US, Canada, or the Caribbean you will need to get yourself to Sante Fe or Memphis. Sarah Worden of Charlotte Fine Jewelry of Memphis, was an angel in assisting me with my engagement and wedding pieces (I already have 6 varieties of gold, silver, and stainless steel rings to wear them with). It took a dozen e-mailed correspondences with images of various combinations before I could make up my mind. I ended up choosing the peridot oval for my engagement piece as I have always gravitated towards that lush, mossy green and the stone historically symbolizes love, truth, faithfulness, and loyalty. I have never been a diamond girl so knew I would steer clear of that tradition for my wedding ring. The chosen pieces were a white pearl, good luck for a happy and successful marriage, and a square of white saphires, symbols of sincerity and constancy.

The details done right in black and white

Sepia to be more exact but for all the die hards . . . . .
Venue-Fleur de lys Villa
Design- Pepper Key Stacie

Dress-Ebay $250!!!

Heels-Le Chateau $20, dyed in the washing machine a pale yellow

Cowboy Boots-Ebay

Brides Engagment and wedding rings- interchangeable jewelry brilliantly engineered for designers and other creative types charlotte & tipit

Bouquet and wedding dress brooches-something old, antiques of my great grandmothers gifted by my mother

Bridesmen and grooms ties-skull print by RokWear on Etsy

Grooms suit-100% linen Le Chateau $300

Groomswomen gowns-Montreal's wedding district, St Hubert St. bargain rack $20 each

Brides Hair-  Shenique Higgs

Wedding planner- Teresa Brunner Teresa Brunner

Bouquet and boutonniere- Environmental Arts

Music-NaDa Duo mrblou@hotmail.com

Cake topper-I wanted to incorporate the Norwegian tradition of a bridal crown without actually having to wear one myself, gifted by my cousin Jenny in Salt Lake City

Cake Design-incorporated Caribbean architectural details of Fleur de Lys Villa

Groom's cake-traditional French croquembouche by Pierik Marizou of Caicos Cafe

Beach cocktail-Lemon Lucy's with cucumber garnish

Beach appetizers-traditional French pate's and cheeses from Caicos Cafe

Coffee Station- world famous Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee purchased straight from the plantation on our hiking trip to Jamaica

Cake tablecloth- a dear family friend, MaryAlice Tobins, wedding gift; an antique eyelet used at dinner parties my grandparents attended in the 1940's.

Ceremony program- DIY, modified from Martha Stewart "what tree did you fall from" template

Table decor and florals-DIY, garden clippings from the villa

A Caribbean Courtyard Reception

After kicking off our shoes and enjoying the chance to feel like kids again (complete with games and snacks) the sinking of the sun signaled it was time to head back to the villa for the reception. I thought the evening couldn't get more beautiful than that beachside sunset, but the welcoming first sight of over 100 lanterns sparkling in the courtyard trees truly took my breath away. I couldn't help but take a walkabout to just marvel in the atmosphere; the first glimpse of the cake that was more beautiful than I imagined, the tables bursting with green foliage as if they had grown right into the garden. All of the time spent dreaming up the details became worthwhile in that moment.

A suggestion of our planner Teresa was to sit at a dinner table for just the two of us, to take a moment of private celebration and conversation. I'm certain we will look back on that meal with great fondness, not only being surrounded by divine food and wine, but centered around our nearest and dearest. We had a panaramic view of each and every guest which was more endearing than words can possibly describe.

Cocktail Hour on the Beach

The majority of couples who get married in the Turks and Caicos choose to do so on the beach. As this post will testamant to, it's a beyond beautiful backdrop for a wedding. We are both ocean lovers so wouldn't dare leave it out of the picture . . . literally! Our photographers (Illeana, Kellie, and David) from http://www.brilliant.tc/ did a fantastic job of capturing exactly what it felt like to be there: Caribbean carefree! While we were enjoying the dangerously refreshing Lemon Lucy cocktail and admiring the sunset, caterers http://www.kissingfish.tc/ and wedding planner Teresa Brunner of http://www.tropicaldmc.com/ were hard at work setting the courtyard for the dinner reception.

A Garden Wedding

The ceremony took place in our favorite place at home, the courtyard where we have spent hours and hours at work, at rest, and at play. A garden wedding is ideal in that Mother Nature has already provided the majority of your decor (the gamble is if she will politely cooperate with your wedding plans). I tried to keep Mother Nature happy by featuring her handiwork prominently; flowers picked from our garden for the table arrangements, a tree washed ashore and draped with ribbon to host our well wishes, shells, branches, and various other beach finds displayed in every available spot. The flattery worked! She held her temper and we had three beautiful days, sandwiched between two cold fronts, timed perfectly for our bachelor and bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinner, and the big day.

The largest DIY preparation was removing the labels and washing 150 plus varieties of mason jars and glass bottles. Our spaghetti and jelly jars became tea light lanterns, peanut tins became shell adorned flower pots, and dressing, sauce, and water bottles became shabby chic vases. The glue gun saw more action those six months than ever before! I bought a bargain (slightly water damaged) bulk roll of upholstery fabric in Montreal and used it to sew an aisle runner, a photo backdrop, bride and groom chair covers, and a collar for our ring bearer. It was also utilised as backdrops for the "wish you were here" photo collage antique door, the beer garden sign, and the guest favors, personalized shadowboxes (the second largest DIY project). My idea was to have each guest find their dinner place by locating their photo placed inside a shadowbox set at the table. The activity was meant to be reminiscent of looking through a photo album, a favorite family pastime, as well as an ice breaker for recently introduced guests.

Our Wedding

This week will be dedicated to posting our wedding, which took place on January 9th, 2010. After 6 years of mutually avoiding the matter of marriage, little mentions began to emerge in 2008. These little tidbits of conversation established that IF we got married, we would have a small wedding, family would be foremost, and we would absolutely stick to a reasonable budget. In 2009 the "if" changed to a "when" and it was agreed it should be celebrated in the sole place we deemed appropriate; the dream we built into reality, the dwelling we call home, the place we most wanted to share with our far away families. In actuality we did stick to our guns. We had a small wedding with 50 guests, primarily family, who we were lucky enough have travel far and wide. Our families were at our sides and graciously at our service, especially my brothers as my bridesmaids and Stephane's sisters as his groomswomen. We researched the cost of the average wedding and swore to stay within those boundaries, a feat accomplished thanks to many do it yourself money savers.