Colleen and Allen wed with family and friends present in beautiful St. Thomas, USVI. Though due to a few travel delays, a few almost missed the ceremony! We asked Colleen to share their special trip with us and how the big day came to be.
“We chose to do a destination wedding because we knew we wanted to incorporate travel into our wedding plans. I had never been anywhere tropical and knew that it would make for the perfect backdrop. We settled on St. Thomas, V.I. because we fell in love with the gazebo view from The Marriott Frenchman Reef. It was also a much easier destination for our guests to attend. Choosing the venue for our reception was all based on one thing… how late we could dance! Sunset Grille would allow us to stay the latest with a dj. We wanted to be able to dance as long as we could. Those are the best memories for us.”
“The groomsmens’ “RAWR” tee shirts stem from an every morning text Allen and his best man share. For the last 7 years, every morning, before they do anything else they send a Rawr text to each other. Talk about an adorable Bromance!”
“Allen and I met at a retail store I was managing. He came in shopping and chatted me up. We talked for a while and he was totally my type but I was dating someone at the time and before he hit me with the “can I get your number” line, I simply told him I’d see him around. One night when my roommate and I were having some drinks and scrolling through Myspace I saw his picture and recognized his name. I told my friend, “hey, that’s that guy”. With a little liquid courage and some pressure from my friend I sent him a message and we’ve pretty much been inseparable ever since.”
“We had always talked about travel and how that would be a priority before we got married as marriage was not a necessity for either of us. We were both very content in our relationship. So in 2012 we planned a 2 week European trip that started in Amsterdam and 2 days later we were in Venice. One night he took me on a gondola ride, nothing out of the ordinary and while we were in the middle of our ride he got down on his knee and purposed. I was in complete shock, so much so that I thought he was kidding and told him to get up before he knocked us out of the gondola. It was the most romantic night and a trip I will never forget. When he thought about purposing he didn’t have a ring because it was a last minute decision and when speaking with one of his girlfriends she told him he had to purpose with something so he bought a simple band with intention of having me pick out a ring when we returned, however, I did not want to. I told him I wanted him to pick out my ring.
He had it custom made for me and he did an amazing job because I love it!”
“We had 2 major “set backs” when it came to shipping items and travel. First, we shipped our flower bulbs and they all broke in shipment. I ended up buying more, prepping them and carrying them on my carry on so they wouldn’t break. Once on the island I spent an afternoon in my room putting them together with the hanging crystals. I wasn’t 100% satisfied with the way they were hung around the gazebo but with such a beautiful back drop I couldn’t complain.”
“Second hiccup was guests arriving on the island. Some guests had delayed or cancelled flights and didn’t get to the island on their scheduled days. Allen’s parents being one of them. We delayed our ceremony to make sure they were there. Once they landed they headed straight to the ceremony and never got a chance to change as their luggage was missing. What great sports to show up in, what they would consider, undesirable outfits but we were just glad they were there with us and didn’t miss their only sons ceremony.”
“Our guest sign in book was a thought I had of not wanting a book full of pictures of us. So I created our book putting pictures of us with all of our friends. Leaving blank pages for them to sign. It was a much better idea for us to have the memories of the last 10-15 years of friendship and the lifetime of family on those pages that we can now look at everyday.”
“I am not a girly girl and am not a big fan of lace and frills etc. I am girly in the sparkly, glittery way. I fell in love with the look of the silver sequined table cloth so we started with that and went from there adding pinks and purples as those are my favorite colors. Thank god for Pinterest, I got so many ideas from there. My favorite pieces from the wedding were our hanging bulbs from the gazebo at the ceremony. I put them all together myself, hanging them with crystals to tie in with the blingy theme. Allen added his touch too, wanting mustache and kisses on the back of the place cards. All the guests loved those little details.”
For more prettiness from this big day, check out their wedding video here by Awolfey Productions:
Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Destination Wedding Photographer: Hoffmann Photographer
Wedding Vendors: Wedding Venue: Marriott Fisherman’s Reef, St Thomas USVI, Reception Venue: Sunset Grille, St Thomas USVI, Gown Designer: Winnie Couture (Style: Katarina), Florist: East End Flower Shop, Videography: Awolfey Productions, Make-up & Hair: Sugar and Spice Artistry, DJ: Virgin Islands DJ, Men’s Attire: Express, Cake Topper: Etsy, Decor: Melissa Denny Designs
