VALLENTYNE WEDDINGS

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating on an advertising shoot for two very talented designers, Justine of Justine M Couture and Elena of Va Lena Valentina. Justine designs beautiful veils, headpieces, hair ornaments, and custom wedding jewelry and Elena designs wedding gowns that are true works of art. A special thanks to our beautiful, talented, and funny model, Margaux Christine! Margaux made it look so easy, I would hire her again in a second! Here are some of my favorite images from the shoot!

The morning of the wedding began with beautiful sunshine and a few scattered clouds. Even though it was the big day, everyone was so relaxed, just having breakfast, getting massages, swimming, and kayaking around the calm surrounding waters. Tom was getting ready in a bungalow near the ceremony while Lizzy got ready at the big house her family was sharing. Lizzy had help from her sisters and girlfriends on hair and make-up, and even had a best friend who designed her wedding dress for her! The cutest touch was the custom designed label, hand stitched on a light blue ribbon, that read “BOMBSHELL”! It was such an easy going morning and afternoon, you would almost forget that lots of people think weddings are stressful! There was absolutely no stress on this gorgeous day. In the afternoon, it started to rain a little bit and it was so cute that both Lizzy and Tom reacted in the same exact way, they weren’t worried about it at all. Lizzy was even fine with walking around taking some photos while it sprinkled and I loved that. The rain soon stopped and as I walked down to the ceremony we were all amazed to see the most beautiful double rainbow, it was a perfect moment. The ceremony was very inclusive of all the family and guests, designed to celebrate not just the marriage relationship, but all kinds of different loves and ties. Before Tom and Lizzy gave each other their own personal vows, loved ones stood and spoke about what love means to them and how many different types of love there are, between a husband and wife, a parent and child, sisters and brothers, and true friends. It was very unique and real, and one of those moments that even after shooting weddings for so long, I still get a little teary! The ceremony flowed seamlessly into cocktails and then a beautiful reception on the sand. A single long table on the beach was candlelit and was a romantic and perfect setting for a tropical dream wedding dinner. I think it was a wedding no one will soon forget, here are the photos!

After a long day of travel and a very fun welcome dinner, everyone on the island was ready for a little sunshine and relaxation. I think it helped a lot that at the dinner the night before, Lizzy and Tom took the time to introduce everyone who came to the wedding. They told funny stories about each guest and explained the relationship. As if this was not awesome enough, they also published a little “facebook” where pictures of each person or couple was printed with a blurb about who they were and where they were from. This was distributed in the gift bag on the first day and I have never seen anything like it! It really helped everyone to get to know each other and feel comfortable hanging out.

I must say… it was a pretty impressive group. Almost everyone was a Harvard or Stanford grad, very involved in sports like rowing, triathletes, business owners, entrepreneurs, members of the United Nations, and heads of charitable organizations in locations around the world, many in Africa. In fact, the bride, Lizzy, is one of the founders of an annual all-female climbing event called The 3 Peaks 3 Weeks Challenge, which aims to summit three of Africa’s highest peaks in three weeks, raising money and awareness for the three key issues currently facing Africa; environment, education and health. The climbs of Mt Kenya, Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro aim to raise awareness for these peak issues and to support and encourage grassroots community organisations in Kenya and Tanzania who are focused on environmental, educational and health development. Tom and Lizzy’s generousity doesn’t end there either. The couple decided to have their guests donate to the School of St. Jude in lieu of more traditional wedding gifts. I also blogged about this previously and if you are interested in more information about this charity or looking for ideas on how to do this at your own wedding, read about it on my blog at “{wedding generosity} gift registries give back”. There are many organizations that can help you turn your wedding gifts into something that gives back…. after all, how much tupperware do you really need??

I could go on and on about how great I thought this group was but what I would really love to do is share some of the photos from Day 2!! After a full day of relaxing and playing in the sun, everyone met in Kamalame Cay’s main house for cocktails and a gorgeous Valentine’s Day dinner. There were toasts from friends and family and the decor was candlelit, romantic, and full of personal touches like the table cards made by a family friend. Here are some favorites!

This year has already been so full of travel and destination weddings for Vallentyne Photography. One that I have been extrememly excited about since last year was the marriage of Lizzy and Tom Fallows on Kamalame Cay in the Bahamas. I had never been to the Bahamas, much less this gorgeous, secluded, private island that looked more imagined than real. For the President’s weekend of February 13th to the 16th, Lizzy, Tom, and 40 of their best friends and family rented out the entire island and did the dream destination wedding on Kamalame Cay. The guests joined Lizzy and Tom from Beijing, Rome, Sydney, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, so it was really a once in a lifetime experience to have them all together in one place. The resort’s buildings are brightly colored with thatched roofs and the spa sits on the end of a pier that is a focal point for the whole island…you can actually get a massage at the end of the pier and if you fall off the table you land in the water!! I was lucky enough to be able to shoot the whole weekend and since you can imagine there are a TON of photos, I will be breaking up the posts into 3 segments….here is the first installment, full of details and the welcome party on the first night, enjoy!