We were pretty adamant that when it came to having a wedding in Antigua, we wanted it to feel as authentic to the Caribbean islands as possible. We knew we wanted jerk chicken for dinner, rum punch to toast our ceremony and steel drums for the evening, because those were the reasons we fell in love with the island to begin with.
The Flowers
I’m a fan of bright, clashing colours and I knew I wanted a statement that would pop against all our outfits. We requested flowers native to Antigua, bougainvillea and hibiscus but due to hurricane Irma wiping some of them out at that time, we weren’t entirely sure what we’d get.
In the end it didn’t matter and we had a beautiful combination of lillies (they’re one of my faves), roses and a selection of local in both mine and my bridesmaids bouquets. Al wore an orange rose and the ushers wore pink. It looked bright, bold and tropical, exactly what we were after.
My sister had also gave me a heart weaved from palm leaves which I hung from the bouquet as I walked down the aisle.
The arch of the pergola we were married in front of was also decorated with bundles of native flowers tied to lush greenery, making a pretty backdrop against the sea.
The Stationary
After a bit of inspirational browsing on Pinterest we decided we were after an invite that featured palm leaves and tropical flowers. We were recommended Little Bird on a Branch who took our very short brief and nailed the design first-time round. They created a mix of name cards, order of service, itineraries, words of advice cards and invites for our UK party. All featured a mix of tropical flowers surrounding the edge with our copy in the middle, printed on thick punched card. They looked so beautiful and every time I looked at them a huge grin would appear on my face.
We gave each guest a welcome pack with the itinerary (and I use that in the loosest sense of the word) and an individual thank you note for joining us in Antigua.
We turned the order of service into fans at home by gluing a lolly stick in the middle, which were then handed out by my mum before the ceremony.
The name cards would have looked amazing if Hurricane José hadn’t blown them all off the tables!
The Entertainment
Our evening consisted of a three-piece steel band who I adore. They’re local to the resort and we’d seen them play there before on our last visit. Al and I had our first dance on the beach to Bob Marley, Is This Love, one of our favourite songs.
They played as we danced and conga’d our way along the shore throughout the night, before letting Al and I have a go.
I was obviously a natural and now we’re moving to Antigua and joining the band. K, bye!
Read more about my beach wedding vibes.
Photos taken by Paul Mockford and you can see even more on his blog.