If it's cold where you are in the world this morning, prepare to be warmed up.
Arielle & Ian's beautiful beach wedding in the Turks & Caicos Islands blends the rustic with the tropical and the fun with the romantic. Skillfully captured by Craig Bruce of Brilliant Studios, it may have downpoured during the ceremony, but this gorgeous pair beamed throughout.
A breathtaking bride with a flower in her hair, a dashing groom with a bright boutonniere, who can't take his eyes off her, burlap linens, driftwood details, a cascading bouquet, and succulent, well succulents, all set against the relaxed, intimate island vibes. Stunning.
If you're dreaming of a beach wedding, prepare to be inspired.
The Inspiration
We both wanted the overall theme to stay very natural since we were getting married on the beach, so I stuck to natural tones and chose pieces of burlap and driftwood for the table settings, lots of greenery in the boutonnieres, and other natural looking materials for the reception decor. I wanted to create an intimate, understated romantic feeling that relied on the simplicity of low lighting and close seating.
The Favours
Our guests' bags were amazing. We had a map of Providenciales T&C illustrated on a tote bag that included a weekend itinerary and thank you note; a giant beach towel for each guest with a different New Yorker Magazine print on the front (at the time we lived in New York City); a rum cake and small bottle of rum from the island; either a coral or starfish wine stopper (from TheKnot.com); a map of the island; and a few bottles of water. One guest said she felt like she was at the Grammys when she checked into the hotel.
The Attire
Everyone picked out their own dresses which was important to me—I haven’t been a bridesmaid yet, but while looking for dresses I felt like there just wasn’t one style of dress that looks good on everyone’s body types. I also wanted the bridesmaids in ivory dresses that were as unique as their personalities. The boys were dressed in sea inspired tones of blue. And in the end, we chose a full suit in a not-too-dark-but-not-baby-blue hue for the groom.
The Details
There aren’t many flowers local to the Turks and Caicos Islands, so we relied on driftwood, calla lilies, succulents, and hydrangea to cut down on the cost and stay with the natural theme. For dessert, in addition to wedding cake we offered the guests Creme Brulee and Key Lime Pie (my favorite)! And our chosen music was Elvis Presley, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for the processional and John Legend, “Stay With You” for the first dance.
Our Favourite Moments
It rained during our entire ceremony—so that was pretty unforgettable. We were all soaked, but we had the most amazing sunset backdrop for professional and Instagram pictures right after the ceremony.
We love to host in our everyday life, so I think our wedding reflected us perfectly because it was genuinely about everyone having a good time. Our wedding was a vacation for most of our guests. We got married the Saturday before Memorial Day, so almost everyone came down the Wednesday before and stayed through that Monday. And over the course of 5 days we planned a sunset cocktail party, a day of diving and snorkeling on a catamaran named the ‘Arielle”, beach games every night, and a much needed brunch the morning after the wedding for all the guests. It felt great hosting so many close friends and family in the Turks!
Our Advice for Other Couples
We had a year and half to plan our wedding which removed almost all of the stress of planning, and just allowed me to craft a wedding that reflected both of our personalities and interests. If you can wait that long to get married, the extra time really helps with the huge strain budget and dishing out money can put on wedding planning—we had over a year between our deposits and final payments for everything.
I am also a planner at heart, so I frequented Pinterest, Bridal Musings, The Pretty Blog, Wedding Chicks, and Style Me Pretty multiple times a day which sounds like a lot, but I loved every minute of it.
I didn’t have a dream wedding in mind when we got engaged, but after looking at other real weddings for inspiration it becomes clear pretty quickly how you will want your wedding day to play out.
Wow, isn't that just the most beautiful destination wedding? I really love how blissfully glowing this pair are, and I also adore how they tossed the typical wedding day on its head and made a week out of it. Why not?
Thanks so much to Arielle & Ian for sharing their spectacular day with us, and let's hope they got better weather on the honeymoon.
For even more destination inspiration, check out more Real Overseas Weddings + our Beach Wedding Pinterest Board.
