...Actually, it was just a good excuse to take a trip to the islands with my best friend, but hey, who cares?! My bestie of 11 years Mo and I decided we needed to do a little wedding reconnaissance work on the island of St. John. Seeing as I hadn't been to the island in about 6 years, and never actually been to the resort where the wedding will be held, I think it was a good call. We had a such blast together and even managed to get some wedding planning done in between our pina coladas and naps on the beach.
These shots were taken from the balcony of our room when we first arrived. Isn't the view spectacular?
So, for those planning on attending our wedding, there are a few things about the island that I want to point out:
1) St. John is HOT! I mean, really hot. Even in the winter. But it's that good, island-y, tropical, sweet-smell-in-the-air type of hot where you're sweating all the time but still feel great. Note to self- try not to be a sweaty pig in the wedding photos.
2) St. John is super fun! I guess it's because I've only been to the island on family trips where I was under the age of 21, but I never realized what a fun place it is! The nightlife is great, and there are tons of bars, restaurants, live music, and great food around every corner of Cruz Bay. I can't wait for our friends and family to experience the island.
3) The trip there is quite an adventure, especially from the West coast. I hope this doesn't discourage anyone from coming to the wedding, but St. John is no easy place to get to. You have to fly into St Thomas (usually not a direct flight), then a very windy, hilly, taxi ride to the ferry dock, and then a 20 minute ferry ride to St. John. That's a lot for one day of traveling! But trust me, it is so worth it. I only want to warn people so that when you make travel plans, it is nice to stay for a week if you can swing it. Any less and the travel time catches up with you.
4)St. John has lots of interesting wild animals! Anywhere you go on the island, you are pretty much guaranteed to see donkeys, goats, chickens, iguanas, roaming around. Although, I hear the donkeys can be pretty mean when they are hungry, so I don't recommend getting too close.
This curious little iguana stole that orange right off my pina colada!!
Here are some shots of the beautiful Westin Resort, where the wedding will be held. I am so glad we chose this resort. I think it will be the perfect place for a beautiful, elegant wedding and a great spot for our friends and family to stay during their trip.
The Westin is just a quick cab ride away from Cruz Bay and all the beautiful beaches. The resort also has its own private beach with jumbo water trampolines and other fun activities, although I do recommend checking out the other beaches as well. 
And here's Mo and I out on my parents' friends' boat sailing through the Virgin Islands. That's my mom's dog Toby on my lap.
So, there you have it. My trip in a wee nutshell blog post.
And, sorry about the long lag, I promise to be more diligent with the posts in the future.
i knew the minute i decided who my bridesmaids were going to be that i'd need a clever way to ask them to be in the wedding. after all, it's a question i won't get to ask too much in my lifetime and i think it should be special. i originally bought each girl (and my one "bridesman") leather luggage tags that are personalized with a hot stamp monogram. not a bad gift, and useful since it's a destination wedding! but, i wasn't quite satisfied with plain 'ol luggage tags. i needed something else. so, i moseyed down to the vintage store near my house to see what i could find for inspiration, and it turned out that they had a huge bin full of beautiful vintage hankerchiefs. i had seen a gorgeous set of save-the-date hankies online, so i decided to reinterpret the idea into a clever way to pop the question. 
