AHHh summer time and the living is easy, and warm, and sometimes very warm.

Summer in the tropics can be a challenge and planning a summer destination wedding on one of the  U. S. Virgin Islands can be a downright gold medal event.  Now don’t get me wrong, summer on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands is wonderful and beautiful.  It’s considered the off season so you will find the best rates for air, hotel, charters, and weddings.

The beaches, hotels and restaurants are less crowed and island time takes on an even more relaxed atmosphere.    But if you are not prepared for the climate you may be in for a surprise. 

Oddly enough if you were to look at the temperature data of previous years you would not see much of a fluctuation in temperature.   But it does get warmer.  How can that be?   It’s all in the heat index.

The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity in an attempt to determine the human-perceived equivalent …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index

The temp that reads 86 degrees really feels like 95 degrees even with the trade winds.  But don’t despair with a bit of knowledge and preparation your wedding can be a dream come true.   That is if you have dreamed of palm trees, turquoise blue water, white sandy beaches and beautiful lush tropical landscapes.

Below I have listed a few suggestions to help make your day perfect, actually you could use them any time of year.

• Plan either a morning wedding up to 11:00 am or an afternoon wedding after 4:30 P.M.   There is day light until 6:30 P.M…
• Plan on the wedding party clothing around the weather. Cotton and linen for the men, sun dresses, for the ladies.
• Consider using decorative parasols for wedding party. Hand fans for the guest.
• As a wedding Officiate I always have small cloth hankies available for the bridal couple for during the ceremony. Great for sweat and or tears. 
• Plan with your Officiate to have a ceremony that is meaningful to you but is not over 15 min. in length if in the sun.
• Wedding cakes melt in a warm environment.  Good thing is if you use Fondant as the frosting, they will hold up longer, the down side is the flavor.  One of my brides had a fake decorated cake to have pictures with, and then offered cup cakes to the guest.  This was a big success.
• Choose a location that offers protection from the sun while waiting for ceremony to begin and after.
• Make arrangement to have water available to guest and wedding party even if you are having a champagne toast.
• Plan with your photographer. 
• Make a list of people to be in group shots and have a member of family coordinate it.
• Arrange to have cake pictures before the reception to avoid a cake melt down.
• Have water proof makeup, comp , powder and lipstick close by for touch ups 
• Plan on a more relaxed less formal wedding, consider a charter reception after a beach wedding. Often with bar, lunch, wedding cake served on board while snorkeling and island hopping.
• Plan a reception with a catered meal at one of the beach covered facilities right after the wedding ceremony or in an air-conditioned local upscale restaurants

Summer time doesn’t mean you have to sweat the small stuff. (Did I really write that?)

Organization and planning can make it all perfect.   If it all seems too hot and heavy (yep that one too.)

Call us Beach Weddings By Deb for help we will put our blood sweat and tears into it so you don’t have to.  (Couldn’t pass that one up)