Calling all Canadian Brides!!!

You’re engaged and dreaming about your destination wedding.  White sand beaches, crystal blue water, amazing sunset backdrop–basically the PERFECT setting for any wedding.  Well, hold on to your hats because it actually gets better!  Platinum Events Group is GIVING AWAY their destination wedding planning service to one lucky couple for a wedding in the Cayman Islands!!!

Check out their website to learn how to enter, the rules, etc.  We let you know the lucky winner when we know!!!

And the winner is…

First of all, thank you all for your submissions to our contest!  We were overwhelmed by the response and it was SO TOUGH to choose a winner!!!  We appreciate the time each of you have spent putting together your story boards and will be featuring a few of them in the coming weeks on the blog. 

So, without further delay, we want to announce our winner…Stefanie!!

Here’s Stefanie’s story…

Why Cayman?

Shaun and I have done a fair bit of traveling to the islands all around the Caribbean.  We both love the ocean , have quite an affinity for snorkeling, exploring and are rather simple yet energetic people.  Neither have us have been to the Cayman Islands and thought it would be ideal to start this new chapter in our lives with a new island that we visit together for the first time.   Besides the fact that everything we have read about Grand Cayman, the laid back energy, the snorkeling, the overall vibe, fits us to a tee, we wanted an island that we could bring our family to enjoy as well.  That offers a little bit of everything for everyone. 

The wedding…

We are having a small wedding of our family only.  Our families are from two different parts of the northeast and have yet to spend quality time together as the distance is just too far to allow such time.  Having our families, the people we love and cherish most together in the Cayman will create an amazing atmosphere of simplicity and joy around us.  My fiance, Shaun, will have his brother by his side and I will have my sister stand by mine.  An intimate beach-side ceremony followed by a cocktail hour and lovely dinner.  We want our wedding to be family-centric and vibrant.  As for all of our friends back home, we are throwing them (us) a classic Cape Cod Style clambake upon our return in June 2012.

The design…

When I originally started looking and planning for our wedding, I really wanted to embrace the vibrant and tropical feel of Grand Cayman.  I found these boarding pass invitations through Etsy seller sproullie designs and immediately fell in love with the purple and orange color combination. I began researching for flowers and knew that our favorite flower, orchids, would give us this gorgeous palette.  We will also be able to use flowers that are native to Grand Cayman to build into our overall ambiance of our celebration.
 
Photo credits for our storyboard, from left to right

Men’s Khaki Suit – Kleinfelds
Luggage Tag Save the Date’s – etsy seller mavora
Boarding Pass Invitations – etsy seller sproulliedesigns
Wedding Gown – Marchesa
Flowers and Cake Photos – project wedding.com
Groom’s boutonniere – blueskyweddings.com
Reception table – Rebecca Davidson Photography
Bride Bouquet – blueskyweddings.com  

Congratulations Stefanie and thank you ALL for your submissions!!!!

Crystal Blue Weddings contest and AWESOME giveaway!

Get ready, get set…we’re having a give away!  This is definitely one you won’t want to miss! 

First…the prize…

An engagement session with the fab Rebecca Davidson Photography!!!

 

Second, the contest…

Send us your Cayman Islands Inspired Story Board.  Give us some background as to why it is Cayman Islands inspired, the color palate and the credit for all photos used in the board. 

Third, the rules…

Yes, there are always rules–we’ll try not to have too many!

1.  We must have a minimum of 25 entries in order to run the contest to make sure you tell your friends, relatives and neighbors and send in your entries! 

2.  The engagement session will take place in GRAND CAYMAN so make sure you plan to be here sometime within the next year to collect your winnings.

3.  The session with Rebecca is a 1-hour, location shoot and includes a high resolution CD of edited images for you to keep.  This is a US$500.00 value, fyi.

4.  The contest will run from today, April 15 for one month.  Submit your entries to danielle {at} crystalblueweddings {dot} com.  We will announce the winner on Monday May 16. 

Let us know if you have any questions!  Looking forward to seeing your submissions!!!!

 

Valentines Day Giveaway :: Winner!

We would like to take a moment to announce our Valentines “Tell Us Your Love Story” giveaway contest!  Thank you ALL for submitting your love stories–we really enjoyed reading all of them!  The winner was chosen randomly. 

And the winner is….(drum roll!)

Dawn Ploegmakers!    Here is her love story.

I asked the Universe for my boyfriend and I got him!

I’m a firm believer that if you put something out to the universe it will come true. I guess some people call it manifestation or prayer.

Anyways, after a hard break up with my ex I was enjoying the single life. At this point in my life I had a mental (and written) list of qualities that I wanted in a man and ones that I definitely did NOT want. I believe in the law of attraction so I focused on only those that I wanted so as to attract them.

One night I was sitting outside on my patio and looked up to the sky and said I would like to meet a man through a friend. Not at a bar or on an online dating site. What happened to the good old days when friends set you up with someone they knew or thought was your type?! I said to myself, well I suppose I need to make some new friends if that’s what I want. So I did.

I was networking on Facebook and a friend of a friend was having a party. I emailed the girl and asked if I could attend with my friend. She was more than happy to have me and asked if I was single. I replied yes and asked if it would be a problem. She said, not at all, I have tons of single male friends and hardly any girlfriends.

I went to the party and she told me she had wanted to set me up with her brother but that he wasn’t there that night. She said he was perfect for me, a great father, a business owner, owns his own home, nice, stand up guy. I shook my head and thought oh no, everyone thinks their brother is the best.

Well my new friend was leaving town for a couple months so nothing came of it right away. A few months later another mutual friend was having a Pirate themed beach party and invited me and my new friend’s brother. I thought, okay well I can meet him and see what he’s like.

Immediately, we connected and hit it off. He was the nicest guy, fun, gentlemanly, caring, sweet and not bad looking. The first night we ended up sharing a tent together but nothing more. I was sick the entire night and he ended up rubbing my temples and bringing me water. The next day he wanted to see me again. I was still sick but had already agreed and couldn’t stand him up. Even though I was sick, I went downtown to meet him at an open air concert in the harbour. He got me some pepto bismal and I felt a little better. I couldn’t last the entire night, so he took me home.

For our next date, I had hoped he would bring me flowers and more specifically roses. He showed up at my house with a dozen red roses and took me for dinner.

It was a great first few dates and we are still together a year and a half later. We have taken things slow since we both have children from previous relationships and just enjoy each day as it comes with no expectations and keeping in mind that it could end at any time. This helps us really appreciate each other and the time we have together.

He gave me a promise ring for my birthday last year and we moved in together last month. Every moment has been pure heaven since we began living together and I hope it lasts. Every day I fall more and more in love with him and thank the universe for bringing him to me. I asked the universe for a man that was ambitious, hard working, caring, loving, sweet, nice, gentle, a gentleman, had a business or wanted one, had a car, a boat and a house and I got it. He loves me for me and all of my qualities, quirks and flaws and I feel the same about him, though through my eyes I don’t see any of the flaws he feels he has.

We have the kind of love that people envy and I am so lucky to have met him.

We still want to hear your love story if you’d like to share–submit a comment today!!!

 

Crystal Blue wishes you a Happy Valentine’s Day (with a giveaway)!!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you lovebirds out there!!!  We’re full of love today and wanted to share it with you with a giveaway!!! 

So, we invite you to show us the love and tell us your story…how you met, where and how you got engaged, where you were married, the thing you love most about your loved one or a funny anecdote you would like to share with us about you and your loved one! 

We’ll read them all and choose a winner on Friday February 19!

What do you win???  A US$50 iTunes gift card! 

How do you enter?  Just post a comment to this post with your story.  Include your email address with your comment post (don’t worry, we won’t harass you with endless mail or give it to anyone else, we just want to send you the gift card if you win!) 

Who can enter?  Anyone–you don’t have to be married or getting married, you might just be dating someone or have a good story. 

Today it’s all about sharing the love!!  Happy Valentines Day!

Our First Giveaway!!

The launch of Crystal Blue has been very exciting for us and we thought we’d share in that excitement with a giveaway during the first week “on air”!  So…here’s the deal…

Earlier today we posted a storyboard with a color palette that inspires us–the colors of the Cayman Sea.  We want to hear from you about what inspires you!  If you are planning a destination wedding (it doesn’t have to be in Cayman, but we hope it is!), leave us a comment on this post and tell us three things:

1.  Where you are getting married

2.  The color palette is for your wedding

3.  What inspired you to choose those colors

The lucky winner will win a copy of Destination Wedding Planner by Alison Hotchkiss!!!

We can’t wait to hear what you have to say!!!!  Winner will be chosen next week!