I just arrived home from Hope and Brian’s beautiful wedding at Idle Awhile. It was great celebrating with these two and they brought their own unique style to the wedding.

Instead of the traditional white dress Hope walked down the aisle in a beautiful semi paisley dress with fuschia’s, yellows and purples, it was amazing. Her ring however, was the most unique ring I’ve ever seen. She sported a raw diamond…a diamond pre cutting, polishing, etc. It was a really quite cool and seemed to exemplify their own personal style.

The Bride and Groom had a beautiful cake made by Love Cakes Jamaica (which tasted fabulous might I add) and they finished their evening with a huge beach bonfire.

Thanks for letting me be part of your special day guys. Enjoy the rest of your time here!!

My husband O’Brian and I have been very lucky to have many visitors from abroad this year, and even some visits from his family from Kingston too this year.

The visitor year started with a few of O’Brian’s brothers coming with their girlfriends to visit us in Negril. We (okay, more or less I) had the pleasure of introducing them to Tacos and Margaritas which they did happen to like (after much convincing to just try a bite). They had a great time playing with our dogs, swimming at the beach and watching the cliff divers at Rick’s Cafe. Hopefully they’ll be able to come visit again soon.

Brother-in-law Brandon and girlfriend Tashana

Brother-in-law Kirk

Me and Hubby O'Brian

Brother in law Brandon trying to decide if he should jump at Rick's or not....maybe next time.

My parents followed shortly after and we were able to take them all over Jamaica starting in Negril, then around the south coast to Kingston, up to Portland, then to Ochi and back to Negril.

My parents with Bob Marley statue in Kingston

Kingston waterfront

O’Brian in the Blue Mountains

My parents swimming at YS Falls

Our view in Portland at Goblin Hill Villas

My wonderful parents who were highschool sweethearts.

Next came one of my best friends and her husband, Kaye and Wilton Martin. Wilton is originally from Jamaica but hasn’t been back in several years. It was fun showing them a part of Jamaica they’ve not had the chance to experience yet.

Our husbands hanging out at Frenchmans Cove O'Brian Baxter and Wilton Martin

my husband getting a better view from the tree

Kaye and Wilton and Long Bay in Portland

Too close for comfort on the Portland cliffs near Boston Beach

My sister came in May after graduating college (congrats again Erin) and once again, we toured Jamaica (thankfully O’Brian and I are both self employed). We also celebrated my birthday at the House Boat Grill in Montego Bay, one of my favorite spots.

My beautiful little sister in Dunn’s River Falls

On the bobsled roller coaster at Mystic Mountain.

My husband looking out over the blue mountains

Overlooking all of Kingston

My sister zip-lining down over YS Falls

Girls night out, Paula of SunGold Photography, Me, and Erin.

Finally, right now Nic and Dana are down here visiting us! I’ve known Nic from the day he was born and it’s been great getting to know Dana and letting them both get to know O’Brian. Nic and Dana met in New Orleans when both were part of the Hands On program helping after the Katrina disaster.

Dunn’s River Falls

Nic and Dana’s first meal in Jamaica, jerk pork, jerk chicken, fried plantain and festival

Enjoying dinner at Morgan’s Harbour Hotel in Port Royal

for some reason I couldn’t get anyone to try and cross that bridge.

Tonight is Nic and Dana’s last night in Jamaica. O’Brian and I are taking them out to Pushcart Restaurant her in Negril before saying goodbye. It’ll be sad to see them go, but it’s been great having them!

Anyone else who wants to come visit this year, come on down! I think we have the “Around Jamaica tour” down to a science now and we’re always willing to show you around! Our house is small, but we do have a spare bedroom and amazingly when O’Brian’s brothers were here we were able to fit an additional 5 people in our tiny place!

Tanya and Andy were married at beautiful Villas Sur Mer on the cliffs of Negril. We had showers right before the ceremony it stopped just in time for the ceremony and it cooled things down a bit on a hot summer day!

Tanya, Andy and their entire group were so fun to work with. After the ceremony and more formal pictures Tanya and Andy came down to their cocktail reception in swimwear to celebrate for the rest of the night! A good time was had by all dancing the night away to the live reggae band and cooling off in the pool. It was my first “swimwear reception” but man, did they have a great time.

Photographer Misha Earle did a fantastic job with the photos.

Congrats again guys and thanks for letting me be part of your special day!!

I don’t often have the opportunity to work with the smaller, more intimate weddings, and I forgot how much I enjoyed them! Debbie and Scott were married on the beach at Cosmo’s in Negril. They had seafood galore for dinner (yummy shrimp, lobster and fish) and danced to the wonderful melodies of the steel pan band.

Please excuse the pictures… I took them and I’m by far no pro.

Take a close look at the first picture and you’ll see my husband O’Brian hiding in the Mango tree… ok he wasn’t hiding as much as he was up there picking a mango or two off the tree in our backyard. We have some of the best mangos on our tree in the backyard… East Indian Mangos and they go for a pretty penny here in Jamaica. The second picture is his “dismount” from the tree caught in mid-air. I was pretty impressed I caught him before he hit the ground.

Now if only I would have gotten a pic of us eating those yummy mangos… I do however have a picture of a picture of one of our dogs, Gabriel chowing down on the mango seed. He absolutely loves them but insists on carrying them into the house to eat (instead of keeping them outside where he’s given them). You’d think I’d should have learned my lesson by now and just lock him out until he’s finished… maybe next time.

O'Brian in the Mango tree

O'Brian's dismount from the tree.

Gabriel chowing down on a mango seed. Yummy.

Surrounded by friends and family, Lauren and Adam were married at lovely Villas Sur Mer on the cliffs of Negril. Romey of the WPAJamaica did a great job capturing the night and a good time was had by all. Adam and his family are originally from Jamaica so it was fun to have guests coming from around the island as well.

Congrats to the two of you. May your life be filled with love!

Congrats to you both Vanessa and Jason. It was a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding! Vanessa and Jason were married at Negril Escape and Spa located and they were blessed to have a large number of guests come all the way from Canada for their big day! Photographer Joe Wong did a spectacular job capturing their wedding day.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!

Jennifer and David were married at Villas Sur Mer, they incorporated two traditional ceremonies to honor both of their heritages. The first was a beautiful Thai ceremony called Rod Nam Sang. In the Rod Nam Sang ceremony, the most senior family member acts as the leader of the event, she/he will start to soak the couple’s hands in water and wish them good luck. The water is contained in a conch shell container (ROD is soak, NAM is water, and SANG is conch shell). Then, the parents and others will do the same.

The second was the traditional Jewish breaking of the glass ceremony. Although the meaning of the ceremony is disputed, two of the more popular meanings are that either that the marriage will last as long as the glass is broken– forever. Or that people need to remember those who are suffering even in their greatest moments of joy, and to remember the destruction of the second temple. After the breaking of the glass, the guests yell, “Mazel Tov!” which means good luck.

David and his friends added their own personal flavor to the reception as well by DJ’ing the event (David and several of his friends are DJ’s in NYC). They had the Jamaican music scene down playing a great mix of international and dancehall music that would have made any true Jamaican DJ proud.

Congrats guys, I really enjoyed working with you both and I hope you get back to Jamaica soon!

Check out some photos of the event, by photographer Tone:

Rod Nam Sang Ceremony

Breaking of the Glass Ceremony

Toast to the Bride and Groom

The Groom doing his thing.

The waitresses showing off the Jamaican moves, the guests loved learning the dances!

A good friend of mine who I met when I moved to Jamaica tied the knot!! Deb and Eddie, were married at beautiful Villas Sur Mer surrounded by friends and family. I feel blessed to have been part of your special day. I wish you nothing but happiness, you both deserve the best!

SunGold Photography did a great job capturing the day for them too!

This is the Bride, Paula of SunGold Photo (on the right) and yours truly (on the left).

Well, since I’ve been slacking in the blogging department lately, I figured there wasn’t a better place to start than with my own wedding. I’m now Mrs. Ariana Kotoski Baxter. My husband O’Brian and I were married very quietly on the cliffs of Negril at Hide Awhile Villas. Because I plan weddings for a living, we just wanted a very quiet simple ceremony for us now and then either later this year or next year we’ll be having a larger celebration for friends and family.

Our good friends Paula and Damian of Sun Gold Photography shot our wedding and we couldn’t be happier with the results. They were so great to do it too as we literally threw it on them just a couple weeks before the wedding and they were leaving for Texas the next day. What good friends they are.

Here are some highlights of the wedding as well as our Honeymoon to Curacao in March.

I promise, I am going to make an effort to blog more.

My wonderful husband O’Brian

visiting an Ostrich farm in Curacao

Beautiful cemetery next to a Catholic church

This pelican was just hanging out at the aquarium and let me get right up next to him.

For us, it was perfect to stay right in the city vs along the coast somewhere. Since we live right near a 7 mile sand beach we really enjoyed exploring things other than the beach on this trip.