Octavia's Bermuda Wedding

Some unseen images from our wedding in Bermuda, I hope you enjoy!

 

Thursday Boat Day

"We kicked off the wedding celebrations with our bridesmaids and groomsmen on board a 77-foot catamaran."

Friday Rehearsal Dinner

"After an open day spent by the beach or in Bermuda's charming town of Hamilton, guests gathered on the CBC's south shore beach, where Matthew's family hosted a traditional Bermudian pig roast and fresh-catch dinner on the beach. The evening included live music with guests dressed in 'beachy chic' attire. Bare feet were mandatory!"

"We wanted Friday evening to feel relaxed and unrushed. Growing up, we would go to dinner once a week in Bermuda at an old inn called Horizons and Cottages. They would have live music, a pig roast, and dancing. It was very casual and felt very Bermudian. Horizons and Cottages has long since closed, but I had told Matt about how memorable those evenings were. I wanted to re-create this for our guests. We had live music playing throughout the night with one long table that seated our 150 guests on the beach. My other favorite design detail from this evening was the copper tiki torches that lined the beach."

Getting Ready

 

"I got ready with my mother, sisters, and the designer of my wedding dress and dear friend Carlota. Matt got ready on his own. He felt like that was the best way for him to stay calm and present."

Ceremony 

"With most wedding festivities at the Coral Beach Club and all of our guests staying there, we knew we'd want our ceremony to be slightly removed, and we fell in love with the Unfinished Church the moment we visited the open-air space. We visited the ruins in the UNESCO World Heritage town of St. George on the island. Funny enough, it was not really on our radar. I was in Bermuda a year before with just my parents, and my dad and I went to check it out. He started tearing up, and I knew it was it."

"The church itself is iconic, and the ruins are stunning on their own. I didn't want to work against that with something hyper-modern or sleek, so instead, with the help of Helen Sawden, we worked to create a lush and overgrown landscape, something that felt natural. Give me a beautiful space to work with, with amazing bones and historical significance, and I'm a happy bride."

"I walked down the aisle to 'Unchained Melody' played by Stephen Crawford, a local Bermudian musician. I will never forget when I saw Matty. We locked eyes, and throughout the entire ceremony, it truly felt like it was just us."  

Reception

 

All of my ladies wore Octavia Elizabeth jewels.

"Our cocktail reception was hosted on a beautiful lawn overlooking the entire club and ocean." 

"The dinner was hosted on the iconic Longtail Terrace. Once our guests were seated for dinner, Matt and I were announced, and we danced through swinging doors onto the veranda and down the stairs to the reception. We wound through all of the tables and ended up on the dance floor."  

"Matt and I worked with an amazing dance teacher before our wedding day. We didn't want to have a choreographed first dance, but we wanted to give our guests some sort of show! The dance lessons we took were some of our favorite moments leading up to the wedding. It was scheduled time for Matt and I to be together."

"For the after-party, I did a proper outfit change and a last-minute impulse buy, to be honest. I switched into a Zimmermann dress. I was shopping for my honeymoon when I saw this dress that felt very inspired by the coral reef and the intricacies of marine life. I paired it with sky-high Valentino sandals, which I swear were more comfortable than my Dior kitten heels I wore down the aisle. My hair was taken down and let loose. Helen and Ardree know me well, so I had them stick to a 15-minute turnaround time because I didn't want to miss anything more. And of course, the jewelry changed too!"

Check out Who What Wear Weddings for more on my wedding.