Karen & Steve – Castaway Island Resort
Despite matching on a dating app months earlier that never amounted to anything, Karen & Steve actually met in 2014 at a party in Sydney. They both didn’t even realize that they had matched on this dating app until Steve recognized some photos of Karen by the third date.
We catch up with bride Karen on what lead her to book a destination wedding in Fiji.
BRIDES & GROOM: Karen and Steve
THE DATE: Saturday, 7 May 2022
THE LOCATION: Castaway Island Resort
THE NUMBER OF GUESTS: 45 guests
“We both wanted a destination wedding that:
1) wouldn’t be too far from home (Sydney)
2) was family-friendly, as many of our guests had little ones
3) had sunny, tropical island weather and
4) a country renowned for its untouched beauty and friendly, down to earth people.
Needless to say, Castaway ticked all these boxes.
Thankfully, part of our initial research when looking into Fiji weddings involved stumbling across the wonderful wedding planner, Chelsea Jayne Weddings. Soon after making contact with Chelsea, we knew we would be in safe hands by having her do most of the legwork for us and ensuring that the entire wedding planning journey would be seamless.
We honestly cannot imagine how we would have gotten married in Fiji without Chelsea’s help and support. Planning an overseas wedding is stressful enough as it is, but to do it in the midst of a global pandemic would have been enough for us to throw the towel in right from the very start. We feel very fortunate to have met Chelsea before Covid became a thing and she helped us navigate through the murky waters of wedding planning – pandemic style!
Bula Bride was a really helpful source for me throughout the whole planning phase. I particularly liked features of other brides’ experiences and helpful tips. Nothing is more insightful than first-hand experience of others who have literally gone through what you’re about to head into yourself. It’s only fitting that I pay it forward now.
GETTING READY:
Our ceremony was not due to start until 3pm so I technically had the whole morning to chill and take everything in at a slower pace. I was up by 6am and had breakfast by myself and some precious alone time by the beach just to gather my thoughts before the anticipated mad rush.
By 11am, I had my bridesmaids join me in my bure as we waited for our hair & makeup artists to arrive. Between this and the time we had to walk down to the beach for the ceremony, it was all very relaxed and fun! It was just me and my girls getting ready with food, champagne and music flowing.
Totoka Hair & Makeup did our hair and make-up. Special mention to Palavi, who did my makeup and Stephanie who did my hair. Both girls did a fabulous job of making me feel and look a million bucks on the day.
My dress was from: Made With Love Bridal. The Bridesmaids dresses were from an online store but cannot remember the name! (I purchased all 4 pre-pandemic days).
The Groom & the guys wore MJ Bale linen suits in oatmeal colour. Only the groom wore the matching suit jacket, whereas the lads paired their white linen shirts with brown leather suspenders.
THE CEREMONY
Location: on the beach, by Monkey Rock at Castaway Island.
I brought most of my own decorations over from home, but it was the wonderful Castaway staff who put together the most amazing setup including all the greenery and florals for the wedding arbor, signing table and ceremonial benches.
I was aiming for soft natural tones to tie in with the simple beachy style. Oatmeal tones from the groomsmen’s suits and champagne from the bridesmaids’ dresses as well as my own dress, which was not white per se, but a nude colour with white 3D lace. To tie this altogether, I simply relied on the greenery and whatever white florals was available and native to the island.
I had my bouquet made from artificial silk flowers to the style of my choice from back home. The lovely Castaway crew simply added some natural greenery from the island on the morning of the wedding day.
I would describe our ceremony as simple and relaxed. Not much was needed in terms of props or decor. Most of the lads wore linen shirts and pants and nobody was expected to wear any shoes given that it was on the beach.
There was no specific structure to our vows, we both wrote our promises to each other individually and only heard them on the day, which got us both ugly crying.
One of the best things we loved about our ceremony was getting our family involved. I had my brother-in-law play the role of celebrant and had him deliver the proceedings of the ceremony and marry us, which he did a fabulous job of considering he is not a certified celebrant! I also had my sister speak about ‘our story’ and how our journey as a couple brought us to this day. This was a beautiful and sentimental touch to the day, as nobody else knew us and our story better than these two people.
GETTING PHOTOS
We chose Nadi Bay Photography and Laurence was our photographer on the day. After our initial research into professional photographers in Fiji, we were sold when we came across some of Laurence’s previous work.
Sure enough, Laurence captured our day beautifully and we were gobsmacked at how incredible the photos turned out. He is also incredibly friendly and made us feel at ease in front of the camera.
We fully trusted Laurence in his craft and gave him free reign to capture the day as he saw fit. We certainly wanted group photos with family and friends but other than that, just to capture the raw and candid emotions of everyone for us to look back on. Needless to say, he did that perfectly.
We had ZoomFiji shoot our day and words cannot express how grateful we are to the team for their amazing work. We were told that ZoomFiji is the best in the industry, and we can see why. Professional, super friendly and the cinematography was insanely well put together. It’s been over 6months since our wedding day and we miss it dearly. Watching our wedding video takes us right back to the day and we cannot thank ZoomFiji enough for that. To watch that again is just priceless.
We still go through them to this day as we often reminisce on the most incredible day of our lives. We honestly love everything about them, but if we had to narrow down to one, it would be that you could really feel the love emanating from the photos and video throughout the day. From the high emotions during the speeches, right down to everybody letting loose on the dance floor during the reception. It was all so beautifully captured by Nadi Bay Photography and ZoomFiji. They really do make magic happen and what a team they are. We feel very fortunate to have them both play a part in our special day. Vinaka Vakalevu Lawrence, Bruce and his team at ZoomFiji.
THE RECEPTION:
Location of the reception was outdoors by the bar of Castaway Island, overlooking the ocean and the most spectacular sunset.
Very much like the ceremony – greenery from the island, white and off-white blooms as the centerpiece trailing down the center of the table, candles and subtle gold detailing from the menu cards, name tags, charger plates and cutlery.
Most of the décor for the reception was brought over from home. We had a few of our guests and the Castaway staff do all the setting up, which they did a fantastic job of. The décor would not have looked the way it did if it weren’t for the finishing touches that the Castaway staff added to the whole setup, such as the overhanging fairy lights. We could not be more grateful for all their efforts in transforming the area into a tropical paradise that was both elegant and outdid our expectations of a beach styled wedding.
Guests were free to select whatever cocktail they liked but the Castaway’s pina coladas seemed to be a popular crowd favourite from memory.
We opted for the full seafood buffet that included seafood chowder soup, fresh oysters, Fijian kokoda, tiger prawns and the crowd pleaser – Singapore chilli mud crab.
We chose a simple styled two-tiered red velvet marble cake that looked just as good as it tasted. Thanks to head chef, Denis and his kitchen staff at Castaway again!
For music, we prepared our own playlist ahead of the day and our wedding planner coordinated everything else in terms of ensuring all the sound equipment was available and ready to go.
All our guests including Steve and I stayed an extra night on the island after the wedding. The activities on Castaway were just endless so we were glad that we had an extra full day to let our hair down after the wedding to fully enjoy the island and all that it offers before Steve and I hopped over to the next island for our honeymoon (Vomo Island).
YOUR ADVICE FOR BRIDES PLANNING A FIJI WEDDING:
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Easier said than done for any bride, I know. But in all honesty, the second you land in Fiji, you almost have no choice but to relax!
There’s just something incredibly special about the way Fiji makes you adopt the mantra “no hurry, no worry” the minute you step off the tarmac.
Whatever you’ve forgotten to do or bring, I can assure you – it won’t affect your time or special day.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY
Too many! But here’s a few:
– Having my dad walk me down the aisle during the ceremony and seeing Steve’s raw emotions.
– THE most incredible and unforgettable sunset during our reception. Of all the days we spent on the island, the sky was painted with the most brilliant hues of orange, pink and purple, which became the backdrop to our beachfront reception.
– Everybody ripping up the dancefloor and dancing the night away.
Who Did They Use
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Wedding Planners & Travel Agents
Chelsea Jayne Weddings Fiji
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Hair & Make Up
Totoka Hair & Make Up Fiji
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Fiji Wedding Photographers
Nadi Bay Photography
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