At the end of March, my co-director Tom and I travelled to Barbados with several intentions; to relax, to enjoy family time and... To get married!

Only our nearest and dearest knew the details, and the day was hot (over 35degrees in fact!) and so very enjoyable.

The Preparations

For weeks before the 'weddingmoon' we spent days planning and preparing. A new passport for our daughter, Marnie, along with sending off for our original birth certificates so that we could send them along withother legal documentation to the Ministry of Home Affairs in Bridgetown, Barbados. Then there was the normal holiday shopping; clothes, sun cream, mosquito bite cream etc. Of course we spent a lot of time finalising dress fittings for me and my daughter, Eryn, who was chief bridesmaid; getting the dresses professionally packed into suitcases was also something we needed to get done.  The Wedding House in Alvaston and Tiffany Jordan on Queen Street were just phenomenal when it came to helping us with this! Then we had to consider what was needed for Marnie of course. At 6 months old, she's still in the phase of regular feeding and early weaning; how would we cope with the food in the Caribbean? How would she cope with the time difference affecting her routine?

Needless to say, the build up to the big day was tense, fraught and so busy we were exhausted, and in real need of some rest and relaxation by the time we got to the airport!

When we arrived, our first day was taken up with meeting our wedding co-ordinator, Ann, and the photography and video company who are based on site at the resort.  We also needed to gain our marriage licence, and so took a trip to the Island's capital to apply for this. We planned flowers, music, our wedding breakfast, cake and everything else required to make our day unique and perfect for us.

The Big Day!

The big day came, I felt nervous and, as we stuck to tradition by avoiding each other for the entire morning, I felt tense and excited too. Eryn and I were pampered with beauty treatments and got our hair done at the Spa onsite.  A lot of time, effort, emotion and, not forgetting, cost went in to making us feel like princesses and so after leaving the Spa I was so glad I'd chosen to have both video and photography to capture all of this.

We received some wonderful help getting into our dresses, from Guest Ambassador Tracy, who was a delight to get to know.  Again, with a lot of man power we were pulled into our tie-back princess 'frocks' and we put on our new wedding jewellery, along with my "something old, something new...".  With some final squirts of perfume and hairspray we were ready to grace Tom and Marnie with our presence at the alter on the Bajan beach.

Being Captured

Greeting us at the Old Sugar Mill, just out of sight of the beach, were our photographer and videographer. Some instant shots of Eryn and I looking a little nervous and excited were taken, and I took my position ready for my wedding music cue of "Hoppipolla" by Sigur Ross... With this beautiful track playing I began walking down the 'aisle'; a sandy aisle on a beach in Barbados. Wow. I was overwhelmed.

Enormous Dress! Lots of Tears!

My dress was enormous, and totally impractical for the Bajan heat, but I didn't care. I swished my way along the sand to join my husband to be, who looked terrified but who's beaming smile was stretching from ear to ear. He looked so proud. Tom's voice broke as he said his vows to me and shed a tear. It was sincere and emotional, which made me begin to sob. Beautiful. Perfect. We were so happy to be pronounced husband and wife, and we had a massive round of applause from the audience that had accumulated to watch us! We spent time having our pictures done, and being photographers ourselves we had tonnes of ideas that we wanted to implement.  Thankfully, Colorbox listened to us and we got some great shots done.  All of which were filmed too.

Showing Our Wedding to Our Family

On returning to the UK to our family, could we remember the nerves we felt prior to the ceremony? Nope! Could we remember that we both cried during the ceremony? Nope! Could we remember the words that were so lovingly spoken to us by Reverend Kirton? Nope! We had been so excited and emotional, that a lot of the finer detail had been naturally forgotten.

Did our wedding DVD remind us of everything we had forgotten? YES!!!! We have watched it at least 10 times since returning (we've been back approx 2 weeks) and we have both cried EVERY time we've watched it.

With the plan to only ever wed once in my lifetime, our box of photos and DVD are a beautiful reminder of one of the happiest days of our lives. All the money spent on getting it "perfect', the time, the effort, the emotion, the stress.... All of it can be remembered forever, and ever now! And on showing it, and discussing it, with others since our return we have heard a lot of "I wish I'd had my wedding filmed, I hardly remember anything! My biggest regeret!!!"

Are we pleased we got a wedding video? Yup. Are we planning on moving Light Films to the Caribbean to film weddings? Ha ha, we'd love to! Not sure we could work in that heat though! But what a job?!

My Advice

If you are getting married or know someone who is, take my advice, get it professionally filmed. Professionals take the time to capture what "a friend with a camera" can't. Whether you choose us or another company, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you get it filmed!!!!!! You'll never ever regret it.

 This blog was written by our Commercial Director, Chrissa Wadlow. To contact Chrissa, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Or leave a comment on the blog below.