Sarah & Brandon (Plantation)

Sarah and Brandon were living a hectic life when they got engaged and decided to start planning their destination wedding in St Lucia, but knowing this they gave themselves a two-year time span in which to work out all the details. The venue they fell in love with was the Historical Sugar Mill and even though they had decided on accommodation right in the south of the island, they were so sure this was the venue for them that they were prepared to spend three hours on the road on their wedding day getting there and back from their resort.

Sadly, just five months before their wedding this historical venue suffered a catastrophic fire and was razed to the ground. It was a blow for everyone and a lot of historical data was lost that day. Sarah and Brandon were inconsolable at the thought of not being able to get married there and we searched around for a while looking at alternatives that just didn’t resonate as well.

We continued looking and came up with an alternative that they absolutely loved! The historical plantation with the waterwheel and ruins had exactly the same feel as their original choice of venue and the added bonus is that it was just a 30-minute journey by road from their resort. Sarah was understandably still a bit nervous about the change of venue, so we agreed that when they arrived on island I would take her and her mom to see the venue and decide exactly where they would have the ceremony.

We continued planning for Sarah and Brandon’s wedding at this beautiful new venue and finally the time came when they arrived in St Lucia. We met on the Monday morning to complete the legalities to apply for their license and then headed on out to the venue. Sarah was enchanted the moment we drove up the driveway to the old plantation house. We explored the grounds, the ruins and the waterwheel. Because of the group size and the space by the waterwheel Sarah decided to have the ceremony under the massive Banyan tree on the lawns and then just she and Bandon would head down to the ruins for their photos together.

The wedding setup was kept simple, with the tree as the focal point, and purple and pink petals lead the way down the aisle to the ceremony area. The bridesmaids were in purple and lavender and the flower girls and ring bearer’s outfits had lavender and purple elements to match Sarah’s bouquet. Once the ceremony was over, the couple explored the ruins and waterwheel together with the photographer for some totally awesome portraits together. As the sun began to set everyone was taken back to their resort for their celebratory reception.

A magical setting for a lovely young couple enamoured by the vestiges of times passed.