We love the beautiful islands of Samoa, especially when it is freezing cold in New Zealand. And we equally love helping our clients live their best life when it comes to getting married in the South Pacific. Having a destination wedding can have its difficulties.

When our lovely couple Carmel & Alapati sent us an email with "S.O.S lol" as the subject line, only two months shy of their wedding date, we knew we had to help them bring their dream wedding to life and quickly.

 

"Hey Hun,

Ok I’ve seen you work miracles with a wedding recently where you had a really short time frame... (You planned a wedding in 5 days?!) 
 
I’m hoping you’ll be able to do the same with ours, LMFAO! Recently, I’ve just been really unmotivated and Paki is freaking out because he wants “his” wedding to be on point and I’m just too casual - lol. I’m like yeah whatever... Unphased - lol.

So, now I’m calling on you, the experts, and hoping you can take over because he’s going away on a two-month tour, and I don’t even wanna come home yet, LMFAO! The good thing is, he’ll be in Samoa this coming Friday, so if you need him to do any running around while over there - I’ll make sure he does.
 
But yeah, please let me know if you’re able to salvage this wedding - lol, and I can give you a run-down on what I’ve done so far (or haven’t)! Anyways, I hope you’re all good Hun, and hopefully, catch up when I come back!

Carmel Xx"
 

 

 

Carmel & Alapati were such a cool, relaxed couple. You could tell they really loved each other and just wanted to have the best day ever with their family and friends who had flown from all around the world to be with them on their special day. Based in Bristol, United Kingdom, our couple were getting married in Apia, Samoa. Parts of their heart lay in Samoa, so it was the perfect location for their upcoming nuptials.


Logistics was always going to be a major factor for this couple to create the perfect destination wedding. Carmel & Alapati had now just realised how hard this wedding planning thing was becoming. Time was running out and they lived in a different time zone to their wedding. We are so glad they got in touch with us! We had an awesome time working with them to create their very own premiere wedding experience.

 

Together, with the couple and a team of handpicked local vendors - we designed and coordinated a dream day for our couple in Apia, Samoa. Their wedding ceremony was set at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Mt. Vaea and the famous Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, Apia, Samoa is where a brand new, 40 metre, clear marquee was installed by Naydiths Event Hire for Carmel & Alapati's wedding reception with over 200 seated guests. This was a big wedding by New Zealand standards, borderline "big" by Samoa standards and "perhaps, let's not let it get any bigger" by Wedding She Wrote standards.

 

"We felt safe. We were always making the final decisions but at the same time we trusted our planners and knew they always had our best interest."

 

"It’s a necessity! Couldn’t have done it without them." 

 

Their candlelit dinner setting lay under a glowing chandelier and over 100 meters of low hanging festoon lighting. There was a mixture of long and round tables, with each shape taking on a table setting of its own. The round tables were set with simple greenery, clear tiffany chairs, floating candles in a cluster of tall glass cylinder vases, on a white table cloth with gold accents. The long tables were set with a garland of white flowers and lush greenery across it, scattered with candles, on white table cloth with brown tiffany chairs and gold accents. We combined a mixture of settings for their wedding reception so their 24 guest tables weren't one dimensional and wedding guests could also admire the other table settings while making their way to the custom flower wall across the dance floor for a selfie or en route to the bar while getting jiggy wit' it to the live band Ozki.

 

When planning a destination wedding, you need to remember you are now dealing in different sorts of environments; where different standards of practice are now accepted, i.e. Island time, style. As a destination wedding planner, it is our job to keep everyone (involved in your wedding planning) on the same page right up to their cue on the day, be culturally aware of our surroundings and maintain the same standard of quality that was set at the start throughout. 

 

"Leave all the stress to the planners and you focus on having the best day of your life." 

 

Overall, our clients' wedding was a huge success! The groom plays for the Manu Samoa, and soon enough all of the international rugby players were topless performing the Siva Tau (Samoan war dance) - and that's how you know it was a great night by their standards. Haha.

 

Read their testimonial below for yourself... 

 

"Wedding planners are something you see in movies, but I can assure you they’re a necessity. We haven’t been to many weddings so it was all quite new to us.

We originally tried planning it ourselves but as time went on we were too far behind and the stress levels were building. So it was time to call on the professionals. I found Wedding She Wrote on Twitter as they were featured in a Magazine, I had read!

From there I briefed Teuila on how I was contemplating postponing the wedding and give her a rundown on what I had done so far and was pretty much hoping for a miracle as we were only a few months shy of our wedding date.

We gave her ideas of what we wanted and she exceeded our expectations. She created and brought to life our vision and more. She was very professional and easy to work with. Always available no matter the time of day.

We can honestly say we couldn’t have had this day without her and her team. From the get-go, she was very thorough and made sure everyone was on the same page. She kept us in the loop about everything and we always had the final say. She took a whole heap of stress off us, it’s probably why we were able to enjoy the day so much.

Thank you Teuila and Teresa, you guys have been such a blessing to us. You two have made the biggest day of our lives, the best day ever!"

This wedding again highlighted the different standards we have coming from a more westernised society, when it comes to organising a premiere wedding experience for our customers, in a more relaxed island environment such as the Pacific Islands... If there is one piece of take-home advice we would give to future brides and grooms wanting to get married in the South Pacific it would be "anything can happen, stay ready." Or better yet, hire professionals (like us!) to "stay ready" for you, and we will have all of your bases covered.

 

 

   

Special thanks to: Wedding Planner: Wedding She Wrote | Wedding Styling: Wedding She Wrote | Wedding Reception Location: Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, Apia, Samoa | Clear Marquee, Tables, Chairs, Staging, Lighting Hire + much more: Naydiths Event Hire | Photography: Alexia Rae Weddings | Videography: Coconut Motion | Flowers, Custom Flower Wall, LOVE light letters: Salote Florist| Cakes: Carolines Kitchen | Bridesmaid Dresses: Tasha Lee Couture | Custom Signage: The Fox in Flora | Live Band: Ozki Band