Kaitlyn + Eric Prince's St. John Elopement and Lexington Wedding

From the Bride: When planning our wedding I wanted to be sure to include things that were special to us! We had a lot of out of town guests, so we wanted to share some of our favorite things from Kentucky and Tennessee (we live in Nashville now) with our guests in their welcome gift bag - this included Moon Pies, GooGoo Clusters, Ale 8, bourbon and moonshine! We are both big UK basketball fans, so instead of using traditional table numbers we used some iconic UK basketball players and their jersey number as table designations. We also mimicked our bridal party introductions after the 1990's Chicago bulls lineup introductions, our bridal party had so much fun with it! Our fur baby, Finn, was represented at our reception by having the bar and a signature cocktail named after him - it was a big hit! One of our groomsman created the graphic of him that was used on our bar menu- so talented! Eric and I are big wine drinkers and wanted a guest book that we would enjoy, rather than collect dust on a shelf somewhere, so we had our guests sign bottles of wine for us to enjoy on our anniversaries for years to come!

Our elopement was so special to us, but the thing we missed most was sharing that moment with our friends and family. It was important to me to make our guests feel connected to the elopement ceremony we had the year before, since we missed them so dearly. One of Eric’s favorite memories was seeing me for the first time during our "first look". For me, it was seeing his face when I walked down the aisle, it was a moment I will never forget. We forewent these traditions at our elopement so we could save these special moments for our "big" wedding. Our florist came up with some beautiful arrangements using tropical greenery and florals along with more traditional blooms to give our wedding the essence of being on a tropical island! We chose table linens to resemble the sand and water of the beach we were initially wed on. I used pictures of us from the elopement as decor as well so our guests would feel like they were a part of that ceremony too. Eric's father was our officiant at our elopement, and we asked him the share the same Bible reading at our ceremony with all our friends and family that he had shared with us when he married us last summer. Our caterer was able to incorporate a jerk chicken taco at one of our food stations, and we had a signature rum punch cocktail!

We used diffusers in our venue to distribute one of our favorite scents (White Tea & Sage) throughout the space. We used the same one that we use in our home all the time- it reminds us of being on a beach somewhere!

At the end of the night, while everyone was lining up for our sendoff we shared a "last dance", just the two of us. That moment, music, and embrace was one of my favorite moments from our wedding!

Photography: (Elopement) Savanah Loftus (KY Wedding) Becky Willard Photography | Videography: (KY) White Owl Weddings | Location: St. John USVI + Lexington | Venue: (Elopement) Hawksnest Beach, Virgin Islands National Park (KY Ceremony) First United Methodist Church (KY Reception) Limestone Hall | Florals: (Elopement) Sally’s Bouquet (KY Wedding) Emily Smith of Smith Co. Designs | Wedding Planner: (KY) Kaelyn Query of Lexington Event Co. | Caterer: Type A Catering | Cakes: Martine’s Pastries | Rentals: Canvas Event Furniture | Music: Kentucky Pro DJ | Transportation: Celebrity Limousine | Stationery + Paper Goods: Minted | Hair: Hailey Bennet of Hailey with the Good Hair | Makeup: Nikki Miner Makeup | Bride’s Attire: (Elopement) David’s Bridal (KY Wedding) More Lee from Bridal and Formal | Groom’s Attire: (Elopement) Ralph Lauren from Macy’s (KY Wedding) Men’s Wearhouse | Credits: (Bridesmaids’ Dresses) Hayley Paige from Kleinfeld Bridal, David’s Bridal, Azazie (Neon Sign) Wedding Neon from Etsy (Acrylic Place Cards) Yes to the Etch from Etsy (Bridal Shoes) Badgley Mischka (Bridal Jewelry) Kendra Scott (Bridesmaids’ Pajamas) Victoria’s Secret