photograph of her great-aunt who went to be with the angels over a year ago. Honestly, the creativity of some people! Am totes stealing that idea if I ever scare up a husband. If I do, I pray he’s tall, dark, loaded, and looks at me like I hung the moon…which, I should tell you, is exactly the doctor this bride married. I might have to hate her. Oh, and the ring bearer was the doctor’s son, a future rocket scientist named Evan who brought his dog and stole the show.
And did I mention the food? I certainly did last year. The kitchen was definitely where the place fell short on my previous visit, but now they have a chef de cuisine (with a to-die-for English accent—tally ho, my lord!) who is married to the organic gardener, offering the all-important “farm to table” experience for the healthy elitists among you. (I know there are plenty!!)
Can I please coo about these two for a moment? Madly in love and running after a matched set of totally adorbs five-year-olds and growing another in their personal garden of Eden. They divide and conquer with the wee boy following Daddy about in the kitchen, nattering about tomahtoes and potahtoes (he’s picked up his old man’s pronunciations). The girlie hangs with her mom, riding shotgun on a tractor and making it look like so much fun, I almost wanted to go all country and redneck and shit.
Then that passed.
So, am I recommending Casa Blanca at Barefoot Bay for your destination wedding? Only if you want perfection on a platter. The atmosphere is elegant, but not ostentatious. The location is tropical, but not tasteless. The food is fantastic, the villas are romantic, the people are precious, and love is in the air.
And here’s the best part—there’s now an on-site wedding planning company called “Barefoot Brides.” Clever girls! And these aren’t your plain vanilla planners, friends. These ladies are former board members of AABC, so they know their business and their business is getting a bride down the aisle in style.
Arielle handles decor, Gussie will dress you fine, and Willow feeds the hungry guests. I know you’ll love them.
Full disclosure: these planners are (drinking) buddies of mine. I’ve followed them around the country as they visited resorts to recommend to their colleagues and I know a little bit about how they work. Their standards are as high as the bar tab when I’m in tow. So high that I understand they’ve made some kind of pact to never get married. You know what they say—always a wedding planner, never a bride.
What? They don’t say that? Well, let’s see what happens next in Barefoot Bay, hmm? I understand you can’t help but kick off your shoes and fall in love. (Oh, shut up. They paid me to slip in the slogan.)
Vow to be happy!
Vix
Roxanne St. Claire is a RITA® Award–winning author of more than thirty novels, including her bestselling Bullet Catchers and Guardian Angelinos series. Her critically acclaimed books have been published in numerous languages and recognized with multiple awards, including the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, the Booksellers’ Best Award, and the Borders Top Pick for Romance. She currently lives on the east coast of Florida with her husband and two teenagers.
You can learn more at:
RoxanneStClaire.com
Twitter @roxannestclaire
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