WEDDING IDEAS

The bride created shell boutonnieres for all of the male guests. She packaged them in chocolate-brown, hand-painted boxes that she tied with raffia and accented with a green silk orchid.

When it came to the wedding style, Tiffany and Gene kept it fun, colorful, and, of course, tropical. “We weren’t looking for anything specific,” the bride says. “If we found something we loved, we bought it; in the end, it all came together beautifully.”

Tiffany and Gene married in a bure, a traditional Fijian bungalow with a thatched roof, just steps from the beach. The pillars were wrapped in palm fronds and tropical blooms, as were the two arches they passed beneath to reach the bure.

Tiffany and Gene’s guests enjoyed a traditional Fijian Lovo feast for dinner. “Everything is wrapped in banana leaves or palm fronds, and then is buried underground and cooked by hot rocks.” Tiffany explains.

Tiffany’s daughter, Taylor, was the flower girl and carried a metal bucket tied with raffia and filled with tropical flowers. The couple chose their son, Zane, to be the ring bearer, but he fell asleep just before the ceremony began and napped through the entire affair!

Following the ceremony, the newlyweds were escorted back to the bili-bili (a traditional Fijian raft) that carried them across the bay to the end of the dock. “Our choir followed us along the beach singing the entire time,” Tiffany says. Their families met them on the dock for a champagne toast.

Tiffany and her daughter, Taylor, arrived at the ceremony on a bili-bili, a traditional Fijian raft decorated with palm fronds and tropical flowers. Gene and the couple’s son, Zane, were waiting for them on the beach, having been escorted there by Fijians in warrior garb blowing conch shells.

For her bouquet, Tiffany’s only request was that the flowers be “colorful and tropical.” Luckily, when you’re getting married in Fiji, that’s exactly what’s available. “They just used flowers that grew around the resort,” she says.

For the female guests, Tiffany purchased silk handkerchiefs and crocheted the edges herself using silk thread. She boxed them up with raffia and a pink silk orchid.

“We chose Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort for numerous reasons,” Tiffany recalls. “The main reason was that it would be a place where both the kids and the adults could enjoy themselves. We were looking for something that included meals and activities; it also had to be luxurious, fun, and away from it all.”

Lanterns lit the dock and the table where Tiffany and Gene enjoyed a reception dinner with their families. Other than that, Tiffany says, “We didn’t do any special decorating for the reception.”

Tiffany & Gene in Vanua Levu, Fiji

Photos By: Doug and Chenin Boutwell, Boutwell Studio, Ladera Ranch, CA

Tiffany Carl and Gene Leon-Guerrero first met when their best friends started dating, but at the time, sparks didn’t fly. Years later, they reconnected; they eventually moved in together and started a family -- all that was missing was the ring. Then, on Valentine’s Day, Gene proposed.

The Bride Tiffany Carl, 29, homemaker
The Groom Gene Leon-Guerrero, 34, engineer
The Date July 7

For the wedding, the couple hosted an intimate destination wedding in Fiji with just nine guests. Tiffany and Gene chose the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort both for what it had -- fun activities for the adults and kids in a beautiful setting -- and for what it didn’t have -- phones and televisions. After choosing the site, their part of the planning was almost complete. “We opted to do a very intimate destination wedding where everything would be done for us,” Tiffany explains. “Literally, all we had to do was show up with our clothes.”