Mar 3

Mar 3 A Tale of Two Islands | The St. Barths and St. Thomas Wedding Planner

DESTINATION WEDDING, ST. BARTHS, WEDDING PLANNER, ST. THOMAS

St. Thomas and St. Barths — these islands are really, well, my life. I have been living in and around the ocean for 20 plus years.

When I am in a place not surrounded by water, at about the three week mark I start dreaming about the ocean. It really is what moves me. I have been able to truly discover the amazing worlds above and below the water.

Image: Phillip Van Nostrand. Florals: East End Flower Shop. Hair: Expressions VI

There is a long, and much unknown, history between St. Barths and St. Thomas; they share deep family histories. On St. Barths, the local people are known as ‘true locals’ or the ‘local French people’. They are multi-generational French settlers who arrived on St. Barths centuries ago. On St. Thomas, this community is known as Frenchies. There are two subsets: the Frenchtown Frenchies (made up of fisherman) and the Northside Frenchies (the agricultural farmers) based on the Northside of St. Thomas.

Image: Pinterest. Frenchtown, St. Thomas

Here is a little information from Wikipedia:

On 19 March 1946, the people of the island became French citizens with full rights.[8] With few economic prospects on the islands, many men from St. Barthélemy took jobs on Saint Thomas to support their families.[11] Organized tourism and hotels began in earnest in the 1960s and developed in the 1970s onwards, particularly after the building of the island's landing strip that can accommodate mid-sized aircraft.[11]

The islands are close but very different. There are small hopper flights from St. Thomas to St.Barths (a 40-minute flight). You can fly on Tradewinds down to St. Barths every Thursday during season or take a 50-minute flight from Puerto Rico 5 times a day.

I love running into and carrying messages back and forth from family to family. I can be a communication mule sometimes! I am super grateful that this is part of my new venture. I love the strong communities on both of the islands. They have a deep history, they are fiercely protective of each other and their culture.

During the Festive times on St. Barths, they have what is known as the ‘Christmas truck’. It rides around the island playing scratch band music and serving drinks. It is the original island version of a mobile party. On St.Thomas a similar thing occurs; families load up in trucks and go from house to house drinking guava berry rum singing old French songs.

Island life is not an easy life. You get the good with the bad. What these islands have is a deep history of survival. Many times urging us to celebrate our most beautiful assets: history, nature, and community. I appreciate all that is given and all that is taken away. It is all temporary and therefore more beautiful. We see that we are in a position to bask in the history as well as what is coming. In the coming year, when all this is over the forecast looks like a BIG CELEBRATION! Get your PARTY frock on and let’s DO THIS!

XX,