A Fiji wedding is an escape.  And Jessie and Virgil escaped from the entire rule book.  They opted to have an intimate wedding ceremony just the two of them, and leave the family and friends behind to welcome them home with a rockin reception for the New Mr. and Mrs.  The two traveled together by planes, trains boats, and automobiles to arrive to the white sand paradise, Beqa Lagoon Resort.  They took a chance to ditch the ordinary and walked away having had a destination wedding people only dream about.  It was just the two of them and that was all they needed.

 

 

 

While I was with Jess, Stuart was with Virgil.  And I just love these shots he got of Virgil getting ready.

 

 

 

 

I absolutely LOVE when a bride and groom decide to do a “First Look” and see each other before the ceremony.  It allows them to have such a beautiful moment together without the eyes of all who are in attendance on them.  It’s perfect.  Here she comes to meet her man.  Jess, You are Gorgeous!

 

 

 

I love Virgil’s reaction to seeing Jessie for the first time in her wedding dress!  That is a look of pure JOY, just knowing that beautiful woman standing there in front of him will be his wife before the sun sets!

 

 

 

This quite possibly may be my favorite photo from the entire day.  Such beautiful raw emotion in this embrace.

 

 

Although all of the other guests at this resort wanted to see the happy couple tie the knot, Jessie and Virgil decided to keep it very personal and had the ceremony in the private yard of their beachfront bure.  They wanted this to be an intimate occasion and that was the reason for having a far off destination wedding in Fiji.  As you can see, it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day!

 

 

I love these next two photos that Stuart got of their first kiss!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hadn’t planned on doing a trash the dress session (after all Jessie still needed to wear this dress back home at their reception) but she couldn’t resist taking a few steps into the beautifully refreshing Fiji water!

 

Jess & Virgil,

It was such a pleasure for us to meet you!  We enjoyed every minute we spent getting to know such amazing people such as yourselves!  Virgil I’m glad you got your surf in, and Jess you’re a good woman to support that on your honeymoon…  besides, it got you guys to our side of the island so we could hang out and have dinner together, so I couldn’t have been more thrilled!  All the best to you in your new life as husband and wife!  Thank You for allowing Stuart and I the opportunity to be your wedding photographers!

 

~Malia xoxo