Wedding Interviews

You can't hurry love

St Lucia Wedding Photographer

The Wedding Photography of Rosalie Heligar and Jean Luc De Percin was a sweet reward at the end of a twenty-year courtship to rival any soap opera.
44-year-old Jean Luc, who works with a fertilizer company, lives in Martinique. Rosalie, 41, is the Guest Services Manager at a hotel in St. Martin.
The two met two decades ago in Martinique. “I was pregnant,” Rosalie explains. “When I gave birth he was there.” Then inexplicably, “I decided to leave. He never knew and he looked for me.” For years, he kept asking her whereabouts from her sister Clara, who still lived in Martinique.
They both went on with their lives. Jean Luc had a son, Rosalie married and also had children. But the chemistry endured.
Years later Rosalie began searching for Jean Luc via her sister to his best friend. He never got those messages. She then took a more direct route. “My sister knew that he was asking for me all the time, so we surprised him.”
“I was just being polite,” says Jean Luc, who went over expecting to do Clara a favour but instead found Rosalie. She says, “When he came in and saw me on the couch, he was quite amazed!”
It was eighteen years later, but it was as if they’d seen each other the day before. “”It was not hard for us because we knew each other from such a long time. It was a comfortable and a good moment. From there we decided this is it. He promised to call me every day. And he did.”
They commuted between Martinique and St. Martin, seeing each other on just a few drama-filled occasions. They were both in relationships, Rosalie’s was problematic and coming to an end, Jean Luc’s was not serious. He says, “It was the perfect time.” Still’ it was not smooth going.
In April 2010, while spending his birthday in St. Martin, Jean Luc dropped a surprise proposal. Rosalie was taken aback for only a moment and surprised Jean Luc by saying yes.
Their engagement only brought more drama says Rosalie. “When people see two people together they want to get in between. So many different things came into play, there was a lot of chaos we had to deal with.” Depressed, she called off the August wedding. When she was ready to go ahead however, Jean Luc felt he was not ready.
“He expected me to beg him to stay but I didn’t do that.”
A rough patch followed with many late night recriminations in phone calls and texts back and forth. Rosalie decided it was over but Jean Luc persisted, showing a willingness to change, and handling every challenge she put at his feet, and again asking her to marry him. “I said yes, you passed the test.”
Jean Luc and Rosalie finally pledged their love in the quiet legal ceremony in Martinique. The Wedding Photography was captured in all its simple glory by St Lucia Wedding Photographer, Bill Mortley, who came highly recommended by a friend from St Lucia, Jessica Remy who lived in St. Martin.

Jean Luc and Rosalie were happily saved any drama there, with even family and friends complementing Bill’s work. “They were quite amazed,” reveals Rosalie, “you’ll get referrals from us for sure.”
The happily wed couple plan a more lavish bash later but are happy to have cleared the most important hurdle, to prove as Rosalie pledges, “Really and truly, this is the last man for me”, St Lucia Wedding Photographer, Bill Mortley is scheduled to photograph the church ceremony in St. Martin early 2012.

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ON A GUMMY AND A PRAYER

Wedding Photography

Etajh and Zayne Johnson’s Wedding Photography may have lacked the drama normally associated with the day but for them it was exactly as it should be. “What made our wedding so special was that it was so intimate,” says Zayne.

“There was nobody there we didn’t know. The most important thing was having family there. Family and close friends.”
Officiating was Pastor Charles, also known to Zayne and her family from her church, Castries SDA.

The young bride, turned 24 the day before her July 4th wedding, making it easy, says her husband Etajh, to remember the wedding date. Zayne is a recent graduate of the University of the Southern Caribbean (USC), where she met Etajh. Also 24, he is an interim pastor in St. Maarten and works with the North Caribbean Conference of Seventh Day Adventists. Etajh graduated a year before Zayne but they had already formed a strong bond.
“The very first time I saw Zayne was on the steps of my dorm… looking lost. She was a freshman and I had been there before. First time I spoke to her? She was walking from the library to the female dorm and I said hi.” Etajh says there was a mutual interest in each others unusual names; Zayne doesn’t remember the encounter.
She agrees that their friendship sparked a week later when he saw her reading under a tree. “The first time I remember Etajh I was lying under that tree feeling homesick. I didn’t have anybody I was close to so I was hanging out by myself. He came over and said hi.”
Their friendship blossomed through the drama club, where Zayne says “We used to tease each other constantly. I didn’t realize it used to get to him.”
Friendship turned more serious months later in January. “He called me across campus and handed me this map with an X marking the spot. It was actually his back pocket and he gave me these gummies; I really like gummies…I still have that map..”
“He told me that he liked me and I was a little nervous about that.” On Valentine’s night Etajh presented Zayne with his labour of love, a chocolate cake he had baked. Zayne acknowledges, “The kitchens aren’t that great, so for a guy to bake is a pretty big deal.” But she still wasn’t all sweetened up.
Etajh continued to prove himself and at a missionary camp together in Tobago, Zayne finally sent a text that she wanted to get to know him better.
“I went through a depressing time at the end of the last semester and Etajh was there when I was crying my eyes out; comforting me. That really sealed it.”
While Etajh laments, “That took a while you know, that took a while,” he always knew she was worth it. “Zayne is not the average USC girl.”
His graduation meant time apart as he went back home, and lots of ups and downs as they spent whatever free time they could between their families in Saint Lucia and St Maarten. After Zayne spent Christmas and New Years with his family, Etajh says, “I did a lot of thinking and weighing the balances; a lot of prayer too.”
Zayne too, had some serious thoughts. “I knew he was the man I wanted to marry but I was still being cautious. By this year January I knew there was no turning back.”
Etajh again chose around Valentines to take the next big step. With neither of them big on the traditional engagement ring he had to find a meaningful replacement. With the help of friends he surprised Zayne with a gift of laptop (this was their major source of communication but hers had broken), and of course, gummies.
Etajh did propose on bended knee, reciting a self-penned poem under a clear evening sky. Zayne couldn’t help but cry, though she said, “When he asked, there was no doubt.”

Both families, whose permission Etajh had sought even before asking Zayne, also approved of the engagement. There was loving excitement but also solid advice, says Zayne. “Make sure God is the first part of the relationship. Pray about it. My mom told me don’t get married because you feel sorry for the person or because it’s convenient; make sure we love each other. That’s the only way it can last through tough times.”
Their parents also jumped in to plan the wedding. “Our parents did so much for us. They were so willing to sacrifice, it was amazing!”
One of things the couple took charge of, was selecting a wedding photographer. Zayne, visited, Bill Mortley’s website and was captivated with the unusual angles and the natural settings he chose for his photos. Etajh was also impressed by the photos and agreed that Bill should capture the uniqueness of their special day.
That singularity was also displayed in Zayne’s choice of dress. It reflected her sense of simplicity as well as her husband’s influences as Etajh requested one addition, a big bow, on his “gift from God”. As he faced the mirror that morning, Etajh’s thoughts were on the significance of “the last suit I will wear as a single man and the first suit I will wear as a married man.”
He also pondered the changes to his life and his ministry and God’s role in their life thus far. Zayne’s focus was on beginning their lives by exceeding Etajh’s expectations.
As each Wedding Photography shows in creative clarity, Bill Mortley was also able to exceed their expectations.

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Surprise!!! We're Getting Married! In St Lucia!!!

It was sandy breezes, sunny seas and a lover’s seal, as soul mates John Jones and Karen Hardy tied the knot. It was not the traditional Wedding Photography but after all says Paul, “It’s not about family, it’s about two people.”

These two share a five-year connection that began with friendship. Manager of an auto repair centre in Darlington, south of Newcastle, they met when John was the head of an auto repair department in the car company where Karen was a sales agent. They became friends, not imagining the breakdown of their marriages would one day lead to a new relationship.

Their friendship dissolved along with the company but the two reunited over coffee in 2008 after a cold and lonely New Years when they both were going through divorces. After a few odd jobs on the divorcee’s apartment, John says a “cunning” Karen rewarded him with a meal and “She got me drunk so I couldn’t drive home. That was the start of our relationship.”

From helping each other through their rough separations, they eventually moved in together but John and Karen were in no rush to the altar.

But Karen’s ingenuity again came into play. After approving Karen’s choice of the delightful Almond Smugglers Cove for their 2009 vacation, John was informed that (surprise!) Karen had booked the Wedding Photography package as well! “After she picked me up off the floor that was it. It was very quick and impulsive.”

There are hardly any surprises between the two though. They say it’s uncanny how in tune they are, from anticipating each other’s calls to planning the same meals. Their wedding morning proved it again as John and Karen presented each other with identical wedding cards bought separately in secret and weeks apart.

This was just one more cherry on their delicious wedding cocktail. “It’s more than my, expectations,” says Karen. “It’s a very, very beautiful place. I love the flowers. It’s so peaceful and everyone has made us feel so welcome.” John adds,

“The wedding coordinator (Lorna)
has been very, very good, nothing’s been too much trouble. The food is very high quality and the presentation is beautiful.”

Bill Mortley, who the couple found through TripAdvisor, was among the many people who set them at ease, says Karen.

“I find Bill’s work very good, very…picky is a word I’d use. The quality is superb. The website is very good because not a lot of people are interested in the detail of who they are photographing. I would highly recommend anybody to come to St. Lucia and don’t just go for a hotel photographer. I am going back home and I will put it in bold capital letters.”

As Karen vows, “I’d come back again”, John is in sync as he also promises, “I’d definitely come back again!”

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Courtney and Jennifer Feeling very Hot, Hot, Hot!!

For Courtney Ian Roger Oakley and Jennifer Efani Majumazia, a “hot” Wedding Photography in Saint Lucia was an easy choice. “It’s a dream destination; just being a place that is known to be luxurious. Saint Lucia is known for doing weddings. It’s every girl dream… if you want something nice, cosy, luxurious,” says Jennifer. Getting married in a gazebo with the lush vegetation and radiance of the tropics, Jennifer says, “it wouldn’t be the same at home.” That was only part of the many, many, many factors that made the couple choose a destination wedding.
The only heat from their dream wedding came from the tropical climate, as Courtney explained, “She has quite a lot of family and friends that would have made it extremely difficult to do a wedding without a lot of fuss and extreme expense because we couldn’t invite everybody.”
Family and friends of both bride and groom were able to break the ice in Saint Lucia for the special occasion that culminated a meeting on a train. From helping Jennifer, a Virgin Atlantic employee, to carry her bags to carrying her over the threshold; Courtney, a chief architect of government computer systems, has shown he knows how to court a lady.

With each other’s support the newlyweds are taking their newly married status in stride. “It’s just a normal progression,” says Jennifer. When Courtney jokes that, “I don’t feel any different, like I’m an alien or anything,” she teases back, “Maybe that will happen… with time you’ll feel differently, yea?”
They did feel a little more relaxed after the Wedding Photography though, as they had a bit of running around to ensure everything was in keeping with their expectations. “We read on the Internet that Saint Lucia is the #1 spot for weddings,” says Courtney, who was looking forward to enjoying Saint Lucia’s wonderful ocean and coastal views with a scenic boat trip after their big date. Jennifer adds, “We thought the people would be experienced because they’re used to doing it. So the small touches would be done and extra touches. That’s why it’s special, more than they would offer in the U.K.”
Definitely adding a distinct and special touch to the wedding was photographer Bill Mortley, whom the couple found through Trip Advisor.”You can get quite addictive when you’re preparing for a wedding, every few days you’re checking and making notes,” says Jennifer. “You had great reviews! I was looking for the bad ones because I wanted to see what else is there.” Although the reviews for some hotels were not all rosy, she was surprised that for Bill Mortley Photography, “There were none at all!” As these wedding photos show, that was with good reason.

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