Married by Sun, Sand and Sea ...in 2020

I don't know why I didn't write this earlier... But getting married to the love of my life deserves to be on my website! Believe it or not it happened this January, just before the world changed as we knew it and the global madness began to unfold. What a year!

My amazing husband, Danny, is Cuban, so of course we had to get married on the Varadero beach by the Atlantic Ocean, and funny enough not far from where we first met. It was perfection! A small intimate wedding surrounded by family and close friends. We are both very organized and wanted to keep things as simple as possible, so wedding planning was probably as low-stress as it can get. I think no matter what you do there will be some stress involved when planning an event such as your wedding. There will be factors beyond your control, and factors you would've never even thought would ever become stressful factors.. But thankfully Danny is a very relaxed man so planning with him was a pleasure! And I am so grateful that it happened before all the global lockdowns.. I really feel for all the people who had to postpone all their wedding plans.

As an artist I had to incorporate some of my own creations into my wedding, but I didn't want to overwhelm myself either so that I could still enjoy the process. I can become very meticulously detail oriented so getting too involved in the decor would have totally consumed me. I left the main decor to the resort decorators, I just chose the colours and really wanted local tropical florals, which turned out to be flowers I would have never guessed were local to Cuba (including carnations!). I added my custom made beach inspired dreamcatcher chandelier to the wedding arch, which was made with many special beads and shells that I have been collecting for many years and were waiting for the right creation. With such a gorgeous natural landscape that was all I really needed to do. Oh and I made my own shell and pearl jewelry too. These creations later inspired the ISLAND EMPRESS Collection which is similar to my ISLAND LOVE Collection but with a more elegant touch. My dress which I absolutely fell in love with at first sight was from a local Toronto boutique Aytac Fashion: afstyle.ca. It was extremely comfortable! So important. Luckily I didn't even have to look too long for it and it didn't break the bank.

Never would I have imagined during the course of my wedding and stay in Cuba in Januray that 2020 would be the year it became.. nobody would have. I'll try to keep my thoughts and opinions on the Corona situation to a minimum, all I will say is that I never watch or trust mainstream media, television, etc. Its even made me want to take a big step back off of social media. Its sad to see all the divisiveness that its causing due to the controversial matters and beleifs on the subject. But its really important to stay united, be kind to one another and try to be understanding and respectful as much as possible. And of course keep yourself healthy in the most natural ways! I do believe its an opportunity for people to awaken to certain matters of deception and to evolve as humanity towards a better future.

The hardest part has been the fact that the global restrictions have caused a long period between my visits with Danny, I cannot wait to be reunited again! My flight got cancelled 4 times! Finally hoping Westjet is set for November. I'm sure there are many people who have been separated from loved ones due to flight restrictions.

I met Danny on a very unplanned spontaneous trip to Cuba, it was my second time there, and meeting him was quite a magical unexpected surprise! He is everything I ever looked for in a man; sweet, kind, funny, intelligent, trustworthy, understanding, patient and super supportive. The only catch is unfortunately the long distance which can be hard, especially in 2020. When we met and the romance began to unfold it was a big YES from my soul, I was already at a point in my life when I truly relied on my intuition. When you enter a long distance relationship with someone from a country with a very different social/political situation (to put it lightly) you are definitely going to hear a lot of unsolicited advice and judgements. But I didn't care nor did I listen, I knew better. When I met Danny there were literally green flags, not a single red one. If you've seen the coloured flags on beaches letting you know if the water is safe or not you know what I am reffering to. I know watch for signs ;) Since he is a lifeguard its funny symbolism which I truly appreciated.

So I share all this for a few reasons; to talk about love, hope, art, adventure, trust, life and mystery... Who knows whats next in this crazy world but I hope we can all help to make it a little less crazy and a lot more loving and beautiful <3