Paradise.

Ending the month of April with a bang — Cori’s and Mark’s wedding is filled with wonders and smiles. This destination wedding is honestly a dream for everyone. Lastly, #LisSimonBride Cori is absolutely rocking her Leone dress — she killed it!

T H E L O V E S T O R Y

(As told by Mark)

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Cori. It was sometime around the end of 2013. Remember those times when we used to have in-person meetings in a conference room? There were about 20 dudes in our weekly Construction Meeting and here comes this beautiful, classy, brunette—with her glasses on—handing our documents for us to sign. With wide eyes, I mounted to my boss across the table, “WHO IS THAT?!”

I didn’t get much information that day, other than her first name and that she was the new Design Coordinator. The highlight of my week for months was when she would come around and ask for my signature on a piece of paper. There weren’t many words exchanged beyond “hi and “thank you” but I looked forward that conversation every week.

I must confess: I didn’t have the courage to make the first move past cordiality… thankfully she did! The more and more I got to know Cori, the more special I realized she was. We’ve been best friends for a long time, and I thank God every day that we have found ourselves on the brink of forever.

T H E P R O P O S A L

08. 02. 2020

In August 2020, Cori and Mark got engaged in Ocean City, MD (Cori’s hometown). It was a magical day on the water with Mary (Cori’s mom) and Mark (Cori’s stepdad) on their boat through the waters of the Sinepuxent Bay. As the day unfolded, they found themselves anchored up on The Wedge, followed by a surprise proposal on the Assateague Jetty (Cori’s favourite place in the world).

A little background about the jetty: Cori’s dad passed away in a tragic accident when she was 15. When I was a little girl, my parents and I used to pull up our boat (you can only get there by boat) on Assateague and walk down to the jetty. There was a little “cave” at the end of the jetty where you could carefully climb beneath the rocks and listen to the echoes of the waves crash all around you.

“Mark knew this was one of my favourite childhood memories with my dad. So, when Mark got down on one knee, it took me awhile to collect myself before saying, “YES!” It was truly a magical day.”

T H E D R E S S

“Amazing. Sarah Dryden made it so easy.” Going into the first bridal appointment, Cori knew she wanted a simple gown with clean lines and very little ornamentation, if any. Sarah helped her design a custom gown on her first visit. “I left that day with confidence that she understood my vision”. When Cori tried the dress on for the first time, it was even more beautiful than she had imagined. “It truly was the perfect dress. I instantly brought tears to my eyes.”

D E S T I N A T I O N W E D D I N G

11. 13. 2021

Oil Nut Bay, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands (BVIs)

The couple flew to Beef Island, Tortola on a Wednesday. When they arrived at the airport, they got a water taxi over to Scrub Island to check in with Dream Yacht Charters (we rented a 52 Lagoon catamaran for the length of our stay in the BVIs). That evening, they loaded their provisions, ate dinner at the resort, and slept onboard. On Thursday, they made a quick stop at Saba Rock for lunch and then headed to Oil Nut Bay to get checked into their villa. They were greeted with welcome drinks (we were treated like royalty our entire stay) and took them on a tour of their villa so they could get acquainted with everything. That evening, the couple hung out by their private pool and had two sushi boats delivered to their villa. On Friday morning, their photographers arrived. Mark and Cori did a styled shoot for a few hours at the resort while their families relaxed at the Beach Club pool bar. Friday evening, they had a quick rehearsal at the villa and hosted the rehearsal dinner at Nova. “We did a Mexican themed meal (because it’s our favourite cuisine)”.

“Saturday morning was the big day! We woke up to the most beautiful sunrise and finished writing our vows”. Cori and her best friend, Megan, took a golf cart to the resort gym and got iced coffee at their coffee shop. The boys all went to breakfast at the Beach Club and the girls had champagne and small bites delivered to the villa so they could start getting ready. “Mark and I shared our vows around 1pm and the ceremony started promptly at 3pm”. At 4pm, they went on a sunset sail on the catamaran, and by 6pm, they were back at the villa for dinner and dancing. The couple chose to make a vacation out of their wedding and sail the BVI’s for an additional 4 nights, after their stay at Oil Nut Bay. On Sunday morning, they went to Anegada for two nights; Tuesday, they sailed to Jost Van Dyke, and on Wednesday, they completed their sailing excursion at Cooper Island.

Highlights from your wedding day

Although they had a small guest count, they still continued with a traditional ceremony and reception. “My husband laughed when I first suggested a DJ; but it was hands down the most fun night we have ever shared with our families”. For Cori, the sunset sail with their family, and the tribute to her father, when they spread his ashes at sea, was the “most special and unique elements” of their wedding.

“However, if we had to pinpoint one memory from our special day, I think our reception was our favourite part. We both LOVE to dance, and it was evident that everyone was living their best lives!”

How did you find your vendors?

We chose Oil Nut Bay to host our wedding, because it was one of the most beautiful places that we visited on our sailing trip in 2019. It’s truly a slice of heaven. We were instantly blown away by the beauty of the resort. Besides location, there were two things that were incredibly important to my husband and I: our florals for the ceremony and our photographer. While there is certainly local talent in the BVIs, I had a particular vision in mind, and I wanted to handpick all our vendors (all of our research was done online).

We chose a florist in the US Virgin Islands, Roses Too, and I quickly learned that there were a lot of moving parts associated with sourcing flowers from outside of the BVIs, especially during COVID-19. The restrictions at the time made it nearly impossible for Jessica Aubain to travel for set-up, so she agreed to pre-assemble everything and FaceTime my wedding coordinator at Oil Nut Bay to finalize the placement of all the arrangements. Our wedding florals were simply a dream come true.

Locking in a photographer was also tad stressful. Again, with the COVID-19 restrictions at the time, it was hard to find photographers that were willing to travel. After weeks of research, we ended up hiring a destination wedding photographer out of Tampa, Florida. And let me tell you, if you’re still searching for a photographer for your destination wedding, do yourself a favor and stop looking. Reagan IS your girl. She captures authentic emotions in every single photo and has a unique editing style that I instantly fell in love with.