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real weddings
Elizabeth Rayford & Phillip Bossier
ISLAND MAGIC, SOUTHERN STYLE MAMORA BAY, ANTIGUA
Photos by Brandon O’Neal Photography
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hat do bow ties, umbrellas, a bulldog and the Caribbean isle of Antigua have in common? They all figured prominently in the wedding of Elizabeth
“Lizzy” Rayford and Phillip Bossier. The couple from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, met in high school and fell in love at Louisiana State University. She, 28, is political director for the fundraising Bautsch Group and he, 30, is COO of Diamond B Construction. As a child, Lizzy spent holidays at the home of her paternal grandmother, Iris, at the St. James’s Club & Villas on Antigua. For her, holding a destination wedding at the resort was “a no-brainer,” she says. Personal details and a love for the island influenced every aspect of the wedding, starting with a drawing of the couple’s beloved bulldog, Leroy, on the save-the-dates. For the formal invites, their graphics reflected the history of Antigua; and the 125 guests arrived to find welcome gifts of all-Antiguan products along with a booklet detailing events over the next four days. Those events included a lively meet-and-greet at Iris’s house; a rehearsal dinner, live entertainment and dancing on the beach; and a trip to Shirley Heights Lookout for barbecue, rum punch and dancing to local bands. The centerpiece event took place at 6:30 p.m., October 26, 2013, on the resort’s dock. White tents sheltered guests from the sun and ocean breeze; a string quartet played the classics; and a close friend, Gentry Mangun, led the vows in front of the Mamora Bay Gazebo. The proceedings drew quite a crowd on the beach. “I grew up there, coming every summer,” Lizzy says, “so many of the staff and islanders felt as if I was family. It was truly an experience of a lifetime.” The same warm friends-and-family feeling pervaded the reception. Held at English Harbour’s Copper & Lumber Store Hotel (a former warehouse built in 1783), the celebration combined the colonial flavor of Nelson’s Dockyard with Louisiana style and flair. The wedding party—all gentlemen in bow ties and everyone twirling New Orleans– style umbrellas—danced the whole group into the dining room where, although unable to attend, Leroy stayed on everyone’s mind thanks to bulldog-shaped place cards on the tables and his photo on the wall.
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