A wedding. Flowing white gowns and carefully tailored suits, closest friends and family all together, and the beginning of a new life with your chosen partner. It’s undoubtedly one of the biggest events you will ever plan, with daydreams of what the perfect day will look like often beginning to take shape far before you ever meet your spouse-to-be.
Though, with countless elements to handle — from the dress to venues to flowers, decor, lighting and so much more — it’s important to have a strong coordinator by your side… or to completely take over. A great option is to hire an A-to-Z wedding planner who will manage all of the details of your nuptials so all you have to focus on is the big “I do.”
Kimberley Dunkley Watkins of Dragonfly Experiences knows this need well. The dynamic businesswoman has established herself as one of Jamaica’s top-rated wedding and event planners, having attracted loyal returning customers and an elite roster of on-call vendors. Quick on her feet and well composed, she is a meticulous planner, often answering questions you didn’t even know to ask, like which desserts work best in various climates.
The ability to hone a creative and artistic style in her pursuit of event planning was initially what drew Watkins to weddings in particular. “I wouldn’t consider myself an event designer, but I’ve always had a fascination with design,” she said. Jamaica itself also lends inspiration and the island plays an essential role as an equally beautiful and challenging backdrop. “Unlike the U.S. where we have a lot of brick and mortar locations, Jamaica has a lot of beautiful landscape and so we have to become really creative.”
Though juggling the details of a wedding is bound to trigger some stress, for Watkins, it’s exhilarating to bring a mere concept to fruition. Success manifests as simply as a smile on a client’s face. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve just had a love of people. It’s always been about the people and making sure their moments are memorialized so they have something to cherish for a lifetime,” she explained. “What I realized, especially through COVID, is that life is so fleeting and we really need to treasure all the moments we get to enjoy.”
Read on to learn about three full-service projects by Dragonfly Experiences that will inspire your own wedding design ideas.
Photography: Courtesy of TeamDWP Studios by Dwayne Watkins
Janelle & Clint
For Janelle and Clint’s wedding, Watkins delivered elegant romance on a budget. To avoid spending a lot on flowers, Watkins let nature take the lead at the ceremony. Under a large tree with sweeping branches, a free-form flower arrangement was constructed with several varieties of florals, including purple, white and orange roses, eucalyptus and lacy-veined anthuriums, among others.
Though the ceremony took place at a small alcove, the beachside reception at Prospect Estate in St. Mary was decked out in hues of ivory and gold under an open tent of twinkling string lights and hanging wicker lanterns. And while a pitched tent doesn’t typically scream “elegance,” this one was constructed in such a way that it felt like a whimsical canopy.
Watkins and her team also cleverly covered the bulky black wires connecting the string lights by wrapping them with greenery to add to the ethereal garden feeling. “We didn’t want to bring a lot of heavy elements in there. Having the vines really made it a little bit more romantic and softened the look of the light,” she said.
Table settings, candles and the couple’s cake followed the gold theme, while the flower centerpieces mimicked the standing ceremony arrangement that was brought inside to act as the bride and groom’s table backdrop. (Another trick for saving money is to place the bride’s bouquet in a vase to become the centerpiece for the couple’s table.)
The couple met on a plane after being seated next to each other on a flight to Jamaica, with Clint traveling for a birthday and Janelle going for work. Watkins helped them include this special memory in their wedding with a photo opportunity for guests, complete with stacked suitcases as well as custom luggage tags that functioned as the seating chart, which attendees were able to take with them as a parting gift.
Susan & Quasy
Susan and Quasy’s big day took place at the elegant cliffside Pattoo Castle in West End, Negril.
“They really wanted a very sleek and modern but timeless wedding, so we wanted to go with almost a juxtaposition of the venue,” Watkins explained. The outdoor ceremony featured a standout flower arch cleverly arranged with overflowing white and blush roses, orchids, hydrangeas and pampas grass, but only on one side, offering a stunning focal feature that didn’t take away from the bride and groom or the space.
The reception was held in an open air veranda where Watkins added a semi-sheer canopy roof to hold off any potential weather mishaps while also adding an extra touch of delicate romance. The linear space, although cozy, proved a welcome challenge for Watkins. “In terms of the design elements and how to set things up, we really had to be very deliberate.” Five blush, gold and ivory tables dotted the intimate space, with Susan and Quasy’s bride-and-groom table at the front backed by the ceremony’s flower arch.
The dance floor was strategically placed in a separate area near the venue’s rocky edge for dreamy dancing under the moonlight. The couple’s modern, marble wedding cake was a favorite collaboration between Watkins and a baker she knew would deliver on both taste and aesthetic.
Meredith & Kyle
Also held at Prospect Estate in St. Mary, Meredith and Kyle’s budget-conscious seaside reception offered a timeless ambiance further romanticized by minimal decor, ethereal white floral arrangements and elegant, moody lighting. The two had chosen the sentimental venue to commemorate the happy vacations they had spent there during their 12-year long-distance relationship.
The couple wanted a laid back atmosphere, mainly using the location’s natural flora as decor, with only one specific request from Meredith: candles, everywhere. The bride-and-groom’s table was surrounded by floating tea candles amid twinkling string lights and wicker lanterns that gave the reception a cozy yet magical backyard feeling. “The guest list was very small — only around 25 people — and they really wanted to have kind of a dressed-up dinner party vibe,” said Watkins of the aesthetic. “The approach was less is more.”
The structureless reception allowed for the lighting to be the star element while hints of simple white, green and classic gold were seen in floral arrangements, the cake and table settings.
To see more wedding design ideas, follow Watkins at @dragonfly_exp on Instagram or visit dragonflyexp.com.
