By Caroline Lang
TLC follows D.C. native Sandy Malone as she moves her wedding planning business from D.C. to Vieques. (Photo courtesy of Discovery Press Web)
For all of you reality show junkies out there (it’s okay, I’m including myself) here’s a new one to tune into on Thursday nights. One that hits close to home.
No, we’re not talking about “Real Housewives of D.C.” Thank goodness… It’s not that close to home.
D.C. native Sandy Malone is the star of reality television in TLC’s new series “Wedding Island” which features her destination wedding planning business, Weddings in Vieques, on the tiny island off the coast of Puerto Rico.
“Vieques is like the island that time forgot,” says Malone. “That’s part of what makes it paradise.”
Malone first encountered the island when working for a public relations firm in D.C. She fell in love with its white sandy beaches, its remoteness and the carefreeness she found lacking in the stressful environment of the nation’s capital.
When Malone and her husband Bill (whom she met in a toy store downtown at Union Station) became engaged, they decided that Vieques was the place where their dream wedding would take place.
“It’s a good thing my then-fiancé loved the island as much as I did or he would never have become my husband,” laughs Malone.
But planning a wedding on such a small and remote island is no easy task, an ordeal Malone experienced firsthand while planning her wedding in 2004. A small Caribbean island, Vieques could hardly boast the same amenities we’re lucky enough to have here in the D.C. metro region. She quickly learned how exhausting planning your own destination wedding could be.
Sandy Malone on her wedding day in Vieques. (Photo courtesy of Discovery Press Web)
“There was nobody here to do it for me,” says Malone, “I was supposed to be having fun on my wedding day, but I was busy keeping tabs on everything instead of enjoying my day. That’s stressful. That’s not fun.”
Their love for the island unshaken, Malone and her husband bought a house in Vieques soon after they were married. The couple found they were spending nearly as much time in this “paradise down south” as they were at home in D.C. so eventually they decided to take the plunge and, almost literally, jump ship to Vieques.
With lifelong experience in party planning—starting during her high school career at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in D.C.—event planning seemed like a natural career choice for Malone.
“My friends were like,’No doubt you turned out to be a party planner.’ I threw post-Snowball parties everybody wanted to be at. I’m probably the reason they have post-prom now,” jokes Malone about her high school escapades.
After planning a number of events and weddings in the D.C. area, Malone took her experiences and expertise with her to start Weddings in Vieques, but even with all the know-how, the island’s limited resources do not lend themselves easily to a bride’s ever-growing list of to-dos and fine details. Malone, however, is determined to make it work.
“Vieques is a place where manana does not mean tomorrow, it just means not today. My job is to build a bridge between this island where the highest speed limit is 35 mph—25 in most places—and the North American brides who wants things now, who are used to immediate responses.”
Malone pulls out all the stops to ensure these fast-paced brides get the peaceful island wedding of their dreams.
“There’s nothing cookie-cutter about a wedding in Vieques,” she says. “Every detail is individualized. It may seem like we’re going to the ends of the earth to fulfill the couple’s dreams, but we’ll make it happen.”
In terms of her new show on TLC, Malone insists that nothing is contrived.
“You couldn’t script a show like this if you tried. The production company has trouble keeping us with us! They’re always just like, ‘Which way did she go? Which way did she go?!”
Sounds a true Washingtonian to me.
So if you’re looking for a reality show like none other, offering you an unadulterated look into the behind the scenes goings on of a wedding planning company, check out TLC’s “Wedding Island” Thursdays at 10 p.m. (P.S. The first and last shows of this season feature Northern Virginia couples!)
“And remember,” says Malone, “only the tourists call it paradise.”
Calm before the storm in Vieques. (Photo courtesy of Discovery Press Web)