Paradise Planning does just what the name says – plans your wedding or other event in paradise.
For owner Michelle Fage, paradise goes by the name of St. John, an island she’s called home for about two years.
“Within two weeks, I started doing weddings,” she said, speaking about how quickly she got into St. John’s workaday world.
She initially worked for already-established wedding planners, but in the summer of 2012 she branched out on her own.
The business is growing, and in November she orchestrated Mongoose Junction’s Evening in the Courtyard annual celebration. She is currently working on the upcoming Love City Live musical event in Cruz Bay.
Fage, 33, learned the event coordination ropes in Los Angeles, where she moved soon after she graduated from Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y. with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
She worked at such diverse jobs as head hunter, nanny and restaurant manager before heading west to California where she landed a job as a personal assistant to a celebrity hairstylist.
She soon moved up the ladder to ASA Events, helping to coordinate events for the Action World Sports Tour.
“I traveled internationally,” she said.
She moved on to ESPN X Games, where she did the same.
While those corporate jobs were nice, she got a lot of experience handling events with up to 500 people and she got to meet lots of celebrities, such as rapper 50 Cent, she was tired of the fast-paced Los Angeles life style. And she said she enjoys handling events such as weddings on a more personal scale, as she does on St. John.
“It’s the most important day of their life,” she said.
She sees the fact that she’s fairly new to the St. John wedding business as a plus because she knows what stateside bride wants when she picks St. John for her destination wedding.
That poses challenges, however, because their expectations cannot always be met on a small island without immediate access to all the bells and whistles some brides want.
“I politely explain to people what can and can’t be done. Some brides want certain flowers. I explain what’s available,” she said.
She’s focused her niche on villa weddings, working with management companies to find the right villa that allows weddings. In some neighborhoods, homeowners associations prohibit weddings and other large gatherings.
Fage handles it all. She’ll line up the officiant, handle the transportation and make sure the bride and groom are where they’re supposed to be at the right time.
On the subject of time, she said she hasn’t gotten used to the island practice of showing up very late for appointments. In fact, she apologized profusely for arriving two minutes late for her meeting with the Source reporter.
“There was traffic,” she said.
Fage was born in Quincy, Mass., and grew up in Plymouth, Mass., home of the famed Plymouth Rock.
She moved to St. John in 2011 to live with her significant other, solar installer Jason Cawthron.
Fage made a trip back to Boston last summer to work with a wedding planner for a few months. The experience helped her hone her skills even more and keep up with bridal trends.
Back home on St. John, she’s busy growing her event planning business and spending time with Cawthron and their dog Maclee.
“And training for 8 Tuff Miles,” she said.
Fage can bew reached online at www.paradiseplanningusvi.com or by 310-968-3789.
