When Elisabeth Arnold and John Siddle met by chance on a chilly evening in March 2003, Elisabeth couldn’t help to think that her friend, Christine, had been right all along. In fact, Christine had been trying to set-up her two friends for months but apprehension about awkward moments had kept them from agreeing to meet. Several days later, after a subtle hint from Elisabeth, John was an invited guest to her 26^th birthday party and things were never the same again.

“We hit it off right away and talked the entire evening,” says Elisabeth, who believes she won over her future groom because she actually knew where Wales, John’s homeland, was. So impressed by the Welshman, in fact, that two weeks later, Elisabeth invited her new beau on her family’s annual trip to St. Martin.

“I couldn’t help but think that we were meant for each other,” she says “and, I knew I wanted to introduce him to my family.” It was that first trip that John endeared Elisabeth with his sense of humor, a trait she says goes well with her fun-loving family.

John proposed two years later when he and Elisabeth found themselves vacationing in St. Martin. Despite all the “clues,” the bride confides she was surprised when he pulled a custom-designed ring from his pocket during their post-dinner walk along the pier.

Over the months that followed, the couple planned an elegant yet eclectic wedding. Elisabeth, an English teacher and ardent nature lover, incorporated a wooden birdcage for guest sentiments and a Woodbury bowl for the ring bearer. John, design director for a top advertising and media firm, exercised his penchant for modern style by designing the ceremony programs, table runners and signs (all with a bird motif, of course). The green and yellow color scheme honored her love of nature and his passion for a particular pair of Adidas sneakers that boast bright yellow stripes—the very ones worn on his wedding day.

They married on a rainy day in July at “Hundred Acre Pond,” the land owned by the bride’s family. Filled with lush greenery and towering trees, Elisabeth and John exchanged vows in the garden on the “circle of love,” a stone patio playfully named after the bride’s sister who married there four years earlier.

After the ceremony, the couple’s 160 guests strolled up the hill to the reception tent while enjoying photographs of the couple hung from tree limbs. The bride and groom took the dance floor that evening to a recording by the groom’s favorite Welsh band, Super Furry Animals. “Hello sunshine, come into my life" the song begins—Elisabeth and John believe it already has.

The couple honeymooned in Switzerland. “We spent most of our time hiking and riding trains; two of my favorite things,” Elisabeth says.

Written By Dina M. Cortez