What is your hometown, what brought you to the 

Emerald Coast and how long have you been here?  

Simply stated; What brought me here….Birth! How long 

have I been here…since Birth!  I was born in Valparaiso and 

have lived in Fort Walton Beach and Destin my entire life, 

with the exception of 7 years being a Flight Attendant for 

Pan Am and my travels abroad.

What is your profession and give a brief description 

of what you do.

I am a hopeless romantic that loves people and travel. My 

dream was to travel the world, so right out of high school I 

moved to Miami and became a “Stewardess” for Pan Am, 

based in Miami and New York, doing mostly international 

fl ights. Then one day, I saw and met my future husband 

of 36 years. Love and the love of family brought me back 

to this wonderful area we know as Destin. With two very 

different careers, him as an Engineer BSME and an MBA 

and me a fl ight attendant, and wanting to spend more 

time together, my husband and I decided to open our own 

business, which turned out to be the business of love -- the 

Wedding Business. We opened Simply Elegant Bridal 

(Fort Walton Beach) in 1982 and Simply Elegant Couture 

(Pensacola) in 2015 and work side-by-side 24 hours/day. We 

love helping and dressing our local brides and customers. 

We have expanded in the arena of love, as we BOTH are 

Certifi ed Sandals Specialists, helping to Plan and Book 

weddings and honeymoons (and vacations) to Sandals for 

our brides and friends. As we Love to travel, we have been 

to ALL 16 Sandals resorts in just over 2.5 years. In addition, 

we are opening a wedding/event venue called Elegance on 

The Bayou which overlooks Don’s Bayou (next to our Bridal 

Boutique) this fall. We are now BOTH hopeless Romantics 

that love Destin.

What do you like best about Destin and what makes 

it unique?

The best part of Destin to me is what Destin was about 

when it was a fl edgling little  “Luckiest Fishing Village”… 

the HARBOR. The harbor is still the center of what attracts 

our many visitors; the Fishing Fleet, the many businesses 

and restaurants along with the pristine beaches we enjoy. 

Give us three words that best describe you. 

Adventurous, Compassionate, Energetic.

Favorite things you like about Destin.

 

I love the beauty of Destin with it’s soft white sand, aqua 

blue waters. Destin has awesome wine, art and songwriters 

festivals. I just love the feeling when I am in Destin. But 

mostly, the support the community gives to local businesses 

and charities.

I AM DESTIN because…

I Love Destin….I feel most at home in Destin! Destin is on 

everyone’s Sand Bucket List, more than once!

I AM DESTIN

debbie 

west

photo by 

Zhalman 

Harris

98 IamDestin - Debbie West.indd   1

5/25/18   4:18 PM