“Sandals Weddings”

Sandals Weddings are truly a dream wedding. The moment that my husband slipped that sparkly diamond ring on my finger, my mind was already planning my perfect wedding. Most girls have their idea of a fairytale wedding when they are still children. I was one of them. I’d spent years and years saving ideas and pictures of cakes, flowers and dresses that I wanted for my own wedding. After I started to plan my dream wedding, I realized that it was nothing but a complete mess. I barely had time to breathe. After a few weeks of driving myself and my fiancé crazy, we decided to elope. A friend of mine was a travel agent and she suggested that we look into having a Sandals wedding where we’d not only be able to exchange our vows but also be able to have our honeymoon at the same time. It was a great idea to save money and save ourselves some major grief. We talked to our families and all agreed that we would have a Sandals wedding. My parents quickly said that they would definitely fly to whatever destination we chose. Our best friends all said the same thing. Before we knew it, there would be 8 people attending our small wedding and I was ecstatic that we had such a wonderful support system.

I started to do my research on having a Sandals wedding and we decided to go to Jamaica. It was affordable and looked very promising. Immediately, Sandals put us in contact with a wedding coordinator who told us that all we had to do was to show up. We would have several places that we could choose from for having the ceremony and they would provide a few items. A bouquet would be provided as long as the officiant. Some photos were included as well. The evening of our romantic Sandals wedding we would have a candlelight dinner in the nicest of the resort restaurants. I thought that it sounded incredible.

Finally, after months of waiting and planning, our time arrived. Our Sandals wedding was only days away. We arrived in Jamaica a day after the island had a major storm. The beaches were littered with seaweed and debris that had washed ashore. My hopes of getting married on the crystal white sandy beaches were ruined. The coordinator suggested that we choose another location. We ended up choosing the garden and it turned out perfectly. I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

I didn’t get my fairytale wedding that I’d always dreamed about. But, my Sandals wedding actually offered me so much more than I’d anticipated. I wasn’t stressed about having to take care of a million details at the last moment. It was hassle-free, simple and yet, romantic. An hour after exchanging our vows and having our small reception that the resort provided, we were in our swimsuits and floating in the pool. I love the fact that my Sandals wedding didn’t leave me a stressed out bride. My husband and I are hoping to go back for our 10-year anniversary and renew our vows at the same Sandals resort. I can’t wait.