Jamaica’n me Happy, Mon!

Posted February 10th, 2010 | 11:00 am | By Lara Varona |

So here’s the deal.  Growing up, I always wanted to have a big winter wedding.  In fact, I went so far as to say I wanted an outdoor wedding, in the snow, wearing a giant ball gown with a (faux) fur coat and hand muff to keep me warm…you know, ride in on a sleigh and all that.  Oh, I also said I would NEVER wear white—in fact, I wanted to wear a bright colour (possibly red?) and have the bridesmaids be the ones wearing white, just to keep things “interesting.” Oh boy, have things changed!  Now, years later, my ideal wedding is an intimate affair, on a beach in the Caribbean with nothing but Mother Nature as the backdrop.  Sigh, I can hardly wait to be there in May.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I do still adore the snow and having our magical engagement take place in the snow was more than enough for me.  After getting engaged, Karlo and I discussed what we envisioned for our big day, what we really wanted our wedding to be about.  The more we talked about it, the more we realized that one of our most favourite things in the world is travelling together. Sadly, we haven’t had too many chances to travel together in the past, and we had already been toying with the idea of saving up to take a vacation to Jamaica, so….you can see where this is going…we thought why not just combine the two and get married in Jamaica?!  Now, I have to admit, a huge part of the reason we decided to have a destination wedding is the budget—destination weddings are a lot more affordable than traditional weddings, in general.  Another reason is that growing up in a single parent household, I had never actually had the chance to go on a vacation with my family—if you can believe it, this trip will be the first time that my mother, my two younger brothers and I have all taken a plane ride together as a family (my dad, who lives in Asia, will be meeting us there, too)!  I guess in the end, Karlo and I just really fell in love with the idea of going on a big family vacation to a beautiful tropical location and coming back as husband and wife!

In the first little while after we decided we were going to get hitched in Jamaica, I spent a lot of time online researching the best resorts, seasonal factors and legal requirements for getting married there.  Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming at first; I hardly knew where to start.  Thankfully, I happened onto a site that saved my life—Best Destination Wedding Forum—and from then on I spent every free second I had poring over all of the forum posts about Jamaica.  Ladies, if you are planning (or considering planning) a destination wedding, I would recommend that this forum be your first stop.  From reviews, to planning threads, to DIY project ideas and a “buy/sell/trade or freebies” section, this site has it all!  I can’t even begin to tell you how many wonderful ideas I’ve gotten from that site. It was on this forum that Karlo and I got the idea for our save the date cards—as you can see from the picture, we did boarding pass invitations, which we thought were a really cool idea for a destination wedding! Karlo is a self-taught graphic designer and website extraordinaire, so he designed our save the date cards and our website to match; we have been trying to keep everything as DIY as possible, so it certainly was a huge help that Karlo knows how to do this stuff!

So, now that we’ve got our trip booked, our save the date cards sent out and our website up, it’s time to get to the real meat of the planning—starting with my dress!  Next post I’ll talk about the amazing experience that I had shopping for my gown.  Stay tuned…

Oh!  Before I sign off I wanted to ask your opinion—since we’re getting married in Jamaica with just our immediate family and a few very good friends surrounding us, we are also planning to have an “at home reception” (or AHR, for those on the destination wedding forum!) a month after our trip.  For the AHR, some destination brides choose to wear their wedding dress again, while others choose to wear a simpler, more casual dress to the party.  I guess it’s the equivalent of changing in between your ceremony and your reception, which I have seen some brides do.  If it were you, what would you do—wear the dress in Jamaica and at home, or wear a different dress for the home reception?

Tags: blogger search, destination wedding, diy, family, jamaica, save-the-date

Posted February 10th, 2010 | 11:00 am | By Lara Varona |

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