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Last year The Learning Channel scouted the Caribbean for the perfect place to tape a segment for its popular reality series, A Wedding Story. The TV channel's bridal team selected Couples Ocho Rios resort on Jamaica's north shore, where they found Matthew Engel and Rommy Muller of Aurora, Illinois, planning a fairy-tale wedding on a pier stretching out from the main beach, followed by a reception on nearby Tower Isle.
"We use Tower Isle as our nude beach during the day," says Gary Stephens, the resort's director of operations. "But at night, when we transform it with twinkling lights, a steel-drum band, and white-linen tablecloths, it's absolutely stunning."
So stunning that Couples decided Matthew and Rommy's creation should be available to other guests. "The wedding was so beautiful and such a hit on TV," Gary says, "we turned it into a wedding package available to all couples marrying here."
Jamaica has always been an incredibly romantic place, the island where Stella got her groove back and that inspired Bob Marley to compose some of the world's best love songs. But only recently has it become a destination-wedding mecca.
Jamaica's all-inclusive Sandals, Beaches, Breezes, and Couples resorts alone organize thousands of weddings a year. Add that to other all-inclusive resorts on the island - plus hundreds of hotels and rental villas that also host weddings - and you come to see that marriage is nearly as big as Rastafari and reggae in the land of Red Stripe.
Come One, Come All
"It seems like everyone wants to get married here these days," said Nadia Fagan,
catering sales manager at Montego Bay's swank Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort,
Rose Hall. "I think couples are drawn by our fabulous beaches, our
romantic locations, and the fact that we cater to all religions. But
Jamaica also offers a personalized touch. We cna basically create any sort
of wedding you want - casual, elegant, even artistic. I think that's why
we've been so successful."
Winchester, Massachusetts, residents Jeff Macklin and Shannon
Reed - who married on Jamaica's south coast at the
Villas on Bluefields Bay - are typical of the couples who choose
the island for their big day. "We liked that Jamaica isn't just a resort
island," Jeff says, "but rather a country with a thriving local culture.
Shannon and I love the music, and music is everywhere you go in Jamaica.
Like many couples, Jeff and Shannon had each visited the island during college and after graduation. It was during a weekend trip about three months before their marriage that they realized Jamaica would provide exactly what they wanted for their wedding in terms of atmosphere, logistics, and price. "By taking advantage of the off-season rates," Jeff says, "we were able to make the trip reasonable for everyone."
Two months before the August 2001 event, they got wedding guests into an island mood by mailing their invitations in bottles filled with sand and shells. Some of their friends expressed concerns about the island's safety, but Jeff and Shannon quickly soothed those fears.
"We felt 100 percent safe the entire time," Jeff says, "and many of our best times were interacting with the staff and locals."
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