A fire-dancer welcome party, vows beneath a coral arch, and a signature rum drink that captured the essence of a romantic escape — Jennifer and Greggory teach us how to do a destination wedding right. 'Rum Away with Us' to Sandals Royal Barbados Jennifer and Greggory pop up on my screen radiating in that way newlyweds always seem to. That ethereal, cliché “honeymoon glow” bouncing off their tans as they smile while reflecting on the series of events that brought them to the Caribbean on the biggest day of their lives. My pre-interview notes give me the basics: a couple from Jacksonville, Florida, a big wedding party with friends and family, a week in Barbados followed by a honeymoon in Saint Lucia. But within minutes of talking, the outline begins to fill in with the surreal beauty of their week. It was one of overflowing love, adventure, and island ease capped by an intimate, sun-soaked honeymoon. I start the inter- view with the obvious: why Sandals? There are a million wedding venues in the world, so why here? The answer comes easy. Jennifer’s parents are Sandals regulars; she grew up hearing stories about turquoise water, delicious food, scuba dives, and the pecu- liar joy of doing nothing at all on the world's prettiest beaches. “When it came time for our wedding, it just felt obvious,” she says. “I’ve always associated romance and vacation with the sea, and my parents always came back from Sandals so relaxed. I wanted that same feeling — just in white.” Greggory’s take is more pragmatic. “We looked at the price at the end and it made complete sense,” he says. “Once you add up all the costs of what it would take to get married back home, Sandals just works out better. And our guests get a complete vacation out of it.” Here’s where it gets funny. Turns out one of my childhood friends had attended their wedding and I’d already seen snippets of it through her Instagram stories. There were lots of tropical colors, crisp suits, coral dresses, everyone sun-kissed and laughing. It’s a strange, full-circle moment now, seeing the couple from those clips sitting in front of me, still glowing. When we start talking about the actual wedding and the preparation process that went into it, Jennifer starts laughing at herself. “Okay, so,” she says. “I had a for- ty-five page plan of how I wanted the ceremony to go. I gave copies of it to every- one involved in the wedding process.” She’s not exaggerating. This comprehensive, time-stamped document detailing the logistics of her perfect wedding had everything — florals, seating charts, back- up plans. The Sandals wedding planners read every word and then, somehow, made her stop worrying. “It was the strangest thing,” she says. “I’m the planner in every situation, but at Sandals, I didn’t have to be. They already knew.” Copies of the wedding-day game plan were handed out to all team members involved in the execution of the celebration, and they took care of it down to the smallest details. Planning a wedding is no easy feat. The amount of logistics, details, and last- minute decisions all add up, unfortunately, meaning that most of that stress falls on the bride and groom. But the combination of Jennifer and Greggory's planning mixed with the Sandals wedding team's experience meant that everything was executed to the minutest detail with no stress on the wedding party. By MAX MARIO MORALES Photos by THE LIBBYS PHOTO & FILMS SANDALS | BEACHES Jennifer and Greggory SANDALS ROYAL BARBADOS St. Lawrence Gap, Barbados
