PETINA DIXON & NATHAN JENKINS in Montego Bay
Wedding date:
5/23/2009
Location:
Montego Bay
Venue name:
Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa
We chose to have the wedding at the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort and Spa, in Lucea, Jamaica. It was important for us to find a resort that was reasonably-priced, could accommodate guests with small children (especially our 1-year-old nephew), and easy to reach. We both wanted a laid-back experience and the ability to enjoy our time in Jamaica with our family and friends. Having a destination wedding gave us the luxury of having our wedding experience last longer than just the ceremony and reception: we all have an entire family & friends vacation to treasure!
Some things that were important for us to include: we had a steel pan band playing during and after the ceremony, "out of town" beach bags for guests containing mini-bottles of Appleton Rum, and at the reception, boxed slices of Jamaican black cake (obtained by my cousin in Montego Bay) as wedding favors.
Our photographers were Monica and Chris Zibutis of Monica Z Photography—they celebrated their third wedding anniversary during the trip! When I started my search, I came across a destination wedding photography contest on Monica's blog. I entered, and our story was chosen. So Monica and Chris shot our wedding for travel expenses only. They even threw in an engagement session and day-after session as well. They are a really nice and laid-back couple and I'm so glad we were brought together this way!
Wedding Day
The skies opened up and it POURED rain around mid-day the day of the wedding... and the showers were on-and off into the afternoon.
We each waited in our hotel rooms, getting ready with family and friends, and waiting for the phone to ring to tell us whether or not the wedding would still take place outside at the garden gazebo overlooking the sea. The skies cleared and... after our original 5pm start time, we got the phone call telling us the wedding would be held at the spa, their rain location. (Gazebo and gardens were too muddy and wet) And what a beautiful surprise... we loved it.
We exchanged vows at sunset to the sounds of the steel drum band, surrounded by 55 of our closest family and friends-- and it was the most beautiful day of our lives.
The steel drum band was a wonderful part of our day-- they set the mood and the feel for the entire evening. We even had our first dance to them during the champagne reception following the ceremony.
We had a dinner reception set to a reggae playlist from my iPod (I host a reggae radio show in Chicago so this was a fun project for me!) at the Blue Lagoon restaurant. The menu was: seafood appetizer, asparagus & tomato cream tandem soup, a rum, lime and mint sorbet, and then tiger prawns and beef tenderloin for the main entrees with wedding cake for dessert.
We had our honeymoon at Idle Awhile in Negril.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd choose a Jamaican destination wedding in a
heartbeat.
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