Sandals, Jamaica

As many of you may remember Cindy recently took off to Jamaica for a week to check out some of the Sandals and Beaches Resorts first hand. After a week of touring the island, eating the food, and experiencing everything Sandals has to offer Cindy has returned and wanted to share her experience with you. The photo below is one of Cindy and four other WPIC Certified Wedding Planners (Cindy's the one laughing, so typical). Enjoy!

Destination weddings are on the rise! With an increase of 400%, more and more couples are opting for a destination wedding to avoid a long engagement and a large expense. On average a destination wedding will cost you $4,000.00, a measly penny compared to $20-25,000.00 for a traditional wedding.

I was recently given a great opportunity (thanks to Sophie’s oh-so-convenient due date) to become a certified Destination Wedding Planner while touring one of the world's greatest wedding destinations - Sandals resorts in Jamaica! Not only did I get to see everything first-hand, I got to experience the resorts, the rooms, the beaches, the service, and the food...(oh the food!) just as a couple would experience it all.


Pictures never do justice. If you think you love the pictures you see when you look at Sandals Whitehouse, or Sandals Royal Carribean, or Sandals Dunn’s River Villagio, or Sandals Negril, or Sandals Montego Bay, or even Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, just wait until you see it in person you will literally fall in love. Sandals is all about the love, their motto “Love is all you need” definitely transfers from the loving welcome you get as soon as you arrive, right down to the kissing swans surrounded by flower petals on your luxurious mahogany king size bed.

Nothing is perfect, of course, and I feel that it's my responsibility to warn you that you may lose some muscle mass while you’re away; I think the heaviest thing I lifted over the course of the week was a fork.

I took so much away from the trip that it would be overwhelming to list every detail that make these resorts so fantastic. I've narrowed the details down to the top three things that I want you to know about Sandals.

1. Personalization

Sandals staff always seems to go that extra mile to ensure that your experience is a personal one. For a returning couple, you will walk to your door to find balloons with the message “Welcome Home” written on them. You then walk into your luxurious room to find that someone has taken the time to create a “Welcome Home” collage on your bed in island leaves and tropical flower petals. It’s absolutely beautiful and definitely welcoming.

2. The Service

Gone are the days of "all inclusive"; say hello to "luxury inclusive". Where else can you go and say the you had a butler for the duration of your honeymoon vacation? The service you receive from the Sandals staff is something else. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that you will leave Sandals with a few staff friends. You can expect to be called by name, get some hugs, and even a joke here and there. On one of our stops our bus driver asked, “Would you believe me if I told you I could drink this bottle of beer without even opening it?", "No" we replied, "how would you do that?", the driver shrugged and responded, "I would ask you to open it”. Hahaha!

Not only are you treated like royalty but you’re treated like family. What a marvelous combination!

3. The Sandals Foundation

Sandals has developed a foundation designed to give back to the community. Their focus: community, education and environment. In a country where poverty, educational underachievement, and access to health care services are just a few issues faced by the people, the Sandals Foundation is doing their part. To date they've built computer labs, community centres, and organized free health clinics and training programs. They've also awarded millions of dollars in community scholarships and adopted 26 schools to ensure that they are maintained and that students are getting a proper education. To protect the environment they've developed beach clean-up programs and marine parks designed to balance the marines ecosystem through better fishing practices.

For me, this was definitely a big draw. If you would like to know more about the Sandals Foundation or to make a donation, please visit: http://www.sandalsfoundation.org

There is so much more to tell and if you want more information about Sandals or if you want to discuss other wedding destinations feel free to send me an email at cindy@coverallevents.com. I would be more than happy to help you with your destination planning needs.

Cindy

Wedding Planner
Coverall Event Coordination