You can never go wrong with staying true to your own style and today’s couple proves that in spades! They chose to forgo tradition by flying off to Jamaica for an intimate destination wedding with family and friends. Featuring a soft pink, peach and white palette and a array of beautiful roses accented with clouds of baby’s breath, this tropical wedding from Jessica Bossé Photography is a stunning tribute to rustic sophistication infused with island romance!
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Jessica Bossé Photography: This beautiful tropical destination wedding took place at the Grande Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort and Spa near Montego Bay, Jamaica. The bride and groom, Beth and Andrew, were surrounded by 30 of their closest family and friends in a gorgeous ceremony and reception overlooking the ocean, complete with a stunning sunset then a lighting show, late at night. There was a thunderstorm for most of the morning, which caused them to change their ceremony location to the spa; a gorgeous, open air venue with tall pillars and a grecian vibe. Minutes before the ceremony the skies opened up, the sun began to shine and everything dried up in time for portraits on a secluded beach. The night was capped off with a wish lantern send off which had some guests waist deep in the ocean! A memorable night no doubt. From the moment I arrived in Jamaica, Beth and Andrew’s families treated me like one of their own and for that I am truly grateful.
From the bride and groom: On choosing a destination wedding- We were actually planning to do an at home wedding but as we started planning we were getting more stressed and frustrated and started forgetting the real reason we were getting married. From there, we made the decision to go away and do something offbeat and less traditional. This was the best decision of our lives. I couldn’t imagine doing our wedding any other way. Having that whole week to spend with our family and friends was an amazing experience that we will never forget. The actual wedding was so intimate and we felt so connected to our guests.
We chose Jamaica for fairly simple reasons: 1) It is an English speaking country (some locations need a translator for the ceremony like Dominican Republic or Mexico and you also have to get your marriage certificate transferred to English – we weren’t into doing all that)! 2) We had never been to Jamaica but always wanted to go. We liked how relaxed their culture was and that made for a really zen-like wedding and vacation for us.
On incorporating DIY elements- It was quite difficult to incorporate DIY elements into our wedding just because of travelling and figuring out how to pack those things or ship them over. Needless to say, we did have some special elements such as the large wooden “F” (for Fajardo) that my father made to use for our guests to sign. We also had old pictures of our parents and grandparent’s weddings hung along the signing table because their relationships are an inspiration to us.
Lastly, we sent paper wish lanterns into the sky at the end of the night, which was amazing once we got them working right. Needless to say, even when we had them flying all over the place or falling into the water it made for a hilarious experience that we still talk about to this day!
On their favourite moments- Bride: The moment when I began walking down the aisle with my father and looked at Andrew for the first time. I didn’t believe I could be that overwhelmed with emotion. Our first dance was my second favourite moment. In both of these moments it felt like nobody was around us and we were the only ones in the room. I will never forget that feeling.
Groom: It seem to have stopped raining right around the same time Beth (my wife) walked down that aisle. It didn’t matter, it could’ve kept raining, as from that moment I knew it was all going to be perfect. That was my favourite moment.
On advice for newly engaged couples planning their weddings- Do not spend hours on sites like Pinterest because you will overwhelm yourself and get stressed and frustrated. Do not sweat the small stuff. Your wedding will be perfect no matter what because it is yours. If it thunderstorms, so what? If the shade of flowers are slightly off from what you envisioned, so what? At the end of the day you are marrying the love of your life and that is what matters! It goes by SO fast just absorb everything and truly be present in each and every moment.
