DESTINATION WEDDING IN JAMAICA

Moon Palace Jamaica Destination Wedding (1).jpg

Wedding date: May 2022

Travel advisor: Andrea Norfolk

Destination: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

How did you meet?
We met at our church’s weekly small group meetings. Tyrone was a part of the small group for a couple of years and Kerisse joined right before things started shutting down for Covid. On a frigid winter day, Tyrone invited the group on a hike (it just so happened to be the day after Valentine’s Day) and Kerisse was the only one who showed up—the others took an “it’s way too cold” rain check. After the hike we spent hours talking on a pier overlooking a river followed by a 12 ½ hour first phone call and realized this was something special. A couple of weeks later the world shutdown and we became a Quarantine Love Story. 😊

Why did you choose to have a destination wedding?
We’re from two different parts of the country, which means our family is pretty spread out. No matter what, it was going to be a destination wedding for one side of the family. Plus, we wanted our family and friends to really get to know one another since most had not met yet. We knew that if Tyrone’s family were to go to Kerisse’s hometown, the only time her family would show up would be at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding and vice versa. Having a destination wedding forced everyone to spend time with one another and form new relationships. We also thought a Caribbean destination would be a dream and allow everyone who has been stuck at home because of Covid a great excuse to vacay with us.

Why did you choose your resort and destination?
We wanted an all-inclusive resort so our guests would have the comfort of knowing that all their meals, drinks, and entertainment on the property were paid for and could really relax and take advantage of everything that was offered. Jamaica also gave us an opportunity to visit a country where part of Kerisse’s family is from and Moon Palace checked all the boxes we were looking for. It had great amenities, beautiful scenery for all our events including the wedding ceremony, nice food selections, different wedding packages to suit one’s needs, and a top-notch onsite wedding planner to help us navigate it all — Thank you Stacy-Ann. We also liked that it was located in the heart of the city and was a resort that even locals frequented.

What was your most memorable moment during your ceremony?
Our most memorable/funniest moment was when, during the middle of the ceremony, a party boat from the resort was leaving out on their excursion and came around the peninsula we were on, music blasting almost drowning out the person who was speaking at the time. The only thing we could say was, "yes, we're definitely in Jamaica." Oh, and we can’t forget our two wedding crashers, a mom and daughter from London who, not realizing it was a private event, mistakenly crashed our rehearsal dinner and upon realizing were embraced by us and our guests. And on our wedding day, while Kerisse was walking down the aisle, they showed up on the sand to celebrate and cheer her on.

What was the best part about having a destination wedding?
The spirit of love that was in the air and the beautiful way everyone bonded together were definitely the best parts. Having a destination wedding allowed us to have not just a wedding day, but a wedding extravaganza filled with multiple wonderful events for our guests all hosted at the resort - and there was still a good amount of downtime. Thanks to a great recommendation by our Shoreline agent Andrea, we created a WhatsApp group with all of our guests, and it was wonderful seeing how many people connected and linked up at the resort’s restaurants, pools, after-hour clubs, and excursions throughout the week. Many of them have remained in contact since then.

What was your experience using Shoreline Destinations?
Working with Andrea and her team at Shoreline Destinations was an awesome experience. They were all very responsive and a joy to work with. They offered such great advice and tidbits along the way that we could definitely tell this wasn't their first destination wedding. These ladies know what they’re doing and do it well! They helped us narrow down our destination and resort choice and the fact they had actually visited Moon Palace and could speak to what we were seeing in the online videos we found was a bonus. We thank you for helping to make our wedding event a dream come true!!