Lucas and Mara’s Wedding at Azul Beach Resort Negril

The Couple

Mara met Lucas through a mutual friend at a lively New Year’s Eve party. After dating for some time, Lucas proposed to Mara at his favorite lookout spot from the top of a mountain. There, he had four pumpkins that he hand-carved that said “will you marry me” on top of hay bales with lights and photographers hidden in the woods to capture the moment.

The Planning

Lucas and Mara knew they wanted to do a destination wedding in the tropical oasis of Jamaica. After consulting various travel agents, the couple decided to specifically research Karisma resorts in Negril, eventually settling on the picturesque Azul Beach Resort Negril. The couple agreed that the resort aligned with both their budget and their guests’ budgets more so than the other resorts they explored. Additionally, Lucas and Mara chose a later ceremony date than their official courthouse wedding in order to allow plenty of time for their guests to budget and celebrate with them in Jamaica. Although the couple reached out to multiple travel agents from different companies, they ultimately chose Destify’s Erica who delivered an anxiety-free planning process. Mara described, “Working with Erica from Destify was so easy. Erica was extremely helpful and she responded to my emails in such a timely manner.”

Once they delved into the rest of the planning process, the couple was treated to an accommodating on-site wedding coordinator. Shortly after Lucas and Mara paid their initial deposit, their wedding coordinator swiftly contacted them via email with pertinent documents and covered essential details ranging from flower bouquets to the couple’s preferred aisle songs. After arriving in Jamaica a week before their wedding, Lucas and Mara were able to tour the property and make any further adjustments or corrections needed to fulfill their dream ceremony.

The Wedding

During the week leading up to their ceremony, the couple’s guests enjoyed an array of dazzling excursions ranging from a bus tour of the island to cliff jumping into beautiful glistening waters at Rick’s Cafe. The wedding party had an amazing driver who delivered an impeccably scenic tour of a few different locations. Before the day of the wedding, the couple hosted a gorgeous rehearsal dinner with a glorious view of the scintillating ocean. On the day of the wedding, the couple perfectly timed their ceremony to catch the shimmering azure and golden Caribbean sunset. Reminiscing about their overall destination wedding experience, Mara believed that the most memorable moment of the wedding was simply the ceremony itself, reflecting, “Our ceremony was wonderful. Overall, it was a great experience and if we could do it all over again, we wouldn’t change a thing.”

Looking Back

Mara thoroughly enjoyed how professional and accommodating both their Destify agent Erica and the on-site wedding department were throughout the entire process. Despite there being a few hiccups with the weather throughout their wedding week, the couple maintained that once they arrived at the resort, they were able to reap the benefits of their collaborative planning. However, Mara delivered an essential piece of advice for couples looking into destination weddings: