As a travel professional considering an exotic island wedding was a logical choice, but having to convince a strong Catholic family was the challenge I faced! I was never a traditionalist in the sense, and I have attended so many conventional weddings with a church ceremony and post-reception in the past, I wanted to do something different and special for the most important day of my life!

Island weddings have been around for quiet some time, but in my opinion, they seemed to be perceived more for renewal of vows and second marriages, however, as our lifestyles change, we separated ourselves from tradition, and an exotic wedding on a spectacular island seemed like a dream in paradise for me.

I met the love of my life a few years ago in travel school, and as our love for each other became apparent my only thought was, what if she doesn't want to have an island wedding? Knowing that her family is Catholic, and tradition is very important to them, I thought to myself, was my ambition of having a romantic wedding on an island not going to be a reality?

Even though I expected the worst-case scenario, the family was very understanding and accepted both our wishes with open arms, so the rest was history! The planning for our special event had begun, and with some consideration we both agreed on having our anticipated wedding on the exotic destination island of Cuba. We had the privilege of visiting this beautiful tropical island prior to our wedding, and we both fell in love with the extremely friendly culture, beautiful beach, and the spectacular exotic resort called Beaches, which is located on a peninsula in a small vacation town called Varadero, this is where we planned on having our special ceremony.

The Beaches all inclusive resort was not our original choice, and in the beginning of our research and planning, we decided on the Sandals Montego Bay Resort, which is a fantastic Ultra-All Inclusive Resort located on the fabulous Caribbean island of Jamaica! Not only were they including everything in their package, but they also offered a free wedding as long as we stayed at the resort for 5 nights or longer. Unfortunately, the decision came down to a single guests issue, and because a few of our close family and friends did not have a significant other, that particular resort would not have worked out for us.

I realized that certain events in life happen for a reason, and once we found out that the Beaches Resort in Varadero, Cuba also offered free weddings on the property, and accepted singles, couples, and families as well, we knew our decision was the correct one! If anyone ever tells you the wedding application process is difficult, get a second opinion! We went online and printed the resorts application form, faxed it off and in a matter of weeks we received a confirmation of the selected date and time of the wedding ceremony without any problems.

When we arrived in Cuba, the island location was exactly what we remembered, and the clear turquoise beach rising and falling onto the soft golden sand brought back some wonderful memories of our past visit! We checked into our very spacious suite, and for the first couple of days took part in the resorts endless variety of buffet and A la Carte dining, amazing entertainment, and non-stop flow of mojitos and margaritas!

Our special day could not have come any sooner, and we were amazed with the ceremony location on the property! The garden wedding gazebo was romantically trimmed with aromatic exotic flowers, and bordered with swaying palm trees. As the wedding ceremony commenced, I soon realized that two dreams were fulfilled that day. I not only married my soul mate, but we performed an exotic island wedding, and became one in island paradise!