When you’re living in the chilly midwest, planning a tropical destination wedding in Jamaica is certainly no small feat.  So were awesome WeddingMix couple Alyssa and Bob discouraged? No way! The two were married in an incredibly fun and gorgeous beach ceremony at the Sandals Whitehouse European Village & Spa in Jamaica.

Check out their exclusive WeddingMix highlights video and Alyssa’s post-wedding thoughts on their paradise wedding below!

Planning a wedding from Chicago at a resort I have never been and is 1,700 miles away and in a country I have never been to before was definitely a challenge! We wanted to do something different since we have been to so many weddings in the city, so we just took a chance and decided to get married in Jamaica!

I often plan events for work and tend to be a little OCD, so it was a struggle for me to let go of the control of every detail, but it all worked out! The wedding coordinator at the resort was a huge help and made the selections very easy, even from afar. Also the coordination of 48 guests to make travel arrangements from Chicago, Michigan, and Arizona to Jamaica was a bit of a challenge, but in the end everyone and all of our luggage with the favors and other things we had to bring down with us all made to Jamaica without a hitch!

Jamaican Destination Wedding Video

The beautiful scenery in Jamaica was something I had never experienced before. When you see pictures of the Caribean, the water is always so crystal clear and blue, but it always looks fake. Being able to be married and have our reception take place steps away from that beautiful ocean is something I will never forget. My good friend of Caitlin Lisa Photography, was there to capture the still moments of the fun and love in the air! I had also anticipated that we might end up in the ocean by the end of the night, so I was so glad we were able to capture the “trashing of the dress” when we went for a midnight swim!

Alyssa’s Special Wedding Details

My mother passed away in September just before we were engaged. Although she was not able to be there in person, I know she was there in spirit and I was able to include her in many parts of our special day. We worked with an awesome custom design jeweler in Chicago, Ethan Lord and they were able to take my mom’s diamonds from her wedding ring and include them in my engagement ring, wedding band and necklace. I also used fabric from her wedding dress and had a custom wedding garter made. This was a very special way to keep her close to me throughout the wedding day and now every time I look at my rings I think of her.

Why Alyssa + Bob Chose WeddingMix

Since we were having a wedding vacation extravaganza, we wanted a way to capture both the wedding day, as well as all of the fun around the resort. WeddingMix allowed us an affordable way to capture all of the important wedding moments, but also all of the fun that our guests experienced at the pool, beach, on excursions and more!

WeddingMix brought a special aspect to our wedding moments and helped to capture the little details that you often don’t see, like getting ready, enjoying time with your friends and all of their marriage advice! We also splurged and took a helicopter ride to the resort so we could pretend we were on an episode of The Bachelorette and being able to see the videos as we fly along the beach coming up to the resort is an experience I will never forget (and never do again) so I am so glad we were able to capture the video and include it in our special video.