Can you tell that I love wedding stories at the beach? There’s something about an afternoon sunset colliding with the Caribbean waves that can’t be properly described, nor too often repeated. It’s a unique occasion, when you invite your closest friends and family to a destination wedding, so that everyone can disconnect for a couple of days, enjoy the feel of the warm sand, dance barefoot under the twinkling stars…I feel an ocean of nostalgia wash over me just thinking about weddings like Cary and Sean’s.

But this part of the love story is told in two acts, maybe. Or, better put, from two different perspectives. You see, I’d never met the couple before we began working together. So, to tell the story of Cary and Sean and Roatan, we have to begin in Tegucigalpa and Boston, and then move on to the magical island of Roatan to finish it off.

Going the Distance

Let’s introduce our cast: Cary (Caridad) is a Honduran-born psychiatrist living in Boston. She’s from La Ceiba, the beautiful and exotic beachfront town hidden in the northern coast of Honduras. But she lives in Boston, where she meets our second protagonist, Sean, a Boston native who specializes in geographic information systems. Our characters fall in love (only they can write that particular story), become engaged to each other, and happen upon a wedding planner on their Instagram feed. That’s me!

(We’ve never met, but they contact me, and we go through a quick Skype interview. The power couple visits Roatan to scope out the island, and we click. The exchange is effortless—I forget this is work. It is so refreshing to do my job with such professional, polite, sweet clients.)

So we embark on this long-distance relationship of sorts, planning out the wedding, refining the details, making sure everything is perfect for Cary and Sean (and, of course, Roatan).

Arriving at Destination: Wedding

I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion the anxiety that the destination wedding infuses me with. Really, the weather anywhere is uncertain. As a planner, I work to ensure each part of the wedding is perfect, or at the very least backed by three alternatives. The weather sometimes plays hard to get. But for Cary and Sean, Roatan seemed to understand it was a special day, and thus she behaved stunningly.

But so did everything else! It was perfect, from the guests, who made sure to confirm their attendance, so we knew the number of people who’d visit (what a relief), to the minute details that made this wedding so special.

The invitations, designed by the wonderful Ana Schubert, were mini-maps of the island of Roatan—remember that Sean’s work is maps, maps, maps. The welcome bags for the guests were a perfect representation of the couple: salt-water taffy from Boston, our beloved Zambos chips…you know, the basics. A little bit of this from La Ceiba, a little bit of that from Boston.

Happily Ever After

And I think that’s how I can sum up the wedding, really: it was Cary, and Sean, and Roatan. Guests came from both Honduras and the United States, arriving on the island, the ceviches and mojitos awaiting them. The night before the wedding, a long table greeted the wedding party at Ibagari, where the families got to know each other, mingle, listen to the sea lap at the shore.

The next day, Cary and Sean were wed in a chapel overlooking the big blue ocean.

At Las Verandas, meanwhile, the final decorative touches: poolside, a candle extravaganza, tropical, but not too exotic, the colors not pastel, not tropical, just the perfect blend—ring a bell?

And how did the happy couple arrive at their great celebration?

This is my last detail, and perhaps one of the loveliest. Remember, we’re talking about Cary from Honduras—she wants to dance all night in Spanish—and Sean from Boston—who wants to dance all night, too, but maybe not only in Spanish. How do we play the right tune? What if Bryan James plays next to Jorge Torres?

It might not work. You never know. But this time, it did. Oh, how everyone danced.

And so ends this part of the story, the chapter dedicated to Cary and Sean and Roatan. I’m so happy to have known this beautiful couple, to see them spend an unforgettable weekend for their destination wedding in Roatan. I hope to know how this love story continues.