Meg and Jake’s destination wedding at Sandals Regency La Toc in Castries, St. Lucia, was nothing short of a tropical dream come true. With the stunning cliffside views as their backdrop, the couple celebrated their love in an intimate ceremony surrounded by just 29 of their closest family and friends. Planned by the talented Carlie Finch of 2 Travel Anywhere, along with the expert team at Sandals, their wedding was a stress-free and magical experience. Meg and Jake knew they wanted a beach wedding that reflected their love for the ocean and their desire for a relaxed, hands-off celebration. Their special day was filled with personal touches, including a custom-made heirloom ring, a jade green and champagne color scheme, and heartfelt moments like their guests gathering seashells at the water’s edge for a silent blessing. With entertainment from a steel pan band, a fun and energetic DJ, and a “Golden Hour” first dance, Meg and Jake’s wedding was an unforgettable celebration of love, surrounded by the natural beauty of St. Lucia. If you’re ready to be inspired to cut your cake by the ocean, keep on scrolling!
Meg + Jake
Location ~ Castries, St. Lucia at Sandals Regency La Toc
Guests ~ 29
Budget ~ $20,000 – 30,000
Who was a part of your wedding team?
Meg: The wonderful Carlie Finch, the Sand Lady, was our main planner. We also had a contact through Sandals named Sushane. We had calls with her prior and she helped with logistics of selecting decorations, entertainment, food, etc. Once we arrived on-site to the resort we had a team of 3 individuals that supported – Nala, Charmaine, and Keshla. They were all wonderful. When we initially booked the wedding we had not met Carlie, and had the pleasure of meeting her at the Nashville Pink Bride wedding expo. The entire process was 10x easier and more stress-free having Carlie involved. She actually visited Sandals La Toc in early 2024 and was able to send us photos of the resort which was so helpful to visualize things. We met with the wedding team onsite the day before the wedding and toured all the venues and finalized details. You could tell they knew what they were doing which was so reassuring and allowed us to feel more relaxed and able to enjoy our time stress free.
How did you guys meet?
Meg: We met on Hinge in May of 2020! I had never been on a dating app and had just graduated from Belmont and thought maybe I should give it a try. Jake was one of the first people I matched with. We did not hang out until early August 2020 and officially began dating in October of 2020.
Tell us about your engagement!
Meg: We had an heirloom diamond that we wanted to use to custom make my ring. We went to a local shop in Nashville called Consider the Wldflowers and they were absolutely incredible. I was able to pick out the style I wanted, and the rest was in Jake’s hands. He surprised me while we were out visiting his family in California for Christmas. He proposed at Corona Del Mar beach right at sunset, and he had a few friends there to capture the moment. It was so magical. Afterward, we had a surprise dinner with family and friends. It was picture-perfect!
What was the vision for your wedding?
Meg: I have always wanted to get married on a beach. My dad and brother both live in St. John USVI and I grew up going there. Jake is from Orange County so also grew up by the beach. We both come from divorced families and knew realistically it wouldn’t be possible to gather everyone in the same place. We also love a more intimate setting. We settled on a small destination wedding with receptions in our home states to celebrate with a larger group of family and friends. We had heard wonderful things about Sandals and decided it would be a great fit for what we were looking for – I wanted a hands-off wedding where our guests could enjoy a vacation with spectacular views, and Jake and I wouldn’t have to worry about the stress of setting up and such. Jake loves golf so we narrowed it down to St. Lucia, Bahamas, and Jamaica. St. Lucia won out as the views were just what we were looking for. There are 3 Sandals resorts on the island, and we chose La Toc for the ceremony primarily due to its stunning cliffside views. We also settled on inviting a few close friends rather than have a bridal party. We invited our parents and siblings and that was it. We envisioned the weekend as an island getaway with our people celebrating entering this new life chapter.
What was your theme and what inspired it?
Meg: We opted for an island/beachy theme and wanted a garden-like decor to compliment the natural beauty of the island we were getting married on. We did a lot of research into Sandals weddings to look at theme options and really gather what we specifically wanted, which was an ultimate beach/garden wedding reception. I remember watching weddings on the beach as a kid and dreaming that would be me one day. It was so fun to see it all start to come together.
What details were used to create your theme?
Meg: Initially, I started going through inspirations that Sandals has but was a little up in the air for what the vision was. They essentially have a decor catalog that you pick from, and a few things stood out, but didn’t quite know how to fit them all together. I met the wonderful Alex Hefley from Sincerely Adeline at the Pink Bride show in Nashville. She had been to Sandals La Toc and therefore had seen everything in person (which was more than us at that point! ) We had a Zoom call and went through a few designs and the one we landed on captured the island’s essence. At that point, Jake also decided that he wanted to wear a green suit, so we decided that with a small party, it would be wise to have a color scheme for our guests. We settled on a jade green, bronze, gold, and champagne. We included this in our “Guide to St. Lucia” which was a pamphlet that came with the invitation. We included a QR code for our travel agent in this so everyone could get booked easily, as well as tips for travel. With all of that done we began to pick out our centerpieces and table decor. We made friendship bracelets that were the colors from the guest’s color scheme as a name tag for everyone’s place setting. For florals, we used a lot of palm leaves and greenery – again, just trying to stick with the natural beauty of the island. Our reception venue was on the lawn and all of the decor ended up complimenting things really well.
Where did you splurge? Where did you save/DIY?
Meg: We splurged on our itineraries and gifts for guests. Since we were traveling we couldn’t bring much, so we opted to mail everything to the guests prior. We worked with Sincerely Adeline again and they were able to use our same color scheme/design for custom-made fans that had our itinerary listed. The itinerary looked like palm leaves and had a custom wood handle. In addition to the fans, Alex partnered with a woman in Hawaii who hand-painted brushes for each guest, meant to dust sand off your toes. It was a hit and extremely handy! We also splurged on entertainment. We had a violinist at the ceremony and a steel pan band for the cocktail hour, and of course a DJ! One of the biggest things we saved on was additional food. I wanted to have a late-night menu and keep the party going, however, we had a pub with a full menu that was open till 2 AM included in everyone’s stay. So, instead of spending on additional food, we had on our itineraries to meet at the pub for the after-party.
What words of advice do you have for couples in the midst of their planning?
Meg: Breathe!!! Time goes by fast and you will blink and poof, it is your wedding day. Also remember you are in it for the both of you. We had a date night on the 6th of every month leading up to the wedding and tried to stay by each others side all night. It is easy to get caught up in the details. Also, something is going to go wrong. There was a hurricane days before we left (one of the earliest hurricanes ever) and my brother got Dengue fever and was unable to attend at all. While neither of those was on my bingo card for things that could go wrong, I knew there was nothing I could do, and was just thankful St. Lucia sustained minimal damage and my brother was able to get treated. Overall your wedding is for you and your spouse, and remembering that is really key!
Can you share any special moments or highlights from your wedding day?
Meg: The main highlight was the beautiful weather. Hurricane Beryl had us very nervous however we ended up with clear skies which was perfect as almost all our events were outside. Jake and I actually stayed together the morning of the wedding and talked through our vows. I then got ready with a small group of friends while Jake did the same. Our ceremony had some “mermaid” onlookers. In some of our photos, you can see people in the water clapping for us. In the moment we didn’t notice, we were so focused on each other, but it is fun to look back on. At the end of the ceremony, all of our guests walked to the waters edge and gathered a sea shell. Everyone did a silent prayer or blessing for the bride and groom and then threw the shell into the water. It was such a sweet moment and while it wasn’t caputed ina photo it is something we will always remember. Our photographer was a ton of fun. We both met him for the first time just a few minutes before walking down the aisle and could immediately tell we were going to have some great pictures. After the ceremony we had our friends gather for a round of photos then family. We wanted to include everyone since it was such a small group and had a lot of fun taking some candids with everyone. The pictures turned out just stunning…the background almost looks fake! We also finished in a timely manner and were able to enjoy cocktail hour and steel pan band with our guests. One of the other highlights was our first dance to the song “Golden Hour” by Kasey Musgrave. It was literally golden hour and it was just so beautiful. We also loved our signature drink, “To Have or To Loupe.” The smaller group was also a highlight. We only had 5 tables so we were able to spend quality time with everyone but also time for ourselves. Our room was up the hill from where our group was staying and we had a private pool with butler service. When we got back after the party ended they had decorated the room with flowers and some cute Mr. and Mrs. gifts. There was also a smaller version of our wedding cake to eat. The next day they arranged to bring breakfast in bed and set up a private cabana on the beach for us. The personalized service was just incredible, and made things so stress free for us. Another big one, which won’t initially sound like a highlight, but it was a positive. My younger brother lives on St. John USVI and the day before we were due to leave for the trip, my mom called to let me know he had contracted Dengue Fever and was in the hospital. He had a blood infection and was unable to travel and make it to the wedding. My mom was able to arrange with the staff for a photo to be printed and put in a frame, so it was like he was there! The wedding was also live streamed and he was able to watch. We had some fun taking photos with the frame and it was so special to have him there with us in some form. Our DJ was a highlight. We cut our cake to the song “Cake By The Ocean” which was a lot of fun. We also did a ladies’ dance to “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” which was a ton of fun. If you can’t tell from the ladies dance and friendship bracelets I am a huge Swiftie, LOL! Before the wedding, we had to submit a “Do Not Play Even If Requested” list, and I included songs like Cha Cha Slide, Wobble, etc. Our DJ understood from that the music we didn’t want and we ended up very happy with everything that was played. Every single guest danced right up till 9 PM when festivities wrapped up. At the end of the night almost all of the group jumped in the swimming pool and we had an after party at the pub. The whole day was just a dream come true.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your wedding?
Meg: I was very involved in a non-profit program called Best Buddies, which aims to end the isolation of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. When I first got involved about a decade ago I met one of my now best friends, Josh Brown. His family became like my own and when the time came to decide who was officiating our wedding we immediately knew, Josh’s dad, Kevin Brown, would be excellent. Kevin is a motivational speaker and author. His wife and Josh’s mom, Lisa, were all planning to attend, however, Josh got a job at Disney World less than a month before we left! We missed him, but are so incredibly proud of him. Kevin was an incredible officiant and we enjoyed having Kevin and Lisa there. Kevin wrote a wonderful poem for the ceremony and all our guests were so engaged. The destination wedding wasn’t a textbook wedding by any means, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way. We also had ivy bars at the cocktail hour and reception in an effort to keep things green wherever you looked!
Huge thank you Meg and Jake for sharing your incredible destination wedding at Sandals Regency La Toc!
