“A lot of discussions were done remotely on Zoom, so those trips to Bermuda would have probably happened anyway,” says Alisha, as the couple go to the island so often. On one favorite visit, they were joined by their best man and his wife for a tasting of their wedding food, while on another, the bride-to-be did hair and makeup trials.
Craft unforgettable visuals
On the couple’s highlight reel for the day, they recall two special moments that were utter celebrations of their location. First, they staged their ceremony on “the disc,” a circular space on the hotel property that juts into the sea and is usually utilized for fitness classes and conferences. “Dirk and I came up with the idea for the pie formation, with Sergio and I at the center and our guests surrounding us, which hadn’t been done on the disc before,” says Alisha. The staging resulted in some stunning bird’s-eye view photos but was magical on the ground, too, as guests could look out onto ocean views and the famous pink sands.
At the end of the ceremony—which was performed by Sergio’s uncle and mostly Christian in tradition, with a reading in Arabic by one of Alisha’s friends—the newlyweds surprised the crowd with a Gombey processional. The colorful, distinctly Bermudian performance art and folk tradition developed, as the couple explained in their wedding programs in a description from the nonprofit Sankofa Bermuda, “centuries ago by Bermuda’s slave population to give artistic expression to humanity and freedom in the face of unfathomable cruelty and indignation.”
“When Sergio and I kissed, the drums started, and everyone was like, ‘Oh, what is that?!’ There was this mystery,” Alisha remembered. “Everyone was just in awe, especially the guests from the States and Canada who had never seen this before.” The newlyweds started dancing, and they led the procession of the dancers and then their guests down the hill to the reception space on the lawn in front of the Residence.
Honor the island with special vendors
The Gombey wasn’t the only big Bermudian touch at the wedding. The couple had a cigar roller on hand from the Bermuda Cigar Company, as the country has a long history as a trading post for Cuban cigars making their way up the coast. “It was a big, big hit, and everyone loved it because he was so sweet, this adorable man,” says Alisha.
