I Guess We Are Going BlacktoPoland

Around November of 2019 Mateusz and I started discussing one of us moving to be with the other. This conversation has never been easy because Mateusz has always been firm on the idea of me not leaving my family, friends, job, and house. But, for me this decision was an easy one after very little thought. Of course I love my family and friends, however remember Mateusz loves his job and I only loved the people. Also, I have always wanted to travel the world and I made a decision to sell all I own, pack a bag, and leave to travel the world prior to meeting Mateusz.

Now, it is around March 2020 and I decided that Mateusz and I could have a destination wedding in 7/4/2021. I am researching locations, flights for our families, which resorts have the best deals, and which location is the prettiest! I am so excited and for me it’s not the wedding that I am excited about, but the planning of an event. I love planning parties and thinking of cute decorations and researching new ideas. I just love it!!! And the blessing that a destination wedding gives you is that you don’t have to hire any additional people to setup, cook, breakdown, take pictures, or pick out decorations. It is all there at one location.

After some research I came upon the Sandals Resort. Ooo la la!!! Ok, I am excited all over again. LoL! Sandals Resort offered the best destination wedding package out of the ones I researched. The wedding is free if you stay at the resort for more than 3 days and the longer you stay more perks are included in your wedding package! Also Sandals gives you more “Bells and Whistles” with the more people who attend your wedding, 5 rooms booked or more. Sounds like a deal to me (Sandals, n.d.)!

Although, I already have a wedding planner, Tyeisha, lol, Sandals offers a free Wedding Planner with your package. They offer a photographer with the package too.  The only thing I saw that was concerning is that there is a “residency requirement” and this requires that you arrive to the country a certain amount of days prior to your wedding date. This will be 2-3 days which includes day of arrival and excludes weekends or public holidays. And in order to get your marriage license you will need to go offsite to retrieve the application (Sandals, n.d.). These requirements did not prove to be very challenging, but it would require a sooner arrival and longer trip.

Trying to find a destination was not very difficult considering all of the locations are so beautiful! My coworker Eric suggested Barbados, but I had to make sure the prices for travel will be comparable for both of our families. And guess what? The flight from Poland to Barbados and Columbia, SC to Barbados is almost the same, around $800. The other locations cost for flights were significantly hirer for one side of the family or the other. Mateusz! Should I place a deposit?!?! Please, please, please!

At this time, they only wanted a $50 deposit and I was 2 seconds away from throwing my $50 at this deal. Shot! That was less than $5000 for a wedding, including the reception, cake, and toast! Say what now?!? I was sold. Shoot y’all can eat dinner at this ALL-INCLUSIVE resort! But, Madame COVID-19 had other plans and Mateusz told me to wait a little to see what happens to travel before making a deposit.

Needless to say, I stopped all of my planning for this destination wedding. Mateusz and I decided to go in a different direction with our future wedding plans. As you may have figured, I planned the whole thing in 2-3 weeks and know the locations I would like to host the wedding reception in the US. This just tickles me. I am so obsessed with knowing what the landscapes of my challenges are. LoL!!! And I do not have anyone to blame.

Our running idea has been to have a wedding and one of the receptions in Poland. Then, have the second reception in South Carolina. This will give Mateusz the idea of having a traditional Polish wedding, a Catholic wedding in a chapel and 2-3 days of receptions. But, I am definitely getting my yearlong honeymoon, which will be mini honeymoons throughout the year. That’s the part I am excited about.