So by now you know we had a mass vow renewal ceremony on Eagle beach on Tuesday, with more than 160 couples from around the world, and from Aruba pledging “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”
I get mushy reading the text, let alone saying it out loud.
ATA promoted the event on social media, and got a strong response, meeting and exceeding the goal set at 150 couples. They promoted it among timeshares owners, and resort guests, concierges, wedding and event planners, and recruited some glittery star power via the island’s NY public relations company.
Standing on the beach, I saw my friends Pedro & Rosario Vargas, and Christine Leo & Lionel Kaarsbaan; they were all gorgeous, and beaming. I met Pedro & Rosario at the supermarket the day before and they invited me to “their” renewal ceremony. I loved it.
The forefront of the group picture featured some international influencers in the romance biz, Mr. & Mrs. Worldwide, Scott & Colette, of the Travel Channel, and travel couple Hannah & Adam Lukaszewicz, of Gettingstamped.com, both couples with millions of followers. Theknot.com streamed the ceremony live, and Tamra & Eddie Judge, famous for “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” already gave us some on line coverage. Take a look:
http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/tamra-judge-eddie-judge-vow-renewal-photos
Ruben Trappenberg struck the perfect tone as the wedding official, he wasn’t cheesy, he wasn’t melodramatic, he was playful and fun, talking about love and commitment without scaring anyone off the beach! Kudos on how he handled the challenging occasion.
Emcee Michele Brooks must have been a sergeant major in her previous life; she exercised crowd control, got everyone’s attention and conducted a cute Q&A session: Where are you from? How many years have you been married? Did you tie the knot or honeymooned in Aruba?
Not surprisingly, the majority of the crowd has been here before, and enjoyed emotional ties to the island.
I liked the casual, spontaneous, unrehearsed and non-commercial beach ambiente, it was a free-of-charge event, the sand and sun are priceless and so is love.
The ceremony offered a steel pan version of the wedding march, champagne, live music, and a short Carnival show, then the buses loaded up the lovebirds and left at 7:30pm. The beach emptied, only memories remain.
So, the Caribbean’s largest vow renewal, on the 3rd best beach in the world, Eagle Beach, was a success; Lissy Lampe and Letz Aruba helped set up the symbolic arches and flowers. Thank you for not overshadowing the beach.
Take a look at Artnphoto Aruba pictures.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/artnphotoaruba/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1588589424504723
