Read the complete magazine article - Cayman Islands

different schools, while we have exchanged a railway
line at the bottom of the garden for picture postcard
views of the Cornish coast.
The icing on the cake took a little more organising
however - a romantic wedding day in the Cayman
Islands…
Our decision to travel overseas to get married wasn’t
taken lightly. In the end, despite the wonderful setting
of our new life in Cornwall, we wanted to treat the whole
family to a holiday of a lifetime as part of the wedding
adventure. With the weeks running out before Kathryn
started her new job and my diary filling up, we started
searching for our dream location.
We must have bought every travel magazine in the
village shop before I suggested Grand Cayman. I had
visited the island to write a wreck-diving feature and
knew it was the perfect location for combining a family
break and an amazing wedding. We only had a week to
spare and cramming it all in as we settled in Cornwall
was going to be a tall order.
For those of you who didn’t listen carefully in geography
classes, the Cayman Islands is still a British Overseas
Territory, a short flight south of Cuba in the western
Caribbean. Originally discovered by Columbus in
1503, nowadays it is best known partly as a centre for
international finance and also a haven for tourism,
blessed by one of the most glorious beaches in the
Caribbean, if not the world – Seven Mile Beach.
It is also one of the greatest places in the world to
dive and enjoy a long list of water sports. The clear,
warm water lures divers from around the globe, while
children can snorkel for brightly coloured fish just yards
from the shoreline. You can swim with huge friendly
stingrays, get up close and personal with giant turtles
and the prehistoric Blue iguana, as well as enjoy some
breathtaking Caribbean scenery.
Most holidaymakers stay along Seven Mile Beach
and we obviously wanted somewhere special to
enjoy our special moment. The team at Celebrations
suggested The Caribbean Club – Seven Mile Beach’s
most luxurious semi self-catering development. The
With boxes lying unpacked in the hallway and school
holidays threatening, we decided to take the strain out
of the whole affair and use a wedding planning company.
Celebrations have been putting the icing on the cake
for couples in the Cayman Islands since 1988, including
assorted celebrities and well-known faces.
Both Kathryn and I have been married before and had
already decided on a simple ceremony. So instead of a
traditional beach location, we asked Celebrations, one
of Grand Cayman’s best wedding organisers, to find a
luxurious boat to let us tie the knot at sea. And while
the children knew they were going on holiday, we had
deliberately neglected to tell them that we were getting
married at the same time!
apartments are simply huge, most with views of the
ocean and every conceivable extra including a lovely
restaurant and infinity pool.
We arrived at Owen Roberts Airport in Georgetown five
days before the big event. So by the time we stepped
aboard the 42ft Cayman Illusion, run by Cayman Luxury
Charters, we were already relaxed and sporting a
suitable tan. The original plan had been to marry the
day after we landed from an 11 hour flight – a very bad
idea indeed!
The Illusion is an air-conditioned dreamboat, polished to
perfection for the biggest day of our lives. The children
seemed more interested in the flatscreen TV in the
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