Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas – November 5, 2010 – Maggie Sand and Jan-Erik Barth, lucky winners in a Bahamas Ministry of Tourism Bahamas Bridal Bailout Contest and maid-of-honour Heather Sand and bestman Leonel Solis share a joyous moment following their recent wedding ceremony at Pelican Bay at Lucaya’s Water’s Edge Gazebo.
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Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas
- Margaret Barth and Jan-Erik Sand, one
of five lucky couples bailed out with a Bahamas Destination Wedding,
tied the knot at Pelican Bay at Lucaya’s Water’s Edge Gazebo October
17th .
The couple was one of many telling their
love story in video and essay format in a Bahamas Ministry of Tourism
Bridal Bailout Contest. The stories were judged and twenty couples’
stories selected. The stories carried a common vein of belief,
determination and love to overcome the odds. The winning five
couples won dream weddings at five hotels in The Bahamas. Pelican
Bay was amongst the five hotels participating in the contest and hosting
a couple.
“Maggie and I cannot stop thinking
about how absolutely wonderful our first trip to the Bahamas truly was!”
wrote Jan-Erik. “Our wedding at your hotel will be remembered forever
and the joy that our families and friends shared with us that day will
never be forgotten. From the stunning photos to unmatched hospitality
by your ENTIRE staff, our trip was heavenly!”
He continued, “We cannot say enough
good things about your hotel and the care you showed us as we describe
the details of our trip with those here at home. We have traveled all
over the world and NEVER met such wonderful people. You and your staff
will surely see us again soon (Maggie and I hope to come on our one
year anniversary)."
“Thank you a thousand times for the care and love you showed us our
special day, and we miss everyone at the hotel already!” said Jan-
Erik.
The couple hail from Ventura, California
and flew to Grand Bahama Island and Pelican Bay at Lucaya with 33 guests
for their Destination Wedding. The bride carried a bouquet of
tropical blooms. Performing the wedding ceremony was Bishop Reno
V. Smith.
This is Maggie and Jan-Erik’s Real
Life love experience: We were beginning our last, very long convoy
across Iraq. It had been a very active, sleepless deployment. On the
evening of our departure, at about 1230 AM we were speeding down a two
lane highway north of Baghdad, when our driver had to swerve off the
road to avoid barbwire and lost control. Totaling our massive truck
left me knocked out, waking up to my teammate inside holding onto my
legs and yelling to see if I was ok (in turn he successfully secured
his spot as the best man in my wedding)… Unable to breathe, my next
memory was waking up in a blackhawk as I was being flown to a hospital
in Baghdad.
Maggie, a Sergeant in the US Army, was a nurse stationed at that hospital
and working on the same floor that I was admitted to after the accident,
this is her story…
After we first glanced and each other, we just couldn’t stop smiling!
We still joke all the time about how much our faces hurt from too much
time laughing together. We immediately began talking every day,
and that elementary school “crush” feeling was obvious. This lasted
for about another week or so, before we had to say our goodbyes, not
knowing what the future held…
About a week later I was finally completing my tour, and Maggie was
given nearly 3 weeks of leave back in the United States before having
to go back to Iraq to finish the last few months of hers. Knowing our
time was short. Maggie and I got to spend only 1 weekend together when
she flew out to California just days before heading back to Baghdad.
Still, that was all the time we needed to start officially dating. We
knew this was it all along, so I popped the question at the beach in
Ventura, CA on February 16th.
At that moment we knew the next year
of our lives together would be incomparable to the hardships we faced
over the previous. We used to joke about Iraq being the, “beach with
no water.” So we thought, a destination wedding at a tropical beach
might just be what we need to restore the meaning of beauty in our lives.
What more beautiful place in the world than the “beaches with water”
like those in the Bahamas? We think the Islands of the Bahamas should
bail us out so we can experience a wedding that we couldn’t have even
fathomed from where we were in our lives just a short year ago. Celebrating
a reception with some bongo drums and local foods would make us never
want to leave…
The couple and eight of the 33 guests won a trip complete with air,
hotel accommodation and ground transfers.
