Lovebirds Courtney and Jamil made headlines last year when they decided to publicly seek sponsorship for their destination wedding. Their plan to fund their dream destination wedding totally worked and the happy couple eloped in Thailand this winter. (The only thing they paid for were their flights.) See the romantic photos and share their love!
“Initially we planned on having a traditional wedding,” says Courtney. “We wanted something small and intimate; a luxury wedding for no more than 50 people. Our wedding list began to take on a mind of its own, jumping to nearly 250 guests. That’s when we decided to focus on us and what we really wanted. We never wanted to have a huge wedding, so we decided to elope but in a really cool way.”
“We decided to elope in Thailand,” shares the bride. “Since we are both avid travelers, we wanted somewhere we had never been, somewhere we could enjoy the beach and a place that had a lot of culture.”
“We had a private traditional ceremony on Andara Villas in Phuket,” says Courtney. “I cried and he shed a tear. We both wrote our own vows from the heart.”
“At the altar, I started crying,” shares the bride. “I tried to hold it in until I finished my vows, but I couldn’t. He wiped my tears away, which made it beautiful.”
“I chose white Thai orchids because orchids are my favorite flower,” Courtney shares. “When I found out Thailand had it’s own orchid that came in white, I knew that would be the perfect flower because we wanted something that represented the traditions of Thailand, it’s culture and what we love.” The flowers were provided by AndaraVillas.com.
“Everything was so beautiful from our venue to my beautiful wedding bouquet to our private beach. It was all so breathtaking and it blew my mind,” shares the bride.
“I said yes to his proposal because I knew without a doubt he was the man for me,” Courtney tells us. “He brings out the best in me and I bring out the best in him.”
“I knew that this was the woman I loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” Jamil says. “Besides loving her, I knew she’d be an awesome mother, and I wanted to start our family together.”
“I never believed in soul mates until I met him and now that I’ve experienced life with him, I never wanted to experience life without him,” says the lovely bride.
“When she made me her famous Jerk Chicken for me, I knew she was the one,” says Jamil. “Just kidding. I knew very early on that Courtney was special. She was the only woman I felt I could truly be my self around, and we’d have the greatest of times hanging out together without the need for television or phones and we just understood each other and matched perfectly.”
“I felt a spark the day we met, but knew he was the one after about six weeks of dating,” Courtney admits.
“What I love most about him is the way he loves me,” says the beaming bride. “He knows what I need to thrive and loves and supports my dreams.”
“I love her fun personality,” says Jamil. “After the looks and appearances have faded away, I can still picture her cracking corny jokes and making me laugh as we sit in our rocking chairs 60 years from now.”
“I wasn’t expecting to find the love of my life at a networking event at 25 years old, but I did,” says Courtney. “I was always open to finding love and I am so glad I had that mentality.”
“I didn’t think I’d find true love when I did,” says Jamil. “My relationship with Courtney truly took me by surprise, but it was a great surprise that I would never change if given the chance.”
“We planned everything together,” says Courtney. “We both had great ideas for special elements.”
“We had an outdoor ceremony for two,” Courtney explains. “Because we eloped to Thailand, there was not a traditional reception. After our nuptials, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at the Andara Resort, before retiring to our suite.”
“The wedding was great,” says Jamil. “We did it our way and it was even better than I expected.”
“It was the most memorable day of my life and exceeded my every expectation,” Courtney shares.
“When I saw him standing there waiting for me in his white tuxedo, a few tears almost fell but I refused to mess up my makeup so I dabbed them dry with my finger,” Courtney admits.
“I would call our theme Thai-American chic,” says the bride. “We had elements of Thai and America infused in with our traditions.”
“When I was getting my makeup done, there was this soft music playing and it hit me,” says Courtney. “I couldn’t believe we were getting married. I had to hold back the tears.”
Courtney and Jamil chose Thailand’s breathtaking Andara Resort to become husband and wife.
“We came up with the idea to seek corporate sponsors to cover the cost our wedding,” Courtney explains. “In all we had seven sponsors and I wore the signature sponsor’s (Allusions By A. Lekay) logo on my wedding veil.”
Since they eloped in breathtaking Thailand, Courtney and Jamil were instantly on an exotic honeymoon from the moment they said “I do.”
“Our first dance was to traditional Thai music,” says Courtney. “We wanted to incorporate as much of the Thai culture as possible. We fell in love with the music and made it our first dance music too. We decided against having a wedding cake.”
“These sponsors made it possible for us to have an extraordinary wedding and honeymoon,” says Courtney. “We wanted to show a millennial couple having an untraditional wedding, the way they wanted to have it. The message in our wedding is it’s about being true to what you want.”
“Our wedding day was magical and extraordinary,” shares the bride, and her groom agrees. “We created memories that will stick with us forever. It was filled with love and it was just us. Our family and friends understood and gave us their blessing. We came home to tons of gifts, congratulations and well wishes. In the end, we couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
“Our honeymoon took place in Bangkok and Phuket,” says Courtney. “Since we eloped we had the luxury of enjoying our 11-day stay in Thailand as our honeymoon.”
“We are planning to have a reception in Palm Beach, Florida to celebrate our marriage with all of our friends and family,” Courtney reveals.
Did you enjoy Courtney and Jamil’s wedding day as much as we did? Leave the happy couple some comment love below. Want to see your wedding featured in Bridal Bliss? Email us now!
