The Bahamas’ best wedding resorts

Just north of the Caribbean but with all the palm trees, trade winds, and baby-blue waters of its neighboring sea, the Bahamas encompass scores of islands and hundreds of resorts. They’re easy to get to (about an hour’s flight from Miami) but deliciously foreign—conch fritters are on every menu, and the rum punches are potent and tall. We recently spent a few days on the islands, researching the best wedding venues. Here’s our pick of the lot on  Nassau’s New Providence Island and its glam annex, Paradise Island. (Stay tuned for our report on the Out Islands.)

Atlantis Paradise Island

Atlantis Paradise Island

To give you some idea of the scale of this ancient-Atlantis-themed high-rise mega-resort, Atlantis Paradise Island  has more rooms (2,300) than any resort in the Bahamas and so many water park rides that someone from among your wedding guests will no doubt be late to the ceremony because they wanted to get in one more go on the Leap of Faith. There’s even a 600-room hotel within a hotel, The Cove, which is meant to be more elegantly low key than the rest of the property, although you might wonder if The Cove’s Cain Pool bans kids to keep the noise down or exempt the adults from having to act like proper role models.  Weddings play a big role at Atlantis, with almost two dozen ceremony and reception venues for couples to chose from and a new beachside chapel under construction.

Gardens at One & Only Ocean Club Bahamas

One & Only Ocean Club

Arguably the most upscale resort in the Bahamas, the One & Only Ocean Club is a tranquil enclave sitting on the beach on Paradise Island.  But for any couple looking for a unique tropical setting, the resort’s outstanding feature is its formal garden, the centerpiece of which is an imported medieval French cloister that, unlike the stone ruins at the Atlantis resort, is genuine. The Ocean Club’s reputation for fine dining is genuine, too, so consider a rehearsal dinner at Dune, whose menu is overseen by the culinary master Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Marley’s Resort and Spa, where you might find a Marley family member jamming at the bar

Marley’s Resort & Spa

If there might be anything with a reggae beat in your wedding playlist, Marley’s Resort & Spa in Nassau is a wedding venue you would be remiss not to consider. Once a vacation home for the legendary singer and his large, lively family, it is now a 16-room hotel where you might still run into some of those family members, including Bob’s daughter Stephanie, who runs it. Wedding ceremonies are typically held in the inner courtyard or out by the beach, then move to the pool or the tented terrace for the reception. Do stop by the Stir it Up Bar, though, where you might even find a Marley jamming.

Compass Point Beach Resort is another Bahamian resort with musical roots

Compass Point Beach Resort

Another New Providence hotel with strong musical roots, Compass Point Beach Resort was founded in 1995 by Chris Blackwell, the musical producer who introduced Bob Marley and U2 to the world. After making a zillion dollars with Island Records, Blackwell went on to found a group of boutique hotels under the name of Island Outposts, of which Compass Point is a member. The resort, west of Cable Beach, is a collection of carnival-colored huts standing at the edge of the ocean. Compass Point can manage weddings of up to 100 guests, with ceremonies taking place under the gazebo at the end of their private dock or on Love Beach, adjacent to the property.

Graycliff Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas,  has a historic past and acclaimed wine cellar

Graycliff

If you’d rather have your wedding set against a background of history than a waterslide, this might be your spot. While Graycliff, built in the 1700’s by a pirate who flew the skull and crossbones from it, does have a surprisingly big pool —  thanks to the eccentric woman who owned the property when it was servings its last re-incarnation as a private residence — you can’t stay long there without feeling a sense of the Old Nassau. And then there’s the wine cellar – 250,000 bottles, among them some of the world’s rarer vintages, such as an 1865 Château Lafite, and a 1727 Rudesheimer Apostelwein, which the father of the bride, if he gets in a dangerously generous mood, could find himself shelling out $200,000 for. What a place for a rehearsal dinner, though, as long as dad is picking up the bar tab.

Sandals Royal Bahamian

Sandals Royal Bahamian

We’ll always have a soft place in our hearts for the Sandals Royal Bahamian, near Cable Beach, because two of our staff had a significant romantic experience there, with each other, as it happens. And although we weren’t married at the Grand Bahamian, if we want to call up the joy of new love we just have to remember the day we sailed one of the resort’s Hobie Cats over to its private island – and survived. As with any Sandals, there’s not much in the way of weddings that the Royal Bahamian can’t arrange for you – including having the bride and groom arrive, we would guess, by Hobie Cat.

Baha Mar mega-resort to open in Bahamas December 2014

Baha Mar

In December 2014, a resort complex being touted as the largest in the Caribbean region is scheduled to open just outside of Nassau on New Providence Island. The $3.5 billion project, called Baha Mar, will be massive — 2,200 rooms spread over four luxury hotels on 3,000 feet of white sand beach, 14 swimming pools, 30 restaurants, nightclubs and bars, a casino, a performing arts center, and 200,000 square feet of meeting space. If your wedding dreams tend toward the over-the-top, you may have just met your match.

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Want to know more about planning destination wedding travel to hotels and resorts in the Bahamas? Our travel partners at Coastline Travel Advisors, a Virtuoso agency, are ready to help.

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