Island-Hopping on a D.I.Y. Caribbean Cruise
Somewhere between them lie ferries, offering do-it-yourself island-hopping trips that explore the Caribbean, slow-travel style.
In the Leeward Islands, the dual-nation island of Dutch St. Maarten and French St. Martin serves as a transportation hub, welcoming travelers to St. Maarten's busy Princess Juliana International Airport and offering connections to nearby destinations via ferry or flight.
The ferry companies offer day trips to visitors on St. Maarten who find themselves tantalizingly close to chic St. Barts or spy distant Saba on the horizon.
'You can leave one island and get four or five stamps in your passport,' said Malinda Hassell, the director of tourism for Saba, a Dutch Caribbean island. 'That's what makes this area unique.'
Testing the premise from a base in St. Maarten with my friend Anne Marie, I created my own spring cruise, ferrying to French St. Barts, mountainous Saba and beachy British Anguilla.
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Located less than 15 minutes from the beach, the estate smelled like salty Mediterranean air blended with white flowers and fig trees, which reminded the bride of the scents of her childhood. And with a main house dating back to the 14th century, two multi-bedroom villas, and a handful of casitas on the premises, as well as a restaurant, the property could actually house them and many of their 68 guests. Listen to fate While they loved the space, the couple weren't quite sure they had finally found their unicorn venue—until Des stopped by the spa and noticed some beautiful clothes on display. Back in 2019, she had selected a wedding dress by the Spanish designer Cortana. As she admired the precious silk and linen garments in the shop, she realized they all had the same tag. 'All of a sudden the light bulb goes on. Oh my god, that's Cortana!' she says. It turned out that the label's designer, Rosa Esteva, had helped design the space with her father and brother, the architects Antoni and Tomeu Esteva, making material selections and choosing the staff's neutral linen uniforms. 'That sealed the deal. We knew right there and then,' Des says. Don't be afraid to drop the wrong planner Their visit to Mallorca happened in October 2023, right before the property mostly shut down for the winter. For their next steps, the couple reached out to the wedding planner they'd previously spoken to in Greece. 'As novices of weddings, we asked, 'Hey, since you do Greece, can you do Mallorca?' And she said yes,' Des says. 'That was probably the biggest mistake of this whole wedding.' It didn't take long for the couple to realize that the planner's lack of expertise with the Balearic Island, and Es Racó's relative inexperience with weddings (theirs would only be the third thrown there), would make plotting the celebration an uphill battle. 'They are incredible, but they don't run a wedding-planning business. They run a hotel,' Des says. Struggling to nail down a date, what type of vendors they would need (like an AV team and furniture rentals), and the capabilities of different layouts or spots for each event, the couple finally flew from New York to Mallorca to hammer out the plan on site in April 2024. 'Our wedding planner turned out to be unprepared. She took me to a flower shop that was completely clueless, even when I had sent over inspiration multiple times,' says Des. 'So three days in, we fired the wedding planner.' With the wedding only six weeks away, they started over by asking Es Racó about the event planners that had worked on the two previous weddings held there, and ended up hiring Pauline de Saussure at Saussure Events, which was an instant game-changer. 'They knew the contact, the venue, the AV and logistics needs, and who could show up to the middle of the mountains with a wedding cake,' Des says. 'She brought to the table so many things that I didn't even know you had to do for the wedding.' Hold tight to your aesthetic vision While that first florist the couple saw had put forth dainty little blooms, Des and Shane had a bigger statement in mind for their florals—which is that there would barely be florals at all. The decor complemented the Mallorcan surroundings instead of competing with them, via warm wooden chairs, white candles in glass vessels, and spare explosions of palm leaves standing tall and architecturally, all handled by Enesencia Design. 'We chose to do a ton of candles to keep the light low. I think people look stunning when the light is at your eye level. It gives you that golden glow,' says Des. 'We had these very tall greens to add some height, since the tent was so tall.' Though vendors kept pushing them toward string lights, the couple wanted something more commanding, with James Turrell's fine-art installations as a reference. 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Shane's cofounder at Public Records, Francis Davis, who's a major collector of vinyl, also DJed after the band wrapped up. For her makeup, Des breached the best of both by researching whom the Cortana team used for their dreamy fashion photo shoots. Barbara Urra did the makeup of not just the bride, but that of her mother, mother-in-law, and sisters. Rosa Esteva of Cortana wound up helping Des get dressed on the big day, too. 'It was really, really special, because I have such admiration for her creations. Every dress and outfit I wore during the weekend were hers! It was a nice little treat to spend time with her,' says Des. Create a solid slate of plans For the proper vacation with loved ones they dreamt of, the couple pulled together a full itinerary around their wedding. On Thursday afternoon, they held welcome drinks at Es Racó, followed by a welcome dinner on the rooftop of Forn Nou, a homey restaurant in the nearest town of Artà. On Friday, they held a rehearsal dinner on site at Es Racó, followed by dancing. 'We actually had to kick everybody out at 1am, because nobody wanted to go to sleep,' says Des. Saturday began with a meditation with guests under a tree, with the moment dedicated to Shane's father, as it was the anniversary of his passing. That afternoon, they held a pool party, followed by another dinner on the property. 'Since we had bought out the hotel, it was four days of full immersion with the people we love at all points,' Des says. The wedding itself began in the early evening on Sunday, so that their son and the other invited children wouldn't get too cranky. The ceremony was held on the lawn, followed by a cocktail hour nearby with a local band, the Nayla Yenquis Group, playing. Guests were summoned to walk through a vineyard to a tent for dinner, while dessert and cake-cutting were held back on the terraces, under moonlight, where the dancing began in earnest. Share the local flavors As nearly every wedding event was held on site at Es Racó, the food was coordinated by the venue. 'They were excited to talk to us about the food because we wanted not just your run-of-the-mill catering; we wanted a culinary adventure with both food and wine, walking people through Spanish tradition and Mallorcan flavors,' says Des. Chef Maria Solivellas of the restaurant Ca na Toneta, which had been awarded a green star by the Michelin guide for its efforts in sustainability, led the catering. 'The restaurant is pretty intense about local ingredients and sustainable farming,' says Shane. For the rehearsal dinner they enjoyed local fish and lamb cooked over an outdoor firepit, along with roasted vegetables, many of which were grown on the property. 'It was all just really simple local seafood, which was what we wanted,' he continues. During cocktail hour, guests were offered classic Mallorcan bites, like anchovies, crunchy cod and tomato, roasted eggplant croquettes, and patatas bravas, while dinner itself was a grilled sea bass. Party with a taste of home The wedding dinner opened with a sip from Des' native Bulgaria: Small glasses of the fruit brandy rakia were handed out for a stiff toast. 'There's one in particular we love, and I figured out how to procure it and ship a few cases to Es Racó from Bulgaria,' the bride says. It was even served alongside an opening salad of mainly cucumbers and tomatoes, which is how it is typically consumed in her culture. After all the dancing and merriment (and cocktails), the group was wiped by the end of the wedding, so the partying didn't exactly follow the Spanish tradition of winding into the wee hours. And that suited the couple just fine—after all, they were parents. Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler The Latest Stories from Condé Nast Traveler Want to be the first to know? Sign up to our newsletters for travel inspiration and tips 45 Abandoned Places Around the World That You Can Visit The Cheapest Nicest Hotels in Paris The Women Who Travel Power List 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
