First attempt

The decision to get married in the Cook Islands was made before we left Switzerland. Our idea was to have a simple beach wedding in a tropical paradise. With many resorts in the Cook Islands offering weddings it was hard to find the one best suited for us. During our travels in Australia we made our decision. We set the date, the venue, the package and everything was ready once we arrived in Rarotonga. Or, at least we thought that everything was ready.

We don't think we are very picky or difficult customers but from the minute we arrived at the resort things went wrong. We felt we were completely forgotten about after we were brought to our room. We had to find the wedding planner ourselves and a day before our big day the details were still not discussed. Once we finally sat down with the wedding planner, she started out by welcoming us as Stacey and John. On top of the non-existing organization, half the beach was blocked off with big yellow caution tape. At first sight, it looked like a crime scene. To cut a long story short, everything was wrong and we needed to to get out of there.

We cancelled our wedding, managed to get our money back, left the fancy resort, jumped on the local bus with suit and dress in hand and checked in to the closest hostel. We were backpackers again. Even though we felt more at home at the hostel, we did not see ourselves spending our first night as a married couple in a dorm room. Our wedding would have to wait until a later date.