Patience Pays Off with Quianna & Phillip's Royal Wedding at Sandals

The pictures from Quianna and Phillip’s wedding at Sandals Royal Caribbean draw a variety of responses from people who see them. It’s oohs and aahs from friends and family reminded of the mood along the private Jamaican beach. It’s breathy joy from Phillip himself. And for anyone who knows the full story of how Quianna and Phillip started their relationship, it’s, “Gee, just think what might have been.”

Even Phillip sometimes thinks about “what is” versus “what almost wasn’t.”
“It’s a good thing I’m a patient man,” he says.

If he hadn’t shown uncommon patience on the day of his first date with Quianna, they would have never been married with their feet in the island sand, with a saxophonist and violinist sending beautiful music into the ocean breeze, with nearly 100 guests witnessing the most beautiful wedding they’d ever seen — and perhaps witnessing Phillip in tears.

“I couldn’t help it,” Phillip says. “It was such a powerful union of cultures there on the beach, and it’s even more powerful when you know the full story.”

Quianna admits she was late for their first date. The two of them had found each other online. They exchanged enough texts, phone calls, and Facetime calls to be certain that they wanted to have dinner face to face. They planned to meet on the Fourth of July in Manhattan, an 80-minute commute from Quianna’s home in Westchester County … assuming Quianna did not forget her ID.

“I was almost to the city before I realized I had to go back home and get it,” she says.

Meanwhile, Phillip sat in the restaurant looking at an empty chair. An hour passed. Two hours. Anyone other than Phillip would have crossed off this first date as being stood up. But this is Phillip.

“He waited two hours and forty-five minutes,” Quianna says.

“Four hours,” Phillip says.
“Every year he adds another half hour,” Quianna says.

They can laugh about it now because of where things went from there: all the way to their promise to love and to cherish at Sandals Royal Caribbean.
“He showed me his true character on that first date,” Quianna says. “When I finally arrived, he came outside to give me a hug. I told him, ‘Be careful of my makeup.’ Instead, he hugged me closer.”

He even wrote a love song about the first date. And then, to determine their fate as a couple, Quianna gave him a more serious test.
“She said I had to propose by December 31,” Phillip says.

He didn’t know what her “or else” would be, and he didn’t want to find out. Still, in pure Phillip fashion, he turned the table on Quianna and playfully made her wait this time. Christmas came and went. On December 30, they went to dinner at the same restaurant where they had their first date. They ate, paid, and left. Phillip took Quianna, privately disappointed, back home. And there, 26 hours before her deadline, she walked into a surprise proposal party.

It was merely setting up the best celebration of all.
It’s impossible to say who felt more excited about getting married. From the beginning, Phillip and Quianna have shared laughs, chills, and plaudits about their relationship.
Phillip: “She has an energy that makes me happy all the time.”
Quianna: “He’s always so sweet to me.”
But they do not share credit for the decision of a destination wedding.
“That was mostly my idea,” Phillip says.

They’re both well-traveled. Phillip spent the first nine years of his life in Venezuela and many vacations since in the Dominican Republic. Quianna was born and raised in St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica. After they’d been dating for a while, Quianna served as a bridesmaid at her brother’s wedding at Sandals South Coast. Phillip couldn’t attend, but he noticed the gorgeous scenery around Quianna during their daily Facetime calls. So, he made an announcement.

“Let’s get married on a beach in Jamaica. I want sand on my toes, and I want our guests to enjoy the best hospitality in the world.”
He also chose the resort. “When I saw pictures of Sandals Royal Caribbean, I said, ‘That’s the place.’ It’s a smaller property, homey and private, yet it’s big enough to accommodate a wedding party.”

The two of them weren’t sure how big their party would be until people began to respond to the invitation. The mounting yesses could have been a testament to peoples’ affection for Quianna and Phillip … or for the promise of a vacation on a Jamaican beach. Either way, when the wedding week came, they all turned Sandals Royal Caribbean into a magnificent melting pot.
“She’s Jamaican and I’m Latino,” Phillip says. “Guests came from around the world, so we had all these accents and backgrounds together as one. It was absolutely beautiful.”

Phillip is man enough to admit this: “I cried the entire time.” He’s talking about the wedding, but he’s pretty emotional about the suite where he and Quianna stayed, too. To this day, they can’t believe the tub, the in-room bar, and the two butlers who were as thoughtful as siblings all week. Every morning, Phillip would open the front door and find a cooler of Red Stripe, the Jamaican beer, waiting for him.
“We’d walk outside,” Quianna says, “and our feet were on the sand.”

They experienced the very best of her home island through the jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish, and callaloo and soup. On Saturday, late afternoon, Phillip’s toes returned to the comfort of the warm sand. There at the altar, he felt the rest of his body in the clutch of nerves. Quianna’s brother noticed and handed Phillip a shot of rum, chased with some advice.

“Look toward the ocean,” he told Phillip. “Relax. And listen.”
While staring at the therapeutic water, Phillip heard a voice over the loudspeaker telling him how special he is and how great he makes Quianna feel. With his face still to the ocean, he recognized the voice as hers.
“When I turned around and saw her dad walking her toward me,” he says, “I started crying like a child.”

Through the emotion, the two of them managed to say their vows in Spanish and English, making everyone feel connected. At the reception, they chose an eclectic playlist for the hundred guests and staff representing a blend of nationalities while mingling under a galaxy of lights.

“I’ve never been in a place filled with so much love,” Quianna says. “It’s exactly what a wedding is supposed to be.”
They could recount the memories all day. But rather than rely on pictures to prompt reminiscing, the two of them plan to make new memories. They will return to Sandals Royal Caribbean for their first anniversary, this time to stay in an iconic overwater villa. Phillip says they’ll do the same for their second anniversary and their third, following the same sentimental pattern they apply to annual dinners at the site of their first date.

“Back where it all started,” Quianna says.
“Where I waited four hours,” Phillip adds. They both laugh. The way things have turned out, with the wedding to look back on and anniversaries to look forward to, this is a lesson in patience paying off.

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