Vas & Julia - Our Destination Wedding

The beaches in Jamaica are truly spectacular, from secluded private coves to Negril’s world-renowned seven-mile stretch of powdery white sand, all looking out onto the ultra-clear, turquoise waters of the Caribbean.

Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, and the most populous English-speaking island in that region. The island of Jamaica is home to the Blue Mountains inland, and is surrounded by a narrow coastal plain. Most major towns and cities are located on the coast. Chief towns and cities include the capital Kingston, Portmore, Spanish Town, Mandeville, Ocho Ríos, Port Antonio, and Montego Bay.

The climate in Jamaica is tropical, with hot and humid weather, although higher inland regions have a more temperate climate. Some regions on the south coast, such as the Liguanea Plain and the Pedro Plains are relatively dry rain-shadow areas.

Interesting Facts

• Jamaica is the first Caribbean Country to gain Independence.
• Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean.
• Jamaica was the first country in the Western world to construct a railway, even before the United States! This was only 18 years after Britain!
• Jamaica was the first commercial producer of bananas in the Western Hemisphere.
• Jamaica also was the first island in the Caribbean to produce rum on a commercial basis.
• Apart from the United States, Jamaica has won the most world and Olympic medals.
• Jamaica was the first colony England acquired by conquest. This was in the year 1655 when the Spanish were driven from the island.
• Jamaica was the first British colonial territory to establish a postal service (in 1688).
• Jamaica was the first country in the Caribbean region to launch a web site, jamaicatravel.com. This was in 1994!
• Jamaica stands strong in 3rd place on the list of countries to win the Miss World titles the most! [Hmmm!] The only countries to have won it more than Jamaica is India, Venezuela and the UK, but considering the size of Jamaica, you have to say that this achievement is monumental!
• On his second voyage to the New World in 1494, the tip of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica was the first land sighted by Christopher Columbus.
• Jamaica has more multiple (two or more) live births than anywhere else in the world.
• Jamaica was the first country to impose economic sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa.
• Jamaica was the first tropical country to enter the IOC Winter Olympics. The bobsleigh teams efforts inspired the film ‘Cool Running's’.
• Jamaica is known to have the most churches per square mile than any other country.
  
• One Jamaican wedding tradition is a dark fruitcake liberally laced with rum is served at wedding receptions of Jamaican couples. Following the celebration, the wedding party slices the remainder of the wedding cake and mails them to friends and relatives unable to attend the wedding reception.

Cultural Values

• Most Jamaican families are headed by women. Mothers bear the primary responsibility for supporting children, as well as raising them.
• Jamaicans adore children. Women often raise children alone or in extended families; whatever the arrangement, relatives and neighbors are expected to help with childcare in Jamaican communities.

Jamaican Daily Food

• A typical Jamaican breakfast is ackee, a tree-grown fruit that bears an uncanny resemblance to scrambled eggs when cooked. If they eat a large breakfast, usually begins with a hot beverage (coffee, cocoa, tea, or herbal tea), perhaps followed by bammy (cassava bread), green bananas, roasted breadfruit, cornmeal porridge, yam or fried dumplings with salted cod (with or without ackee), herring or mackerel.
• Lunch is usually a light snack, maybe a heavily seasoned meat or vegetable pie. Rice and peas (either gungo or black-eyed, or beans) often accompany main courses.
• Main meals usually feature goat or pork, usually curried, served with rice and beans. Seafood dishes are also popular, often pickled and fried with peppers and onions.
• Jamaica's most popular dish is jerk, a term that describes the process of cooking meats smothered in tongue-searing marinade, and barbecued slowly in an outdoor pit over a fire of pimento wood, which gives the meat its distinctive flavor.
• Supper is usually substantial. Meat dishes are accompanied by filling foods such as dumplings, sweet potatoes, yams, green bananas, breadfruit, rice and festival, which are fried flour sticks.