One Family, One Love
The Perfect Setting: Beaches Negril
The first times Allie and Rob Cullen laid their eyes on the scenes at both Sandals Negril and Beaches Negril a few years back, they thought they were looking at a giant painting. On August 1, the work of natural art was more stunning than ever. Allie, Rob, and their two daughters (14-year-old Vivien and 7-year-old Rose) were in it, standing near the sea, among palm fronds and colorful Caribbean flowers. The grandparents were there, too. The Cullens will always call it the most precious sight they could ever imagine, with the sounds of the two most precious words that could ever be spoken:
“I do.”
Photography by Laura Dee
This wasn’t the first time Allie and Rob said “I do” to each other.
In the summer of 2004, they tied the knot in front of 400 wedding guests in a warm, crowded California church. “It was the most nervous I’d been since our first date,” Allie says. It had taken two years of planning. The calm of the Caribbean never crossed her mind or her eyes.
It was just the opposite in the summer of 2024. Allie heard Rob’s voice — the voice she first fell in love with during a phone call — renewing his vows to the rhythm of the ocean waves. The eight family members, spanning three generations, enveloped Allie and Rob on the therapeutic sand of Jamaica’s west coast.
“Our second ceremony was the way it should be,” Rob says, referring to it being brighter, calmer, and simpler. “I hate to sound trite, but love is all we’ve ever needed. And to us, Beaches Negril was a perfect fit.”
7 Miles of Pure Paradise
A Journey of Love and Growth
There was a time when Allie and Rob never imagined celebrating under a seaside altar at Beaches. They didn’t perceive it as a destination wedding location or a place where the height of Caribbean luxury meets the purest form of tropical nature. This is the wife who thought weddings were not weddings without stomachaches and hundreds of bobby pins. It’s the husband who once went to amazing lengths to save a dollar. It’s the couple that today looks back with humor at their preconceived notions.
“Over the past few years,” Allie says, “we came to a realize that Beaches would be the best place on earth to take in all the blessings in our lives. This time was different.”
The transformation from “first time” to “this time” began five years ago, when they landed on a TV show with their crazy honeymoon story that had become part of a bigger love story.
Photography by Laura Dee
The Magic of Family Togetherness
When Vivien and Rose watched their mom and dad exchange vows against a gorgeous Caribbean canvas at Beaches in the summer of 2024, they were witnessing the next chapter of a romance that started with a memorable first date.
“October 23, 2000,” Rob says. “It’s forever ingrained in my mind.”
The girls have heard about that date. They also know when Rob proposed (June 22, 2002) and how he did it (during a graduation lunch with family and friends, he had the server slide a cake with the words “Will you marry me?” in front of Allie). Mom still blushes whenever the story is told.
Vivien and Rose have seen the wedding pictures from August 14, 2004. The stained glass. The guests. The cake with a layer of chocolate and a special layer of raspberry for Rob. The details took Allie 26 months to plan, and one evening to enjoy.
“I wanted to keep dancing at our reception and to share more time with family,” Allie says. But at some point during the evening she and Rob slipped away and began a new journey together.
The journey took them on a long flight to the Mediterranean for a honeymoon cruise that Rob creatively threaded into the narrow budget of recent college graduates.
“You won’t believe what he did to pay for the flights,” Allie says.
In the months leading up to the honeymoon, Rob would pack peanut butter sandwiches and fly as many cheap routes as possible, sleeping in airports and earning miles between Friday night and Sunday morning.
“I earned enough miles for us to fly to Barcelona,” Rob says.
Years later, with their careers humming, Rob and Allie traveled to New York and watched a live recording of Good Morning America. The production team heard about their honeymoon story and featured it during a segment on budget travel. Vivien and Rose have watched the video of what happened next: the GMA hosts presented mom and dad with a trip to Sandals Negril.
Photo by the Cullens
“I loved the idea of being on an incredible beach together,” Allie says.
“I loved the idea of a free trip,” Rob says.
They still weren’t sure what to make of an all-inclusive experience until their flip-flops touched the lobby of Sandals Negril.
“It was literally a pinch-me moment,” Allie says. “I’d never seen sand or water like that. The luxury far exceeded our expectations. The staff made us feel as if we belonged in this beautiful location with this beautiful culture and these beautiful people.” A thought crept into their minds: This would be an amazing spot to renew our vows. Someday. Something, however, was missing.
Photography by Laura Dee
Creating New Memories in Paradise
During their couples-only trip to Sandals Negril, Allie and Rob walked over to Beaches for a sushi dinner at Soy. They passed families playing in the Beaches waterpark and saw the same indescribable sand and sea that took their breath away at Sandals.
Another thought came to mind: Vivien and Rose. That’s what we’re missing.
A year later, Allie and Rob returned to Beaches with their daughters. The girls dug for treasures in the sand. Allie and Rob sipped coffee from Jamaica’s iconic Blue Mountains. They snorkeled and splashed, and they mentally froze each moment as keepsakes. “Being at Beaches made us feel closer than ever,” Allie says. “Instead of going, going, going, we simply focused on each other.
The thoughts Allie and Rob had been harboring became a full-fledged idea:
Let’s get married all over again, right here. We can weave together everything we love into a single tapestry. Vivien and Rose. Your parents and my parents. New memories and renewed commitments. This beautiful island and these beautiful people.
Photography by Laura Dee
A Renewal of Vows and Commitment
“We’ll do it the way we want to do it,” Rob said.
And so, during the summer of their 20th anniversary, they allowed nature to provide the perfection instead of trying to plan it. They spent the days leading up to the wedding building sandcastles and riding paddleboards. They took morning walks on the beach and afternoon naps in their suite. They ate, snacked, and dined in a dozen different settings.
“I went swimming in the ocean with my dad,” Rob says, “because we swam together when I was a kid.” Before the first wedding 20 years ago, Allie worried. This time, she enjoyed the ride. While she and her family alternately played and relaxed, the Beaches wedding team set up an incomparable scene along the beach. Then, on the afternoon of their vow renewal, Allie, Rob, Vivien, Rose, and the grandparents gathered on the incomparable 7-mile Negril beach looking toward the Caribbean Sea, filling out the final touches on a magnificent piece of art.
“The ‘one love’ people talk about in Jamaica is genuine,” Rob says. “It’s the ethos we’ve always wanted in our marriage and in our family. To know our daughters participated in our ‘one love’ story at the edge of the ocean ... it’s a priceless experience that will be part of our family forever.”
Photography by Laura Dee
