The big day

Seema and Sean are a beautiful couple of newlyweds who chose Ser Casasandra as a witness to their union. We are love, we are one and we are happy to provide you with a space of peace and tranquility so that you can enjoy your ceremony.

First, a little about us

I am 38-year old Indian-American raised in Washington DC with a large group of loving friends and family and lots of experience traveling around the world.  I believe in the spiritual and meditative practices of Hinduism and yogic tradition and appreciate simplicity and nature.  Sean is a 50-year old white American raised in California and a life-long entrepreneur working around the world.  He was not raised with a religious practice but has since built his beliefs and traditions pulling from a variety of spiritual practices from Shaminism to Buddhism.  He is in enamored by unique art, beauty and culture.  We are deeply romantic and connected and sought in our wedding to solidify the bond between us as a couple close to nature and the ocean and to create a wonderful new experience for  community of friends and immediate family members.

Where did they meet?

Sean and I met in Washington DC through a mutual friend that thought we would make great business partners.  Over the years we connected for lovely meals and conversations exploring the possibility.  It wasn't until a few years later, both of us single, that we reconnected at a conference in a lovely resort in rural New York that we realized that we would make wonderful life partners!

Why did they choose to get married at Casasandra?

While we call DC home base, we both work internationally and love to travel all over the world.  In fact we have made amazing memories in Vietnam, South Africa, Cuba, Costa Rica, Zambia, India and more. Holbox´s Island was a perfect destinations wedding, fit with its tropical beauty, warm beaches and quiet town. Casasandra immediately stood out as the wedding hotel and the best place for us to host our wedding party. We loved the elegance, care and attention to detail in the art and decor that had notes of the uniques cultures of both Mexico and Cuba. We appreciated the intimate size of the hotel but also loved the grand airiness of the individually styled rooms.

What was the theme of the wedding?

The Wedding was designed as a East Indian-American blended wedding and included some ritual elements of Shamanism.   The night before the wedding ceremony we opened with a Hindu prayer to the lord Ganesh and hosted a Henna celebration where the ladies painted their hands with intricate henna designs and we toasted and danced late into the night.

For the wedding ceremony we wore Indian clothes and got married under a tent and with a traditional agni (fire) as the witness to our vows.  We had our friends and family officiate the wedding ceremony – helping us through the rituals of the bride's family welcoming Sean into their daughters life, the couples acceptance of each other symbolized by offering flower garlands and take the 7 Hindu vows of a couple by pouring offerings and taking turns around the fire while tied together and completing with an exchange of mangalsutra (black and silver necklaces worn to symbolize to the world our status as a married couple). We then turned to american traditions asking our friends to read passages of love and made our personal vows and exchange rings and of course a kiss!   (However looking back on the ceremony pictures we realized we had been kissing throughout that whole ceremony and hadn't even realized it…clearly we did not have the patience to wait to the very end!)

Casa Sandra staff and our amazing wedding planner helped us complete the day with an a delicious dinner and reception with speeches and toasts and lots and lots of dancing!

Any other information that makes them stand out as a couple or that made the wedding particularly unique?

Getting married later in life (age 39 -Seema and 51 – Sean), we have already have had so many life experiences, through which we have built an amazing and diverse community of friends and family.  It was amazing to see them together, coming from different cultures and backgrounds and blending seamlessly, building connections and relationships amoung each other that we are sure will last a lifetime.