The Travel Advisor Who Saved a Destination Wedding from Hurricane Beryl

Between the WestJet mechanics strike cancellations and the weather-related flight delays, Preety Jaswal’s destination wedding was off to a rocky start. The situation went from bad to worse once it became abundantly clear that the Cancun resort was directly in the path of Hurricane Beryl—and would arrive the day of the ceremony.

With friends and family flying home in a matter of days, Jaswal knew she had to work quickly to find a solution.

Vancouver-based Preety Jaswal is the director and founder of Preety Weddings, a travel agency specializing in Indian and South Asian destination weddings. She’s sought-after in this niche and is selective about which couples she’ll work with. On average, her destination weddings have about 150 to 200 guests.

Jaswal has dedicated her career to helping clients create happy memories. She started working in hotels and event planning before entering the travel advisor profession approximately 12 years ago. In early 2020, she launched her own independent business.

“I became a travel agent as I wanted to mix my two passions: travel and event planning,” she told TMR.

Bracing for Hurricane Beryl in a Riviera Maya resort

Jaswal left for Cancun on June 28, arriving on location at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya well ahead of her client’s upcoming wedding.

Her clients wanted a Sikh wedding, so she’d planned four days of celebrations for the guests: the pre-wedding sangeet would be on Wednesday (July 3), followed by the garba the next day. The wedding ceremony was scheduled for Friday (July 5), and the final big event, the reception, would follow on Saturday. Interspersed between these were multiple smaller celebrations.

The first stumbling block was the WestJet mechanics strike over the Canada Day long weekend: Jaswal had hired Canadian vendors whose travel plans were impacted by the cancellations. After that was sorted out, Jaswal had an even bigger challenge to deal with: Hurricane Beryl.

Initially, Jaswal believed the resort would miss the worst of the storm, but likely would see rain on Friday. By Monday (July 1), she had started preparing for an indoor wedding ceremony, figuring out ways to adjust the outdoor decorations for inside; Sikh wedding ceremonies are more intricate and detail-oriented than the typical Western wedding. “There are a lot of elements involved” she said.

No one thought they’d be dealing with a hurricane.

“We were there every single day leading up to it,” she told TMR. “Everybody—all the projections, all of the predictions—were saying that it was probably going to hit Belize. It would probably be, at most, a tropical storm for us. So we were expecting rain, we were expecting winds, but we were never really fully expecting a hurricane until the day before.”

As the week went on, it became increasingly clear that this situation would be more severe than a bit of rain. The sangeet went as planned on the third, but the events on the fourth could not go forward—the hotel needed the day to prepare for Hurricane Beryl. The wedding would also have to be moved, meaning both it and the reception would be held on the same day (Saturday, July 6).

Jaswal did what she could to help during these hectic days, updating the wedding guests on the plan leading up to the storm, and preparing their expectations. “I tried to bring a sense of reality to it,” she told TMR. ‘“I was trying to relay whatever information the hotel was providing me, and letting [the guests] know this was more serious than we anticipated.”

Some guests were upset by the last-minute changes, but Jaswal remained calm, stressing that the priority needed to be safety.

“The hotel did a phenomenal job under the circumstances,” said Jaswal.

Hurricane Beryl hits the hotel

In preparation for the storm, Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya implemented a curfew. Guests were restricted to their rooms from 9:00 p.m. Thursday evening until it was safe to come out. Everyone had a day’s notice to prepare, and the hotel distributed breakfast boxes so guests would have food while waiting out the storm.

Hurricane Beryl hit the resort on Friday morning, lasting for several hours.

It was a terrifying ordeal for Jaswal, who had never experienced a hurricane before. Above her, she heard powerful winds crashing unseen objects into the rooftop terrace. Some rooms leaked from the torrential rain. Over messages, she could check in with others, commiserating and offering support.

Jaswal stressed to TMR how grateful she was to the hotel for finding a safe way for guests to stay in the comfort of their rooms, noting they were lucky they didn’t get evacuated into the ballroom or off-site.

Jasmine Grant, the BDM working with Jaswal during this experience, sent the following statement to TMR:

“At Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, the safety of all guests and team members is of utmost importance. Although Hurricane season can pose unprecedented challenges, the hotel has a contingency plan with stringent safety protocols in place that staff is fully trained to carry out in the event of any storm, as was the case during Hurricane Beryl. These protocols allow us to not only assist and tend to our guests’ needs, but keep everyone safe while doing so.”

A wedding to remember

When guests stepped out of their rooms Friday afternoon, they saw first-hand Beryl’s might. There were overturned palm trees all over, the roots ripped right out of the earth—the resort’s grounds transformed in a matter of hours.

Despite this, the bride and groom were happily married on Saturday in a beautiful ceremony. The events had to be held indoors (obviously), but thanks to Jaswal’s consultations with the decorators early in the week, they were prepared. “We were still able to do [the wedding],” said Jaswal. “That was the biggest blessing.”

Guests were leaving on Sunday, so there was no time to delay the events past Saturday. Jaswal praised the dedicated hotel staff, who worked tirelessly to get the ballroom ready for both the wedding and then again for the reception, all in one day.

“It was magical, considering what we just went to 24 hours before.”

When asked if she had any advice for travel planners who find themselves in similar situations, Jaswal stressed the importance of staying calm and trusting the hotel’s decision-making.”The hotel knows what they’re doing. Just follow their advice and follow their lead… they’re going to do their best to take care of you.”