By Claudia Gardner:
Several resorts from the wider Negril resort area will be among exhibitors at this year’s Jamaica Bridal Expo, which has moved temporarily from its traditional home at the Montego Bay Convention Centre to the Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston, following disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa.
Footeprints, Sandals Resorts, Couples Resorts, Princess, Royalton and The Cliff are among the Negril-based properties participating, as organizers use the Kingston staging to reach more Jamaican couples while maintaining links with the international destination wedding market.
Co-Executive Producer Joanne Paxton told Negril Times that industry response has been strong, with all available exhibitor spaces already taken ahead of the one-day one-day Trade Show and Expo, which will be held on Sunday September 13, from 1pm to 8pm.
“So far, we are sold out. I have people in lines waiting for spaces, so the response has been good,” she explained.
The expo is usually held in Montego Bay in association with the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and traditionally includes several days of activities including a welcome reception, a conference for wedding planners, the expo, and a grand farewell reception.
This year, however, Hurricane Melissa upended those plans, prompting a shift to Kingston which has also opened the door for organizers to court a domestic bridal market whose interest in the expo had already been growing.
“Unfortunately, because of everything that happened with Melissa, some of the hotels not being open, major hotels in Montego Bay not being open, which are some of the resorts that partner with us to host the travel advisors and stuff, we decided this year to go to Kingston,” Paxton explained.
“We kept getting requests for the Kingston market. So we said, okay, let’s go that way,” she added.
Despite the relocation, resorts from the Negril Resort Area and other parts of Western Jamaica, have followed the expo to the capital.
“A lot of the resorts have still joined us, as you can see, with the ones that are coming from Negril,” Joanne said, noting that the JTB will also continue bringing overseas travel advisors to the event, although in smaller numbers than usual.
“It won’t be as many as they normally get when we’re in Montego Bay, but those that are participating will still get the opportunity to meet with the travel advisors,” she said.
This year’s event will, however, be a scaled-down version of the traditional expo with a major focus being on attracting Jamaican brides, particularly those living in Kingston who may be interested in taking their weddings outside the capital.
For Negril and its participating resorts, that domestic market could present an additional opportunity.
“A lot of brides, yes, they’re from Kingston, but they don’t want to get married in Kingston. They want to do something different. They want to go to Negril or they want to go to Montego Bay or Ocho Rios, Paxton said.
Nevertheless, while Paxton and her co-organizers are embracing Kingston this year, she says Montego Bay remains the bridal expo’s home.
“We’re happy to be in Kingston, but we’re excited to be back at Montego Bay at the Montego Bay Convention Centre at our home. We’ve been there for like 14 years,” she pointed out, adding that once the western tourism sector returns to normal operations, the event will return to Montego Bay, although a successful Kingston staging could leave the door open for events in both cities.
The Bridal Expo appearance also follows another major showing for the Negril Resort Area in Jamaica’s wedding and romance market. In May, the International Association of Destination Wedding Professionals (IADWP) staged its sold-out Love Caribbean – Jamaica Edition 2026 conference at Princess Grand Jamaica in Green Island, Hanover, bringing wedding planners, romance travel advisors, photographers, tourism officials and industry suppliers from across the Caribbean and overseas to the destination.
Jamaica has a longstanding reputation as one of the Caribbean’s leading wedding destinations and a strong presence in the global romance market.
That reputation has been repeatedly affirmed by the World Travel Awards, widely regarded as the “Oscars of the travel industry,” where the island has earned recognition for its wedding, honeymoon and romance offerings.
Since 2014, the island has been named the World’s Leading Wedding Destination six times, securing three consecutive titles in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Jamaica was again nominated for the prestigious award in 2025, joining a competitive field of international destinations that included Dubai, Bali, Mauritius, Barbados, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, St Lucia and Cebu in the Philippines.
