In July we had the great good fortune to play a role in the wedding of Evelyn & Steve VanAntwerp who came to dive with the Manta Ray Bay Resort & Yap Divers and during a break from diving, got married. The newlyweds were part of the Executive Scuba Group led by Ted & Pam Kern from Dallas, Texas. This was the group’s third visit to Yap and they spent 14 days with us on this trip.

The festivities kicked off with a Bachelorette Party at the Manta Ray private beach and a Bachelor party on board Popou with Bill and his fishing buddies. Don’t tell anyone but the ladies won this round.

After lunch aboard the S/V Mnuw, our staff drove the bachelorettes to the beach, where they proceeded to share a couple bottles of wine and frolic in the clear waters of the lagoon. The ladies also played on the sandy beach, which they had all to themselves, and took turns on our rope swing between bouts of sunbathing. The only soul they encountered was a friendly dog, hoping to share their wine.

The guys went fishing with Bill and his oldest son Nathan but the weather turned really stormy south of Yap so the guys decided to turn back and proceeded to O’Keefe’s Island where they anchored, shared a keg of beer from our Stone Money Brewery and told stories.

The wedding was performed by Judge Cyprian Manmaw, the Chief Justice of the Yap State Court and the Honorable Henry Falan, Speaker of the Yap State Legislature was also on-hand.

The day turned out to be bright and sunny with a calm lagoon for the backdrop. Not many places are prettier when the weather cooperates as it did. A lighthearted moment came when Steve was trying to get Evelyn’s ring off his finger and Mike Jenkerson, a member of the group, inadvertently said “lick it” loud enough to be caught on the official wedding film. From the time Bill heard that, he gave Steve the nick name of “Lick It”.

The wedding was not only a treat for Evelyn & Steve and their group but also a treat for our staff and families who enjoyed fixing flowers, being part of the ceremony and in general helping two people celebrate one of the most important days of their lives. The decorations were done by Numie Acker, Helen Limed, Mayvene Gallen, Louise Pedrosa, Mercy Tinnigmow, OP Acker, Richard F’low, Francis Tamam, Thomas Beengin, April Laabrug, Jade Gilippin and Jude Pedrosa. In addition to helping decorate with our staff, Tionna Fenenigog and Julianna Piyon served as flower girls during the actual ceremony.

This was our 4th wedding ceremony catered by our staff and we would be happy to do this for you or your friends. We are absolutely sure that all 4 of these couples wouldn’t trade the experience provided by our staff for any amount of money. Please contact Numie Acker at numie@mantaray.com if you would like information about what we could do for you.