The Tribune

Atlantis yesterday said its $1.2 million investment in a new wedding venue would take couples’ experience of the big day to a new level, enabling the resort to handle more than the 385 unions it saw in 2012.

Its new wedding venue, complete with an indoor pavilion, ocean-side beach deck and event lawn, overlooks Paradise Beach.

Anna Schmid, Atlantis’s vice-president of weddings and special affairs, said the development was borne out of the necessity to keep up with an ever-growing wedding business.

Some 385 weddings were hosted on property between Atlantis and the One&Only Ocean Club last year, and more could have been staged.

“We were running out of spaces to get married, and so the demand was outweighing the supply,” Ms Schmid said.

“In our discussions, we agreed that we wanted to create something that could take us to the next level and deliver a more premium experience to potential brides and grooms.

“We wanted to create a very versatile space that would be complemented by the natural beauty of the location, and give couples the flexibility for whatever they wanted to do.”

Construction is set to be completed by month’s end, with weddings set to be hosted at the new site as early as November.

Atlantis’s president and managing director, George Markantonis, said: “It’s really amazing. I think it could become Nassau’s premier wedding location.”

Weddings held at the new site are open to both Bahamians and guests from overseas, with a room night minimum of 10 rooms for three nights.

The pavilion area will be able to accommodate about 100 persons for a ceremony, and about 50 for a reception, while the beach deck can hold close to 200 for a ceremony and 180 for a reception.

Should a couple want to use the whole area for one big event, Ms Schmid says up to 300 people can be accommodated.