Simona Musu and Dean Scheepers could barely contain their excitement when they arrived at the Maldives’ Malé-Velana International Airport on February 22.
The couple, who are from South Africa and live in Amsterdam, had traveled to the island country for a special occasion: to exchange marital vows in an intimate beach ceremony, a precursor to their courthouse wedding planned for later this summer.
“We were on cloud nine,” Musu tells CNN Travel. “We felt so glamorous. We went straight from the airport, and there was someone standing with our names on a sign who took us to the seaplane and then to our resort.”
A week later, the couple returned to the airport. But this time,…