UK couple ties first knot in Vallee de Mai

Saying "I do" in the Vallee de Mai

A couple from the United Kingdom married recently under the canopy of the Vallee de Mai on Praslin, environment officials said.

Jacob Kubus, a 52-year-old information technology manager, married companion Felicity, 21, in a small ceremony in the valley along the Cedar Path last Friday morning.

Victorin Laboudallon, a member of the board of trustees for the Seychelles Islands Foundation, the organisation that manages the Vallee de Mai, said that it was the first time a couple had actually married inside the national park.

When Mr Laboudallon was first notified of the couple’s wish early in the morning, he originally planned to find an appropriate wedding site under the assumption that the ceremony would be held the next day.  Just moments later, he said, the couple – in full wedding attire – pulled up to the Vallee de Mai entrance in a taxi.

Mr Laboudallon said the mid-morning ceremony was a small affair, with only himself, a civil status officer and the taxi driver as witnesses.

According to Mr Laboudallon, when Mr Kubus, an information technology manager, visited Seychelles a few years ago, he fell in love with the Vallee de Mai and decided he would like to get married there eventually.

“Some had always said that (getting married) would be too difficult to set up in the Vallee de Mai,” he said, “but someone, from somewhere, really wanted to do it, and they did.”

Mr Laboudallon said he hoped the marriage would encourage other couples to do the same, especially as it would put the Vallee de Mai on the map in yet another eco-tourism aspect.

The Kubus’ entrance fees into the valley were waived.

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