NBCUniversal Captain Sandy Yawn
Captain Sandy Yawn and her fiancée Leah Shafer are in the midst of wedding planning after getting engaged in September 2023 and the “Below Deck Mediterranean” captain recently shared some of the planning details.
Yawn, who shared that Shafer is taking the lead on most of the planning, told Us Weekly in a video interview shared on December 31, 2023, that the plans were “incredible.” She added, “We have a friend that’s building a big boat and she’s an entrepreneur and… she’s hosting it on her new yacht which is going to be an insane, massive superyacht.”
Yawn went on to share that she and Shafer were “very excited” about it. Because of the nautical venue, Yawn revealed that their guest list was going to be limited, and she and her fiancée were still working on it. “The problem is we can only have 55 people so it’s hard when you got to tell people ‘You can’t come,’ it is so difficult,” she shared.
The longtime Mediterranean captain was asked whether she had any special requests or demands for the wedding day but she said the special part about it was having Shafer in her life. “It’s about us so I’m not making it about everybody there,” Yawn said. “It’s really about her and I.”
Follow the Heavy on Bravo TV Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!
A Former ‘Below Deck’ Chef Will Be Preparing the Food for Captain Sandy Yawn’s Wedding
Although the guest list will be fairly small for the nuptials, Yawn did share that some Bravo stars would be in attendance. “Chef Dave [White], our chef from the show’s preparing the food,” Yawn revealed. White was the chef on “Below Deck Med” season 7.
Yawn also responded to her former bosun Malia White‘s comments about being replaced as the wedding officiant. White joked with Us Weekly in November 20, 2023, that she was “supposed to officiate” the wedding “until someone stole my spot.”
Yawn said she’d also received an offer from Captain Kate McCue to officiate the wedding. McCue, who appeared on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live,” was America’s first female cruise ship captain. Despite those options, the “Below Deck Med” captain revealed that the wedding will be officiated by Nadine Rajabi, the showrunner and executive producer of the show, who’d been in Yawn’s life for eight years.
The “Below Deck Med” captain also shared that she and Shafer were still finalizing the guest list but confirmed that there will be “some Bravolebrities” at their wedding.
Captain Sandy Yawn & Leah Shafer Dated for Several Years Before Getting Engaged
Yawn and Shafer had been dating for over five years when Yawn got down on one knee and proposed in September 2023. The longtime Bravo captain told E! News that she’d known she wanted to marry her partner for years but wanted to make sure the timing was right before popping the question.
Yawn and Shafer began dating in 2018 after Shafer, who is a gospel singer and aesthetician, messaged Yawn on Facebook. Bravo fans got to see their first glimpse of Yawn’s fiancée in season 3 of “Winter House,” when the coupl joined the cast of the show in Colorado for a day of skiing.
READ NEXT: Real Housewives Star’s Husband Cries Over Her Plastic Surgery