A Stately Affair To Remember

Vows

Monday, May 31, 2010

Vows beckons you to take a peek inside the elegant nuptials of Bettiann Gravesandy, daughter of Anthony Gravesandy and Angella Rutherford, and Taj Bernard. The lovely young couple were wed at the Andrews Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Andrew before a small group of family and close friends. Both Bettiann, a rehabilitation specialist and student, and Taj, a mechanical engineer, see this moment as one of the most defining in their lives.

The power of love

The tradition and graceful simplicity that underscored the ceremony is reflected in the story of the young couple's union and their path towards vowing to spend the rest of their lives together. They had met at church, eventually became friends, and the deep bond they shared slowly developed into a loving, committed relationship. The proposal itself, which happened in March of last year, is a paean to the romantic power of making an important gesture through simple, heartfelt means.

"The proposal was on the eve of my birthday. I came home from work to a dim candlelit room," said the bride, "and on the table were two of my most favourite desserts -- black forest cake and cheesecake -- beautifully decorated with sweet-scented yellow roses."

The intimate setting found the couple talking, dancing and laughing throughout the night, that is until the groom-to-be proposed, which evoked tears from his sweetheart, but they were the sweetest tears of all -- tears of joy.

"I was crying a lot," the beautiful bride said. "He had to ask the question again, and by then, I was composed enough to give him an answer -- 'Of course I will marry you!'"

A floral rhapsody

Calla lilies were in abundance with suggestions of the delicate flower everwhere. Breezy beige and green drapes were strung along the pews, at one point being bound up and draped across the pews to evoke a garden-like altar. The bridesmaids' gowns also reflected this delicate colour scheme. Bridesmaids Damauli Cunningham and Kadi McLean wore fetching mint-green gowns from David's Bridal while maid of honour Melissa Bernard-Hines wore an elegantly cut beige dress from JC Penny. The groomsmen played their parts too, with David Fuller's and Dervent Richards' black tuxes from New York Hi-Style being accented with green ties. Brother of the groom and best man Oral Bernard had his tux accented with a distinguishing beige tie.

It was the beaming couple that stood out, of course. The groom wore a white tux from New York Hi-Style, while the bride dazzed in a beautiful ivory confection of a dress: an intricately designed bodice that led into a stunningly billowy skirt evocative of calm, flowing waters or perhaps of the calla lily petal itself-clean, heart-shaped, classic.

The stately ceremony had all the hallmarks of a classic wedding: the bride was escorted up the aisle by her parents; the vows were exchanged; there was the pouring of the sand to symbolise two-becoming-one and, of course, there was the cutting of the cake by the bride and groom, the cake itself serving as a wonderful visual testament to the wedding's sublime floral theme. It was an inviting three-tiered confection, with creamy beige frosting, and an array of softly sculpted calla lilies.

But beyond all the pomp and pageantry the ceremony afforded the bride, it was the groom's address that enraptured her senses "He is not a 'speech person'," she said, but the earnestness and devotion that poured from his subtle yet meaningful words, brought her to tears (and moved the audience as well).

A calm, relaxed reception at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel followed the ceremony. Guests dined on a scrumptious meal of seasoned rice and chicken florentine with cheesecake for desert, and the entire company basked in the splendour of Terra Nova's soothing pastoral surroundings. It was the perfect ending to a day devoted to the exquisite expression of two persons' love for each other.

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A Stately Affair To Remember