“Once in a while, right in the middle of

an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.”

— Unknown

ive years ago, in the middle of a dance floor, at a mutual friend’s graduation party, mental health counselor Rose-Marie Whyte and electrical engineer Jermaine Williams found each other again. They originally met in high school and had remained aquaintances since then.

“It was just like what Beres Hammond wrote about: ‘What one dance can do’. I was on the dance floor and as the night progressed Jermaine came over and started dancing with me. I turned around, saw his face, smiled and continued dancing. The rest is history,” Whyte told Vows of how they reconnected.

The two were virtually inseparable thereafter, spending their days either watching movies while curled up on the couch together, travelling and taking mini vacations on the weekends, or attending house parties and other social events.

“Our relationship has many characteristics. One of the biggest parts of our relationship is our friendship. We talk about any and everything. We have a lot in common and have similar values. Another element is humour; Jermaine and I are both kids at heart. We like to joke around and have fun,” said Whyte.

After three years of dating, things between them took an unexpected turn on Boxing Day of 2012. For Whyte, it seemed like any other Boxing Day games night — an annual gathering of family and friends hosted by Williams.

“Jermaine asked me to assist him with demonstrating the game Pictionary. I stood up and he started drawing. I started by guessing what he was drawing, shouting things like ‘Circle! Ring!’ Other people started guessing and shouted ‘Hand! Yam!’, etcetera. Someone finally shouted ‘Engaged!’ and Jermaine said ‘Yes’. I turned around to

take my seat and when I looked back Jermaine was on his knee with a ring in his hand. He asked me to marry him and I said ‘Yes’,” she gushed.

They wed on August 17, 2013 in a vintage-themed ceremony — which incorporated the use of classic cars — officiated by Dr Kofi Nkrumah Young at St John Bosco in Hatfield, Manchester.

The bride made her entrance in a bright-red classic car. The chauffeur opened her door and ushered her onto a red carpet, where her brother met her and escorted her up the aisle. Violinist Mark Stephenson

played Pachelbel’s Canon in D as she walked towards her husband-to-be.

“I felt excited and extremely elated. People said I would feel butterflies, but I felt no such thing. I was just a super-excited bride,”said Whyte.

The ceremony, she said, was sacred and concise, with a sand ceremony — complemented by Stephenson’s rendition of Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years — being the only item on the programme.

For their first dance as husband and wife, Williams chose the song Spend My Life With You by Eric Benet and Tamia, because the lyrics expressed the couple’s sentiments for each other. The dance floor on which their passion was first sparked was recreated for their reception.

“I told the DJ — Barri ‘DJ 47’ Taffe — that I wanted people to dance, and he made this happen. People were on the dance floor from the time we did our first dance until the night was over. We had the time of our lives,” the bride revealed.

For their honeymoon, the couple took a week-long trip along the island’s north coast. They spent a few nights enjoying the beach and the sunset in Negril before enjoying the quiet perks of Portland and then heading to Kingston to party with friends.

“If our past is even an iota of what our future will be, then we are in for something great,”

said Whyte.