Jamaican-born, New York-based accountant Shanika Clarke and instructional designer David Waldron met one seemingly uneventful evening in Jamaica, Queens, New York in the summer of 2007. At the time Waldron had been working as a cell phone salesman, and was failing miserably at trying to convince Clarke to make a purchase. He did, however, succeed in leaving an indelible impression on her, and a fruitful friendship soon developed. Three years after that chance encounter, their attraction to each other had become undeniable, and they decided to take their friendship to the next level.

“We’re a very jovial, carefree kind of couple,” Clarke told Vows.

“Our relationship entails lots of travelling, watching movies, and spending lots of time with our families,” she continued.

They dated for two years, growing more and more comfortable with each other’s quirks, until one day — August 19th, 2013 to be exact — Waldron decided to shake things up a bit. It was his belle’s birthday, and as part of the celebration, the pair had gone out to dinner, followed by a few rounds of bumper car racing.

“We had a blast and, it was exactly what I wanted to do for my birthday!” said Clarke.

The lovebirds then decided to retire for the evening at Waldron’s house. Clarke had been feeling exhausted after the day’s events, and had gone to lie in the sofa while Waldron was busy typing away at his computer. Suddenly he got up and approached her, declaring that he had yet another birthday gift for her.

“I was wondering what he could possibly be talking about, since he’d already taken me out and had gotten me a Mac desktop computer. He knelt in front of me and gave me a small box; in it was a toy car. He started laughing when he saw the look on my face – I was annoyed and I didn’t feel like playing after being so tired. Then he gave me another box, and in it was a candy wrapper, of course I was even more annoyed after that, so I asked him to leave me alone. He went away and two minutes later, while I was beginning to doze off I felt him in front of me again, and that’s when I knew. He said ‘Shanika Clarke, I love you, and want to spend the rest of my life with you…’ I can’t even remember what he said after that, because I was too emotional to hear anything else. All I know was that I had heard the question every girl wants to hear, and I had said yes. The tears weren’t far behind,” she recalled.

They wed on October 19, 2013 in a ceremony officiated by Reverend Desmond Lee of the Ebenezer Missionary Chapel in the US at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in Montego Bay. Chrisette Michele’s Golden heralded the entrance of the bride, escorted up the aisle by both her parents.

“It was the best day of my life! All I can remember thinking was finally the planning is over and we can become husband and wife. When I saw David’s face all I could do was smile, here we were at last, I was about to marry the person I love so much,” recounted Clarke.

The two said “I do” while standing over the resort’s lazy river pool. A sand ceremony followed the recital of the vows that expressed the depth of the emotions they felt for each other. The guests in attendance showed their support by showering the newly-weds with confetti as they made their way down the aisle.

The reception took place at the resort’s Calabash gourmet restaurant, and for their first dance as husband and wife the couple chose Jason Mraz’s I Won’t Give Up.

“My husband is normally a very cheerful person, but that day I could tell he was extra happy, he even danced! He never dances,” Clarke shared.

Ready to embark on the next phase of their lives together, the honeymoon began almost immediately.