Collette Hinds and Robert Kelly were the kind of high school classmates who, despite seeing each other every day, lived in two different worlds: Kelly, as the captain of the Manning Cup team, was a popular kid in school, while Hinds considered herself to have been “too much of a nerd” to be noticed by him, shares Hinds with Vows.

Fast-forward to 2010, years after being practically strangers at St Andrew Technical, Hinds, now a caterer and Kelly, a used-car dealer, were soon to be reintroduced by the ever-scheming Cupid.

Kelly noticed Hinds’ familiar face on Facebook and sent her a friend request. Hinds, however, was still reliving her teenage experience. “Why send me a friend request and he barely knew I existed in high school?” she opined upon seeing the notification. The request was accepted nonetheless and Kelly used a post about football on her page as the perfect excuse to strike up a conversation. The former classmates reconnected on the social media website and were soon exchanging BlackBerry pins.

By late-2011, the relationship was well advanced through regular messaging on the phone. Hinds travelled to New York at that time to visit her daughter and took advantage of the trip to meet with Kelly, a United States resident, for a lunch date. All the months spent talking on the phone came to a head on that date as the two savoured the magic of their first kiss.

Destiny was on their side. Kelly flew to Jamaica for a business trip shortly after and arranged to meet with Hinds for an evening at The Deck. There, the lovebirds finally admitted their feelings for each other and made plans to go dancing at Club Privilege on October 22, 2011. On the dance floor, Mavado’s hit song Destiny set the mood for Hinds and Kelly, who danced together all night and went home together. Nine months later, on July 12, 2012, destiny came knocking when they welcomed their newborn baby boy Destin Kelly.

THE ENGAGEMENT…

A few months after giving birth, Hinds travelled to the United States to visit Kelly in Phoenix, Arizona. It was September 27, 2012, when Kelly suggested they go to a local mall to shop for their newborn son. Like most women out shopping, Hinds was distracted by the conversation and the surroundings at the mall, when all of a sudden she found herself standing in the middle of dozens of diamond engagement rings on display. Kelly had led the unsuspecting Hinds right into Zales, the diamond ring store. She was overcome with emotion when she became aware of her whereabouts. A sales clerk suddenly approached the couple and said, “Oh! She’s here,” upon seeing Hinds, and pulled out the engagement ring Kelly had carefully selected prior to her arrival in Arizona. Kelly asked Hinds for her hand in marriage and she happily obliged with an ecstatic “Yes!”

I DO…

Collette Hinds became Mrs Robert Kelly on August 17, 2014, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony officiated by Pastor Glenville Carr on the lawns of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. The bride and groom were a beautiful sight in matching Vera Wang designs. The bridal party wore the colours of the wedding: purple strapless dresses with lavender waist details for the bridesmaids and purple bow ties for the groomsmen. The bride’s uncle, Ezra Robinson, escorted his niece up the aisle while the couple’s son announced her arrival with a heartshaped sign tied around his neck saying: “Daddy, here comes your bride.” To commemorate their big “I dos”, the couple had two special ceremonies during the wedding. Representing the devotion and loyalty shared between man and wife, the newly-weds washed each other’s hands in a special act in front of their 113 guests. Afterwards, the couple released two doves into the sky in a scenic moment.

THE RECEPTION…

After officially becoming husband and wife, what’s left to do but celebrate? The celebration continued on the 17th floor of the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, at the Talk of the Town where guests were treated to a candy buffet, which featured nine types of purple and ivory-coloured candy in accordance with the wedding colours. The talented, creative bride showed of her caterering skills with her wedding cake — dozens of oversized cupcakes topped with purple and ivory frosting baked from scratch.

All of Me by John Legend was the music to the newly-weds’ romantic first dance. The new Mrs Kelly shared with V o w s that the “real fun and excitement” at the reception began when friend Francine Staple gave her toast. Staple, who inserted a sound clip of Lady Saw’s Me A Wife into her toast, unintentionally started a toast-off competition between the best man and others wishing to toast the happy couple.

The newly-weds honeymooned at Secrets Montego Bay.