TWO Saturdays ago, inside the vaulted, wood truss-ceilinged nave of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the St Ann’s Bay-based Roman Catholic church — complete with bell tower, Romanesque arches, and bearded with ivy — Christopher Mark Goulbourne, general manager at business development and marketing consultancy firm, Monumental Partners, took the French-manicured hand of his belle of almost eight years, Tara Melissa Fraser, regional manager at the iconic patty brand Tastee, in holy matrimony.

The former colleagues, who met in 2006, acknowledge New Year’s Day 2007 as the official start of their timeline together as significant others. It would take a little more than a month after celebrating their septenary for Goulbourne to finally pop the timeless question on the most universally romantic day of the calendar year.

While pretending to be fast asleep, Goulbourne had set the stage for his non-verbal proposal — a lambent ‘Will You Marry Me?’ constructed out of glow-in-the-dark stars and accompanied by a Bijoux Jewellers-purchased engagement ring and pandora bracelet. Fraser allowed her screams to indicate her earnest acceptance.

Fast-forward to that overcast afternoon of December 13, when the gathering of Rock-based and stateside friends and family members turned on cue as mothers of bride and bridegroom, Sandra Fraser and Beverley Goulbourne, respectively, followed by Goulbourne — debonair in patterned dinner jacket and solid trousers by designer Carlton Brown — all strolled up the ivory floral-lined aisle to Johann Pacelbel’s Canon In D Major, courtesy of saxophonist Damion Riley and his team, who would continue to curate the ceremony’s sonic backdrop.

Next in line were the drennaLUNA-draped bridesmaids of Kia Bowers (maid of honour and Fraser’s New York City-based cousin), Ebony Aiken, Corretta Haughton, Tanya-Sue Brice and Simone Foster, escorted by the Carlton Brown-wearing quintet of groomsmen, Kirk Goulbourne (best man), Kahlil Harris, Jerome Williams, Kevin Jackson and Miguel Williams, against a soundscape of Stevie Wonder’s 1982 hit Ribbon In The Sky.

As guests held a collective breath and members of the bridal party assumed their aligned positions at the altar — which had been anchored for the occasion by pedestals of achromatic hydrangeas and roses (every floral detail associated with the nuptials being handled by Shangri-La Flowers and Gifts) — the heel of the bride’s iridescent, strappy high-heeled sandals, the hemline of her ruched, fit and flare, strapless Bridal Couture of the Palm Beaches gown, and the light as a feather cathedral-length veil all kissed the ground. Steady on the arm of her able convoy, New York City-based sales associate dad Peter, Fraser made her way to her beloved on the wave of the Peabo Bryson classic My Heart Belongs To You.

With Reverend Dr Orville Neil — Goulbourne’s former guidance counsellor at Wolmer’s Boys — officiating, the ceremony opened with the lighting of a single long-stemmed candle accompanied by a moment of silence in memory of the groom’s deceased father, Vincent, who succumbed to his long battle with prostate cancer a year earlier.

Programme items then progressed at a brisk — yet warm — pace through introductions, prayer, the singing of the Henry van Dyke/Ludwig van Beethoven hymn Ode To Joy, pulpit readings by Jeanette Sherman and Kahlil Gibran Harris.

The focus then narrowed on Fraser and Goulbourne as the lovebirds exchanged heartfelt personalised vows, which in turn segued into a delicate transfer of wedding bands from the American jewellery chain synonymous with romance, Zales, and crescendoed into an intimately declarative embrace.

The proceedings were capped with the Nordic tradition of the rose ceremony, superintended by the mothers of the paramours, and followed by a spirited recessional as Fraser and Goulbourne walked off into the proverbial — and literal — sunset as husband and wife, and into an awaiting modern chariot destined for the Tudor-style villa Cary Island in neighbouring St Mary for the reception.

Against the glitzy, navy and silver-paletted event styling of Single Source Events, and the unyielding assembly line of the dinner selections from the sumptuous four-course fare and generous pouring opportunities courtesy of the double-dutied Gourmet Caterers — master of ceremonies Derrick Coffie played ringleader for bride and groom-starred parlour games; ensured the extensive line-up of toasts stayed the course; creative-directed the cutting of the four-tiered, floral-appliquéd chocolate cake by Leanne Morrison of Leanne’s Sweet Tooth; and assumed dance captain-level interest in the touching sequence of first (Kenny Rogers’s Through The Years), father-daughter (Heartland’s I Held Her First), and mother-son (Goodbye’s The Saddest Word by Celine Dion) dances.

Fraser and Goulbourne are currently wrapping their destination honeymoon aboard Key West-Cozumel-routed Carnival Cruise Lines multi-decker.