..And wakes me up again

Sometimes I swear I hear her call my name

You wash away my pain

My summer rain

—
Summer Rain, by Carl Thomas

The story of Meladee Evans and Matthew Munn reads like a romance novel filled with various twists and turns. But the pair eventually got their happy ending, bonded by their love for each other.

The couple exchanged vows in front of a large gathering at Grand Palladium Resort and Spa near Lucea Hanover, on November 21, 2024. The American couple’s journey to the altar was proof that their union was inevitable.

How They Met

Meladee, an educational technology professional, would have Matthew’s sister DeAnna to thank for their meeting. Meladee and DeAnna met at Spelman College in Atlanta, pledging the Delta Sigma Thetha sorority together. During a trip back to DeAnna’s home in Delaware in 2006, she would meet Matthew, a feature film animator and story creator. The attraction was immediate!

“I remember [saying] to DeAnna ‘Girl why didn’t you tell me that you had a fine brother? You’ve been keeping him away from us,’” Meladee told Tuesday Style Vows (TSV).

While there was a hint of mutual attraction, it would be years later, in 2013, at a New Year’s Eve party in New York that those feelings would fully manifest.

“I told DeAnna ‘I’m going to kiss your brother tonight.’ She said ‘Do what you got to do.’ He was at the front of the bar and I walked up to him and just kissed him on the lips and walked away. As you can imagine he was stunned. But that kind of sparked something for the both of us,” Meladee said.

It would ignite a romance that would last for months, as they would travel together during Meladee’s graduate studies in Barcelona. However, the relationship was a casualty of bad timing as it ended abruptly. But as fate would have it, the couple reconnected in 2018 when Meladee, who was residing in New Orleans, got an Instagram message from Matthew, who planned to visit the city for the first time. It was a memorable visit in more ways than one, as it rekindled the fire that had been extinguished. After more than a year of dating, they would become exclusive in 2019. That same year, DeAnna got married in Jamaica where Meladee and Matthew would be a part of the wedding party. Meladee said it was where their love truly blossomed.

The Proposal

Even with the challenges of a long-distance relationship, Matthew in New York and Meladee in New Orleans, it would not deter them from spending as much time together as possible. In 2023, Meladee felt that she was ready to spend the rest of her life with Matthew. Little did she know, Matthew had reached the same conclusion.

On a trip to Napa Valley, California, on July 27 that same year, Matthew would give her the surprise of a lifetime with a carefully orchestrated proposal.

“We were going to a winery. I thought it was going to be a private tour and tasting… We were enjoying the scenery… I did sense that something was off. In fact, he was acting a little weird saying ‘Let’s stand over here.’ Or ‘Let’s stand over there.’ So I was kind of following his lead, not really even thinking about what might be coming,” Meladee said. “Then he said, ‘I no longer just want to be your boyfriend! I want to be your husband.’ With that, he got down on one knee and proposed. I lost it! Naturally I said yes! I realised that the moment was captured as Matthew had hired a photographer.”

The Wedding

Given the role Jamaica played in cementing their relationship, it was a no-brainer that they would return to the island for their nuptials.

“We just love Jamaican culture. We love the people. When we go there everybody is like, welcome home. It just feels so good to be in Jamaica,” Meladee said.

With both coming from large families, it was a grand affair with the majority of their friends and family present. With the venue tastefully decorated by Petals and Promises, and on the arm of uncle Lenzie Evans, Meladee walked up the aisle in a custom white gown from Elite Secret Bridals to My Song by H.E.R. Harold Merritt was the wedding officiant.

Just as Matt’s sister DeAnna had her fairy-tale moment, Meladee and Matt also had theirs in paradise.

The reception was as heartfelt as the exchange of vows. The Grand Palladium catered an impressive gastronomical spread. Formalities included the cutting of a four tier wedding cake by Leanne Cooke.

The couple’s first dance as husband and wife was to Carl Thomas’s Summer Rain, a song that holds immense significance as it was the same one they danced to at DeAnna’s wedding in 2019.

Emotions were high as Meladee was welcomed into the family by sister-in-law DeAnna.

“I remember her saying that she is so happy and excited and feels so blessed to have a front-row seat to our love story. And how excited she was to be my sister because I married her brother. It was a really special toast from her,” Meladee recalled.

But the highlight of the night was Meladee being serenaded by her Delta chapter sisters serenading her with Delta Sweetheart, the official song of the chapter. It brought tears to Meladee’s eyes knowing that she had performed the song on many occasions for her fellow sisters at their weddings.

“That was so special [because] for the past 20 years, I had been the one to sing that song to all the other Delta brides that had got married. So finally I got to hear it. I got to sit in the middle and they made this huge circle around me. I was pretty emotional during it,” Meladee said.

The couple later honeymooned at Excellence Oyster Bay Resort in Falmouth.