Vows – Georgia on my mind
After a four-year relationship that saw them shuttling between Atlanta and Jamaica to keep the flame of their love afire, Courtney Hutchinson and Nicole Robinson tied the knot on Saturday, April 30 at the Ruins in Ocho Rios. Courtney, a network video engineer and Atlanta resident wed Nicole, communications manager at the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority.
How They Met
The couple met in 2007 at a Chinese restaurant in Portmore. “I was trying” shared Nicole “to cheat my diet by indulging in some good Chinese food and Courtney was trying to negotiate the price of the food”. She laughs as she remembers rolling her eyes, wanting him to hurry as he was ahead of her in the line. Courtney, immediately taken with Nicole, said hello but was ignored. “When I sat down to eat, he asked if he could join me but I told him no as I was rushing to my nail appointment. He then asked for my number and an opportune time that he could call; I gave it to him and told him to call me anytime after 8:00 p.m. Courtney wanted more details like exactly how many minutes after eight he could call. I told him 8:30 pm. I went home and completely forgot about our encounter until the phone rang at 8:30 — it was Courtney on the line. We had one of the most beautiful conversations,” a swooning Nicole added.
In May last year, Courtney whisked Nicole away to Orlando to celebrate her birthday. The two went to dinner and to see a Mystery Theatre performance. Halfway through the play, the cast called the couple onstage (pre-planned of course, by Courtney) to assist in solving the mystery. When Nicole was asked to turn her back to Courtney, upon turning around, her mouth fell to the floor when she saw him on bended knee, asking for her hand in marriage.
Here Comes The Bride…
Eleven months later for their big day, Nicole was a picture-perfect bride, resplendent in a strapless, white beaded Oleg Cassini ball gown, which she accentuated with fab chandelier earrings. Her husband was the ideal visual contrast — dapper in a black Sean John tuxedo with a silver Bella Luna waistcoat and matching tie. Courtney’s best man, his brother Ian Hutchinson was attired in a black Calvin Klein tuxedo while the groomsmen Michael Hutchinson, Leon Hutchinson, Londell Reid and Wade Hutchinson, who all flew into the island from Georgia and New York, wore black tuxedos from the Men’s Warehouse. The matron of honour Kerri Ann Roberts (the bride’s cousin) was clad in a shimmery, gold-hued strapless dress — the colour intended to symbolise success for the couple. Meanwhile bridesmaids Ammanda Green, Adrianna Henry and Sanekya Hutchinson wore brown bubble hem dresses to represent the earth and the abundance of blessings, while Trecia Grey and Kavelle Martin wore pool blue dresses as a nod to the ocean the newly-weds flew over to see each other.
The marriage ceremony was officiated by Bishop Esau Carr. The bride’s father William Green escorted his daughter up the aisle to the strains of Cannon in D to meet her husband-to-be. The couple broke with tradition and opted to read Maya Angelou’s In and Out of Time. In special recognition of the bride’s mother and other family members who had passed, the couple then performed an ancestral candle ceremony. Following this, Courtney and Nicole exchanged their own personally written wedding vows. She proclaimed she was “now his flesh, his heart and pulse” while he vowed to “love her beyond this lifetime”.
The reception followed on-site at the Ruins where the bridal party made their entrance to Beyonce’s Get Me Bodied while the newly-weds entered to Usher’s OMG. The couple then cut a five-tier fruit cake embellished with flower patterns and designed by Ann Marie Toomer-Gayle.
The couple honeymooned at Couples Sans Souci.
