Vows – The LOOK of Love
Keen on continuing family traditions, Terri-Ann Samuels was eager to make an ancestral link through her nuptials. So for her wedding day on May 27, Jamaican-born Samuels, who now calls the United States home, settled on tying the knot at Negril United – the quaint church in West End, Negril, where her great-grandparents got married decades ago and where her grandparents were christened. Engaged for a year to her beloved fiancé Justin Bird (currently doing his fellowship in Orthopedic Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center), the bride arrived at the picturesque church a ravishing sight in a gorgeous Amsale champagne-coloured gown. Her spaghetti-strapped dress featured lace detailing on the bust and a criss-cross pattern across the back. Caressed by the ocean breezes, the groom waited ever so patiently for the lady of the hour (an attending urogynaecologist at Baylor College of Medicine), and cut quite a dashing figure in a khaki seersucker three-piece suit with a multi-coloured bow tie.
No doubt, with emotions running high, memories created over their two-year-long courtship flashed through their minds. Surely, for a flickering moment they thought of how they met in 2009, at a medical conference in New York, before soon discovering that they both worked at the same hospital. Their emotional excursion must have taken them back to Justin’s proposal that came in Geneva, Switzerland, where the two were visiting. The scene was the sunroom at the Dunant, where they went for lunch. As they were the only guests dining in the restaurant at the time, the hosts surprised them with champagne and a tray of French pastries. Acting on impulse (and pure love, we’re sure), out of nowhere, Justin popped the question. Unhesitatingly, Terri-Ann accepted. With no ring on the spot, he bought one the following day in Old Town in the Swiss city.
Nearly twelve months later, the couple invited over 200 of their nearest and dearest to share in their union. Justin’s best man and brother Michael Bird and his groomsmen, brother Cory Bird; Henock Wolde-Semait; Alan Schlecter; Kirk Samuels; and Earl White all wore matching crisp white long-sleeved shirts with yellow suspenders and teal ties. The men, including the groom, all wore brown boat shoes.
Wearing matching yellow orchid wristlets, the women in the bridal party included Alicia Andreula, the bride’s sister and maid of honour; bridesmaids Rachael Browne, Tracy Capes, Julie Nissim, Kait White, and the bride’s aunt Carol-Ann Samuels. They all chose teal as the colour for their knee-length dresses.
The wedding ceremony, officiated by Reverend Monsignor Michael Lewis, proved to be an affair to remember. Escorted up the aisle on the arm of her engineer father Ted Samuels, the bride’s hand was symbolically placed in the hand of her husband-to-be. The two exchanged personally written vows, which saw them becoming teary-eyed, and guests huddling closer to listen to every sentimental word they uttered at the altar.
Leaving the Negril United Church, the wedding party and guests retired to the Rhodes Hall Resort in Hanover where the skies opened to send down showers of blessings. The newly-weds arrived in a teal-coloured Jeep with ‘just married’ cans rattling behind the vehicle and the company assembled beneath the clear top tent to the musical strains of the McFadden and Whitehead disco song, Ain’t No Stopping Us Now. The venue was fabulously decorated by Aiesha Panton of Pussbackfoot to reflect the couple’s eclectic tastes. The bare wooden tables were styled in two designs — one comprised a tableau of layered glass cubes with a single floating bloom and grass strand, while the other was a taller rectangular vase filled with grass in a U-shape and adorned with yellow orchids.
The couple’s first dance was to contemporary R&B singer Anthony Hamilton’s The Point Of It All. Toasts were plentiful and so sincere that they evoked a tear or two and also caused riotous laughter. However, it was the bride’s reply that revealed the wedding day had been on her mind since she first met Justin: “I used to dream of marrying you from the moment we met, two years ago,” she confessed.
Amid much cheering, the couple then cut their Nicola Gardner-designed two-tier chocolate ganache cake. In light of their demanding medical schedules, the newly-weds postponed taking an immediate honeymoon. They intend to visit Europe later this year for post-wedding celebrations.
