Vows – A Chance at Happily Ever After
Sometimes a chance encounter is all it takes to find the love of your life. It’s the idea behind some of our greatest love stories and fairy tales. It’s a notion suggesting that all it takes to find your true love is being in the right place at the right time.
That was exactly the case with Tiffoni Buckle and Daryl McCartney who met by chance on an Appleton Estate Rum Tour. McCartney’s mother, Marlize McCartney, had invited him to accompany her Lion’s Club. And Buckle had been invited by her own mother, Valerie Hall-Buckle, at the last minute.
A chance encounter indeed, but it was all the two needed to book their journey to matrimony. Buckle, an environmental engineer who now works as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, and McCartney, a board-certified physician based in the United States, were smitten. The couple exchanged contact information and, not long after, were in touch very often via Skype and other forms of social media. As their relationship grew, they took turns visiting each other when they could find the time.
BEFORE THE CLOCK STRIKES 12
The annual New Year’s Eve ball at the Sunset Jamaica Grande was the setting for the magical proposal. Family members of the young couple were there for the event, but only Buckle was unaware that her beau was planning to ask for her hand in marriage.
It was an exciting atmosphere at the ball, and the Bare Essentials band kept the good vibes going. Just before midnight, however, band leader Errol Lee called Buckle and McCartney to the stage. The bride explains she had no idea then what was about to happen. But there was her dashing prince (perhaps even more endearing because he seemed a tad nervous) requesting her hand in marriage! The bride tells Vows she was speechless. After regaining her composure, however, she said a most definite ‘yes’!
THE ROAD TO HAPPILY EVER AFTER
The couple were wed on Saturday, May 24 at the UWI, Mona Chapel in a ceremony rich in history, meaning and significance. Buckle and McCartney became husband and wife amidst a cascade of warm teal and navy blue colours gorgeously arranged by Petals & Promises. The couple, who describe themselves as nature lovers, chose the colours because the combination reminded them of waves upon the sand.
The bride fittingly wore a luxurious princess-style wedding gown designed by Alfred Angelo. The veil was custom-designed to match the style of the dress. Her handsome prince awaited her at the altar in a three-piece dark grey Vera Wang suit.
During the ceremony, the two mothers lit a candle in honour of the couple’s fathers (both of whom are deceased), and read a passage together. It was a sombre yet touching moment amidst the gaiety, and a deeply significant one for the bride and bridegroom. The most touching moment, they tell Vows was looking at each other as the bride made her way up the aisle escorted by her mother and her uncle Dave Buckle. And to top off this fairy-tale wedding, Kellie Cadogan (who won Jazz artiste of the year in her native Barbados) sang an original song I Wanna Sing a Song, in tribute to the couple.
TIME TO PARTY
The elegant setting for the reception was a sight to behold. Petals & Promises made all the guests feel like royalty by creating a beautifully lit entranceway to welcome them to the reception area located at the residence of the groom’s uncle and aunt, Dr and Mrs McCartney, in Jack’s Hill. The glittering Kingston landscape served as backdrop to an event filled with dance, merriment and pure romance. Guests were seated at tables named after songs by Lionel Richie (a maestro of the love song), and each guest received a miniature Appleton Special bottle marked with the name of the couple and the wedding date, to commemorate the place where they met. The music of Bare Essentials (the same band that played at the ball where the couple got engaged) enlivened the atmosphere as guests partied under a blue-lit clear-top tent on the lawns next to the Jack’s Hill residence.
The couple also paid homage to an old Jamaican wedding custom, known as Tun T’anks Sunday, by holding a second reception the day after the wedding. Guests met at the home of the groom’s mother to share in a large meal, listen to Mento music, read poetry, give speeches and offer thanks to God, and, of course, prayers for a happy ever after.
Special thanks to wedding designers Petals & Promises
