Vows – Over-the-moon in Love

It’s a mysterious thing, chemistry — that magic connection between two people. It’s also quite vague. There are no elements to speak of, no defined compounds. Just chemistry.

You either have it or you don’t. And for friends of Julie-Anne Sowa and Christopher Breach, it was eminently clear that these two were brimming with that elusive elixir. It took a while to happen, however. Sowa, a TV presenter for Sky Poker in England, and Breach, who runs a property maintenance company with his father, had seen each other around Brighton, England (where they reside) but had never met. It took some nerve on Breach’s part to finally ask his future bride on a date.

That, coupled with the fact that she wasn’t “three years older than him, like he’d always thought”, the bride tells Vows, displaying her trademark wit. “Cheeky git!” It was evident to friends and relatives close to the couple that they were meant to be together. Clearly it was evident to Breach as well. December-to-Forever Romance The set-up couldn’t be more storybook — Central Park in New York City, blossoming stars in the night sky, and one very nervous boyfriend with a diamond ring in his pocket.

The bride, who describes herself as “Little Miss Organised”, admits to being totally oblivious to Breach’s plans for that night. But there he was, on a little bridge in Central Park, beneath the stars and twinkling lights of a towering city, professing his love and asking the most beautiful woman he knows to make him the happiest man alive.

Sowa, after getting over her shock, of course said “yes”. And so it was after a nervous trip through Customs, one soggy wet knee, and buckets of tears, that Julie-Anne Sowa and Christopher Breach got engaged on December 9, 2012. Vowing to Return Sowa wanted her wedding to be in Jamaica. As an executive chef, father-of-the-bride Steve Sowa has worked in several hotels. The bride explains to Vows that her father’s job took her and her family all across the world. When she was eight, she and her family came to Jamaica.

And she lived on the island for seven years, during which she went to school, “lived and breathed tennis, ate lots of jerk chicken and patties, and discovered [her] love for tanning oil!” Though Sowa eventually went to the UK to continue her education, her parents remained and became “full-fledged Jamaicans”, which made coming back to Jamaica for her nuptials very important.

Breach also fell in love with the island when he visited, a situation that hardly surprised the bride. “It really is one of the most beautiful, relaxing and best places in the world.” The beautiful couple got married on June 11 at the Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay, where the bride’s father is the executive chef.

The couple exchanged their “I do’s” on the exquisite green of the resort’s Croquet Lawn. The ceremony was officiated by Reverend Everald Galbraith before 100 of their closest friends and relatives (many of whom jetted in from the UK, Canada and the Philippines). The couple and their guests dined at the resort’s Sugar Mill Restaurant for the sumptuous reception and were able to frolick on the the resort’s incredible 200-mile crescent of beach.

Of course, the resort is famous for hosting two of the UK’s most well-known residents — Their Royal Highnesses Prince Charles and Prince Harry. And, as the bride notes, “If it’s good enough for the royals, then it’s definitely good enough for us!” The couple then enjoyed an incredible two-week honeymoon spent in Dubai and the Maldives.