Vows – Love Knows Best
All your perfect imperfections
— All of Me by John Legend
A chance encounter…
Love has a way of knowing what you need, even if you don’t. Chirleen Wisdom and Kimar Drysdale found in each other the love they didn’t know they were looking for.
The year was 2007 and Wisdom, a teacher at Drew’s Avenue Primary, and Drysdale, customer service representative at National Safety Limited, were participants in a music seminar held at the New Testament Church of God’s camp site in St Ann. By pure chance (or the well-aimed arrow of Cupid) Drysdale and Wisdom ended up next to each other at the packed seminar. Drysdale was immediately drawn to Wisdom; something about her outgoing personality and demeanour instilled the confidence he needed to strike up a conversation. Wisdom gave a friendly response and the two spent the rest of the seminar getting to know each other.
At the end of the event, Drysdale and Wisdom had exchanged telephone numbers; there was still much left to talk about. In the months that followed, a friendship blossomed between them, then grew into something more as they spent more and more time together. Their friendly outings soon turned into dates, and communication between them became constant as they spoke on the phone and via instant message. After a few months, Drysdale asked Wisdom to be his steady girlfriend: She did not hesitate to accept.
The engagement…
Drysdale and Wisdom’s relationship grew significantly over the course of five years. When Drysdale was ready to seal the deal, he followed the traditional steps of a proposal. First, he requested her parents’ permission, which they gave gladly. He then made dinner reservations on Wisdom’s birthday at Chez Maria Restaurant in Kingston. Drysdale had arranged his proposal with the restaurant staff. A waitress served Wisdom’s birthday dessert, tiramisu, presented with a single candle. This was Drysdale’s cue to get down on one knee as Wisdom realised there was something gleaming on her plate: the candle had been placed through the engagement ring! Elated, she turned to her kneeling beau to say yes.
The ceremony…
Drysdale and Wisdom’s closest friends and family gathered at the Clifton New Testament Church of God to witness their exchange of vows. The ceremony began with the bridal party’s entrance dancing to Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars. At the altar, the bridesmaids stood dressed in purple, one-shoulder designs by Iona’s Fashions. The groomsmen wore black suits with apple-green ties from the Canada-based store Pin Stripe, while the dapper groom chose an ivory suit with a green tie from Men’s Warehouse. The bride was a dazzling sight in a fitted mermaid-style gown from Sweden’s JJ’s House. Simone Hyde, a friend of the couple, took the stage to announce the arrival of the bride to the musical sounds of Marvette Brown’s The One He Kept For Me. The glowing bride was escorted up the aisle on the arms of her proud parents, Eulalie and Edley George Wisdom. The couple exchanged vows and rings, followed by a symbolic representation of their union in a sand ceremony. Reverend Dr Stevenson Samuels officiated the wedding ceremony. While the happy couple sealed the deal on paper, the bride’s cousin, Marlisa White, and niece, Amanda Davis, performed an interpretive dance accompanied by the bride’s four siblings, Ainsworth Wisdom, Kerine Davis, Eulett Wisdom-St Louis, and Gary Wisdom, who serenaded the guest with Doug Stone’s I See You In A Different Light. Finally, Reverend Samuels blessed the newly-weds and they danced down the aisle to Beyoncé’s Love On Top.
The reception…
The bride and groom teamed up to create their dream wedding ceremony and reception. The lovebirds combined their two favourite colours — purple for the bride and apple green for the groom — to guide the creation of their “Royal Fiesta” wedding theme. The bride was the official wedding planner, who masterfully executed an elegant reception held at Pollyanna Caterers and Banqueters Gardens. The evening’s master of ceremonies was the bride’s uncle, Christopher Hall, who introduced the bridal party before presenting the couple as Mr and Mrs Kimar Drysdale. The newly-weds held each other close for their first dance to John Legend’s All Of Me. The formal first dance broke off into a dance party led by the bride and her bridesmaids and then joined by the groom and groomsmen. The bridal party took seats at the head table where they enjoyed the musical performances of guests Simone Hyde, Chad-Anthony Smart and Paul Bowman during the Pollyanna-catered feast. Toasts followed dinner, the most notable of which was by centenarian Louise Williams, whose message was plain and simple: Be good to each other and you will have a happy marriage. The newly-weds honeymooned at the RIU Hotel in Ocho Rios.
