‘I’ll always have my best friend’

The halls of the Grandiosa Hotel, Montego Bay, were filled with bliss as Davenia Hemmings and radio announcer and disc jock Shemoi Leach were wed on the 19th day of December, 2015.

AN INEXPLICABLE BOND

Finding your soulmate is incredibly rare, but Davenia and Shemoi were blessed to have met each other in their formative years. Childhood friends attending both the same primary and high schools, Davenia and Shemoi were always close. Even with an ocean between them, when Davenia migrated to the United Kingdom in 2002, their bond only grew. As the years rolled by they amassed a staggering number of phone calls, letters and eventually MSN messages; what had always been an easy friendship naturally blossomed into romance. Their long-distance relationship brought challenges they never expected, but their love endured: a diamond pressured and polished into radiance by the years. At the Grandiosa Hotel they told the world what they always knew, deep down: ‘We’re together, forever’.

THE CEREMONY

The Rooftop Conference room was splashed with a melody of coral and gold, accompanied by complementary hues of beige, arranged by the team at Chic Events. Shemoi, in a three-piece beige suit – by Earl’s Fashions and Tailorings – paired with a coral-pink shirt and pink tie with polka dots, waited expectantly with his groomsmen – who were similarly attired – on a carpet strewn with petals in front of a chuppah draped in coral-pink and white tulle. The bridesmaids, who wore coral and cream tea dresses from Chi Chi London, walked to the melodies of R Kelly’s Forever. They were followed by the couple’s daughter, Shanelle. In her hands she held a sign that read ‘Daddy, here comes Mommy!’ With Babyface’s Every Time I Close My Eyes as her wedding song, Davenia joined Shemoi. She was radiant in an ivory floor-length dress with lace detailing and an embellished satin bow by Essence of Australia. Reverend Marc Mullings officiated the affair and after a candle-lighting ceremony, Shemoi and Davenia were pronounced husband and wife.

THE RECEPTION

Ecstatic family and friends eagerly awaited the arrival of the happy couple in the Grand Banquet room of the Grandiosa Hotel. Emcee Mark Hamilton introduced the wedding party in pairs with specially selected songs, each performing a free-style dance routine to the delight of the guests. The newly-weds were then introduced to a mash-up of Lumidee’s Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh) and Wayne Wonder’s No Letting Go. A host of tantalising Jamaican delicacies were served after the groom’s aunt, Kathy Johnson, gave an emotional blessing. The emcee never faltered, keeping the mood jovial and even helped to surprise Davenia when Shemoi turned their first dance, a mash-up of Superman by Robin Thicke and Call On Me by Jah Cure and Phyllsia, into a scintillating performance. Afterwards they cut into a red velvet cake with red and white fondant and floral designs from House of Cakes.