There’s nothing quite like a story that starts with love at first sight and ends with the blushing bride making her way up the aisle to her handsome bridegroom. Tuesday Style Vows (TSV) was gripped with that warm, fuzzy feeling as we sat down with recently wed Vaz Preparatory School teacher Danielle Bryan and Schools’ Challenge team quiz coach Kevin Allen.

“We’re both teachers at Vaz Preparatory School so we weren’t strangers per se. I was teaching Spanish in 2017 when we first met and I thought he was quite handsome,” Danielle told TSV. “I knew he liked me as he would pass and say hi with a dashing smile each time. I liked him too but believed in things taking their natural course. What’s to be will be, is my mantra.

“Fast-forward to working in grade four. He visited my class, four days after my birthday in 2021, asking for my help with the quiz team. I was apprehensive and suggested I give it some thought. Between me and you, of course, I agreed to help him with the team since I liked him.

“We were quickly smitten with each other and even though the distance was a challenge since he lived in St Catherine and me in St Andrew, we capitalised on whatever time we had. We would hang out after quiz practices and, on the weekends, grab ice cream or enjoy lunch dates.”

During these intimate moments they’d discuss their future and Danielle shared her wish for a garden wedding.

The relationship was taken to the next level with a proposal at Oceans on the Ridge, Ocho Rios. “I knew something was suspicious when his brother Owayne accompanied us on a date, but couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was,” shared Danielle. “We bought drinks and chilled. Kevin then suggested a stroll in the garden with him. The gardens were impressive so I was engrossed in admiring the space. I was certainly caught off guard when I heard him saying the sweetest things and turned to see him on one knee, ring in hand. His brother, I would soon realise, was on hand to capture the moment.

Happily-ever-after…

The exchange of vows took place on the lawns of Caymanas Golf Club where Paulette Collins-McLean and her team from Divine Floral & Gift Centre used shades of blush and gold to enhance the area.

Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years signalled the start of the procession with a cabal of substitute bridesmaids (there was a minor accident and the bridesmaids were late) escorted by groomsmen clad in black tuxedos. At the altar stood Kevin, smart in black and white tuxedo.

To the timeless strains of Daniel Caesar’s Best Part featuring H.E.R, Danielle made her way up the aisle on the arm of dad Donald Bryan. She was a beautiful sight in a white Cochen Bridal dress by Chenele Wallace. Her cascading bouquet comprised ivory, blush, and gold peonies with green petals.

The wedding was co-officiated by Reverend Wayne Palmer and Pastor Asheria Chin. Declared husband and wife, the newly-weds recessed to the lyrics of Natalie Cole’s This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).

The reception continued at Caymanas Golf Club and was described by the couple as a small, intimate, and fun occasion with lots of belly-aching laughter. The formalities were handled by Brian Hall, who ensured that the couple’s first dance as husband and wife to Anita Baker’s Sweet Love had the rapt attention of all.

Dinner catered by the Caymanas Golf Club team followed, ahead of toasts, the unveiling and cutting of the two-tiered fruitcake by Jennifer Shepperd, and wedding games which brought the formalities to a close, allowing the newly-weds to depart for their honeymoon at Bahia Principe Luxury Runaway Bay.