A story of a vibrant Jamaican wedding complete with photographs by Pamela Lyons is featured in Bride’s Magazine. The wedding celebrates the marriage of Hayden Curtin and Jack Cates. Cates proposed in August 2016, and the couple quickly made all their wedding arrangements. Then, just ten days later, Hayden was diagnosed with cancer and spent the next six months in treatment, still going on with the planning for her “black-tie New York City wedding” with the help of her mother Easton Events. Hayden was declared cancer-free in the seventh month, and she and Jack went to Jamaica to celebrate. After spending just one night on the island, the couple canceled their New York wedding and selected a new venue in Jamaica. Their vendors were very happy to travel to the Caribbean instead of to New York, and they created a stunning wedding at the Tryall Club on the island on December 17, 2017.

Hayden and Jack wanted all of their guests to feel special, and they found that creating the required intimate atmosphere was much easier at Tryall than in New York. The wedding utilized local colors and put a spotlight on homemade details, creating an intimate feeling for the 150 guests. The couple’s celebration of life and love was photographed by Patricia Lyons, while Susannah Garrod created the whimsical illustrations that invited the guests to Jamaica for the weekend. The couple was married on the beach with the Tryall Club central to the celebration. Because she didn’t have a traditional bridal party, Hayden could spend her morning getting ready with her mother “in peace…mostly,” she said. Hayden wore a custom gown by Elizabeth Fillmore, its slim silhouette topped with floral appliques along with a cascade of hot-pink orchids down the train. The menu of Jamaican foods included conch fritters, sweet potato crab cakes, and pan-seared grouper with saffron buerre blanc. The drink of the evening was the “We Be,” which is a mix of ginger-infused Jamaican rum, soda water, lime, and Ting. The wedding cake offered the surprising flavor of GrapeNuts cereal, which is featured in one of the island’s most popular ice cream flavors. Hayden is a big fan of the flavor, so she included it in the batter to flavor the cake. “It was amazing to watch all of the most important people in our lives have an awesome time together,” says Jack.

Information Source: Brides