The Background…
Fiona and Barry both grew up in Barbados along with generations of their families. Fiona attended Marvel Beauty School in Toronto, Canada. She and her sisters own The Village Salon and Bella Beauty Supply on the west coast of the island. Barry earned a degree in Aquaculture at the Florida Institute of Technology and masters of international business at Florida International University. Barry and his father own a chicken hatchery that supplies baby chicks to about half of the Island’s chicken farmers.
The Meeting…
Barry and Fiona encountered one another on the dance floor at Harbour Lights, a local nightclub; however, several years passed before they met again and began dating. “We share a number of common friends, as is common on an island of only 270,000 people,” Fiona says. “So it was inevitable that we would meet again.”
The Proposal…
“Barry and I had decided that we wanted to give each other practical gifts that Christmas,” Fiona says. “We settled on a new stove for our kitchen. Awfully unexciting, but awfully practical!” Imagine Fiona’s surprise when Barry diverted from their agreement and presented her with a gift. “I understood when I opened it up and there was a toy stove inside, but what I didn’t understand was why it rattled.”
Inside, Fiona discovered a small jewelry box containing what she later learned was Barry’s grandmother’s eternity band. When Fiona opened the box to take the ring out, a single diamond fell out and rolled across the floor. “After scrambling to grab it before it rolled under the sofa, Barry looked me in the eyes and asked me to marry him,” she laughs. “Barry knows how picky I am about my jewelry, so the diamond was to put in the setting of my choice.”
Wedding Destination…
Barry and Fiona wanted a garden wedding, but they had no luck after looking at locations for several weeks. In the end, Fiona’s father convinced the couple they could create their own perfect garden setting. With only 10 months until the wedding, Barry and Fiona with the help of her father and his wife stripped the area where the reception took place to soil, excavated garden beds and filled them with new soil, replaced nearly all the plants with new ones and even grew a completely new lawn from seed. “On the day of the wedding it was hard to believe how beautiful it looked” Fiona says. “We could not thank my dad and Claudia enough, because their efforts have left us with a beautiful garden that we will enjoy for many years to come.”
Fiona envisioned a wintery feel with lots of white, icicle decorations and blue lighting and enlisted Emma and Craig Corrie of Events Unusual to create it. “It would be easy to go overboard, since the reception was in a tropical garden with a winter theme – two opposing concepts at best – but Emma and Craig did a great job of balancing the theme with the setting.”
And the Bride wore…
Inspired by many episodes of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress,” Fiona insisted on traveling to Kleinfeld’s in New York to buy her wedding gown. With her sisters and best friend in tow, Fiona was excited for her TV experience. Much to her surprise and delight, she fell in love with the first dress she tried on – a sleek demir stretch satin gown with ruching on the bodice and sweetheart neckline designed by Sottero and Midgley. Although Hurricane Sandy threatened to ruin her final fitting, Fiona says, “The whole Kleinfeld experience was unforgettable. The owners were unbelievably accommodating. Even though we arrived a week later than scheduled, I had the fitting and collected the dress all without Barry seeing it.”
The Groom sported…
In order to achieve a relaxed formal feel, Barry wore a Hugo Boss tuxedo with an open collar. “Weddings in the Caribbean are traditionally quite dressy, but the men always end up taking off their ties minutes after arriving at the reception. Open collar was perfect because there were no ties to take off,” Fiona says.
The Feast…
Barry and Fiona incorporated their love for travel into the reception by including food from some of their favorite destinations: sushi and Asian noodles for Japan; cheese, pate and bread for France; mini-steak, kidney pies, Yorkshire pudding with roast beef and fish and chips for England; sliders and mini hot dogs for the United States; and jerk chicken, shark and bake and ceviche for the Caribbean.
Country House Catering provided the meal and Beverley Marshall provided the cake – red velvet covered in fondant with diamanté bands at each level, accompanied by mini chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.
Unique Wedding features…
Fiona and Barry decided many months before the wedding to include her nephew, Colby, as the ring bearer. Because his mobility is limited by cerebral palsy, the couple replaced his wheel chair with a remote control two-seat car. “Colby was the driver and our daughter, Emilie, my flower girl, was the passenger,” Fiona says. “It was one of the special moments of the ceremony.”
The Honeymoon…
Fiona and Barry enjoyed a brief honeymoon with family and friends at the Crane Beach Hotel and Resort immediately following the wedding. The pair plans to tour California later this year.
Advice from the heart: a parting word from the bride…
Fiona recommends allocating plenty of time to plan the wedding and encourages couples “to take a few minutes to stop and admire the venue and the people. The reception will be over sooner than you can imagine, so take time to soak up the product of all those months of planning and stress!”