One Couple’s Chic Wedding Weekend in Jamaica
By Chrisanne Grisé of Martha Stewart Weddings
Photography: Jillian Mitchell Photography- Photography: Jillian Mitchell Photography
Photography: Jillian Mitchell Photography
Photography: Jillian Mitchell Photography
Porsha Summerville was exhausted—but didn’t mind a bit. As an account manager for a fashion designer, she had been in Paris for 10 days—and had spent every night on the phone with Terry Baawuah. The two had recently connected at a party in New York City and, feeling an instant spark, discovered they could talk about anything. “We were head over heels, chatting eight hours a day,” she says. When she returned home, they became inseparable; after a month of dating, Terry invited Porsha on vacation in Jamaica. They explored the island—and left even more in love.
Six years later, Porsha was again headed to Paris, and Terry, who is now a senior manager for a data-and-analytics company, joined her. He planned to propose but knew she’d be suspicious, so he took her to jewelry stores and played dumb—never hinting that he already had a ring. Later, in the Tuileries Garden, he popped the question while a photographer he’d hired snapped shots on the sly. “It seemed simple at the time, but the pictures look so glamorous,” Porsha says. The pair knew they wanted a destination wedding. “Terry has family in Ghana [his birthplace] and London and all over,” says Porsha, “and we like to travel.” They decided on Jamaica, in honor of their first trip, and chose the Tryall Clubfor its elegance and “wow factor” views. “We didn’t want to get married on a beach,” Terry says. The festivities began with bachelor and bachelorette parties on Thursday and continued Friday with a welcome party at Half Moonresort. “By Saturday, we’d gotten to hang with everybody, so we didn’t have to spend much time greeting at the wedding,” he says.
The Christian ceremony took place on June 24, 2017, on a hill overlooking the ocean; afterward, guests moved to the waterfront reception. “When we entered, we didn’t even get to the dance floor—they were all so excited, they met us on the walkway,” says Porsha. The couple eventually shared their first dance, swaying together to Sade’s “Kiss of Life,” performed by a friend. “She has a lyric in the song: ‘Look at the sky, it’s the color of love,'” recalls Porsha. “And during our dance, the sky was the most beautiful pinks and blues we’d ever seen! It was a perfect moment.”
