Week of love
Sisters Dana-Marie and Deon Dick tie the knot days apart
WESTERN BUREAU:
Investment banker Dr Rasheed Oladipo tried impressing actuary Dana-Marie Dick with his medical doctor status, but she was not easily impressed. Instead, he had to earn her attention through traditional dating.
And IT administrator Dwayne Wilks knew since age 15 that there was something extra special about his ambitious, empathetic and God-fearing friend, Dr Deon Dick.
Nigeria-born Rasheed, 38, and Jamaican Dwayne, 35, took unto themselves the sisters as their wives, a mere 48 hours apart, leaving their father, Reverend Devon Dick, so emotional that he wept when it finally hit home that his two queens were now fully grown.
The sisters – Dana-Marie, 32, and Dean, 34 – opted for two of Jamaica’s tourism capital’s most exclusive resorts, Tryall Club and Half Moon, to celebrate their life-changing status.
The historic William Knibb Baptist Church, Falmouth, played host to Dana-Marie and Rasheed’s lavish African-Jamaican-inspired wedding ceremony, while Fletcher’s Baptist in Sandy Bay, Hanover, hosted the Wilkses during their intimate vow exchange.
All of three pastors, Regan King, Wayne Smith, and father of the bride Devon Dick officiated Dana Marie’s nuptials to Rasheed, whose wedding included a spice ceremony. The couple combined Jamaican jerk seasoning and Nigerian Suya pepper to create a blend to be used for future meals together.
Both devout Christians, who first met during Bible study at the Angel Church in London, England, the couple infused elements of the salt covenant ceremony. This ritual has become increasingly popular, literally displacing the unity candle in honour of their Lord and Saviour Jesus.
Reminiscing on the first time he set eyes on Dana-Marie, Rasheed said it was a Tuesday evening in April 2021. While at church, the pastor’s wife jumped up happily and went to greet someone at the back of the church.
“I looked around and saw a gorgeous woman with red braids and a big beaming smile. I decided I had to meet her. So after the meeting, I went up to her with a plan to impress her. I told her I was a trained physician and investment banker; however, she didn’t seem blown away by my accomplishments.”
Over the next few weeks, he said they chatted after service on Sundays and after Bible study on Tuesdays, until he eventually asked her out on a coffee date (Dana disputes this being an actual date).
“I left feeling the date hadn’t gone well, but a month later, on a group outing with friends from church, one of Dana’s friends said men should be bold when asking women out. I thought she was talking about Dana, so the next week, I asked Dana out for lunch.”
However, it turns out the friend was talking about herself. The rest, he said, one can put down as history. From there, they went on several dates and sought their pastor’s advice as they progressed. The wedding saw the culmination of that progress as they became one, committing to spend the rest of their lives together.
Rasheed’s parents, Dr Funsho Oladipo and Tinu; Dana-Marie’s mother Mary Dick, human resources manager at The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited, and a bridal party of 12 showered love on the couple, some dressed in African attire, while others wore westernised garb.
For Dwayne, having known Deon for so many years, it was only last year that he decided to ask her to be his girlfriend. Their small and intimate wedding had 20 guests who matter most to them in attendance.
Paying tribute to his wife, the Kingston College graduate, who went on to attain his degree at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, described her as a beautiful, loving woman of unmatched energy, ambition, empathy, and caring, with an infectious smile which can brighten his entire week.
“No matter what situation she is in, no matter what trial she is facing, it’s still her with that big, sweet smile,” he told the gathering at the wedding reception, held at the Tryall Club.
He describes her as one of his biggest cheerleaders, something he wants to be for her as well.
Deon’s sister Dana-Marie, her maid of honour, predicts she will make an excellent wife. “She is womanly, feminine, caring, and compassionate. She actually loves taking care of people, and pretty much as soon as mommy took me home from the hospital, she has been caring for me.”
Dana-Marie says her sister’s intelligence will bode well for her as a wife and future mom, who will use her knowledge to support her husband in his mission in life.
“She is faithful to God and to her husband, as instructed in God’s word. She was the one who would get our family together to have devotion time to study the Word, to go through different books of the Bible. It is her faith in God that has guided her throughout this point in her life,” asserted her younger sister.
Deon seemed to have made an indelible mark in the lives of those she has touched, because even the best man, Shane Cunningham, who was expected to toast his best friend, the groom, could not help bringing the bride into his speech.
Having known Deon for over 30 years and Dwayne for 24, he says destiny placed him in the life of the groom. Cunningham took the wedding guests down memory lane, hilariously repeating how they met at a birthday party as kids and ended up as best friends later in high school.
As Deon and Dana-Marie start a new chapter in their lives, their wedding week was filled with love, laughter, and tears as four families united.