Shernel and Floyd Williams hadn’t even tied the proverbial knot as yet and had already weathered one storm.
With Tomas threatening to hit Barbados on the weekend of October 30, this couple were determined to seal their two-year love, no matter what.
Everything didn’t go according to plan for the wedding that was to be flawless, but this couple still exchanged their “I dos” on a day when Tomas was tearing through Barbados, leaving a trail of damage and destruction.
The tropical storm, packing winds of up to 65 miles an hour, brought a national order for a shutdown of the entire island as it passed early that Saturday morning.
The strong, howling winds lifted roofs, leaving many with parts of their homes, while debris blocked roads.
It would have been enough for anyone to postpone a wedding. But not so for Shernel and Floyd who were still getting ready for their big day.
The wedding was set for Accra Beach Hotel that Saturday morning at 8:30.
It was the day before, in the evening, that news first broke that Barbados would be under a storm warning.
Floyd first heard of it around 5:30 p.m. when he was on his way to pick up bougainvillea petals for an orange and white colour theme, as directed by his bride-to-be.
“I had to get the orange and white petals – it was an order from management,” he said, playfully looking at his wife seated next to him.
All this time, Shernel was getting all “prettied up” at the hairdresser for her big day. She was then heading to the hotel where she was overnighting and getting further glammed up.
The rest of Barbados at this time was now under getting ready for Tomas, not knowing what to expect as the country was now under hurricane warning.
At the hotel, Shernel was oblivious to a lot that was going on.
“I couldn’t hear anything really. I was listening to the radio at times, but in terms of what was happening outside like the wind and rain, I couldn’t hear,” she confessed.
“I was praying that Tomas would change path and go in a different direction,” she said.
Floyd, who was in St Philip at the couple’s home, kept saying to himself: “Somebody’s getting married.”
At 4:30 that Saturday morning, the calls were pouring in, also the text messages.
The same question was on everyone’s mouth.
“Is the wedding still on?”
Floyd never flinched in his answer in the affirmative.
“I kept saying the same thing to everybody. ‘Yes the wedding is on. I’m getting married’.”
This couple were adamant that this was the day.
After all, the date was not chosen “willy-nilly” but was symbolic. Both explained 30:10:10, signifies Perfect Order, according to the Trinity.
In fact, they initially wanted their wedding on 10:10:10 but that date was already taken by the son of Floyd’s best man.
So with that said, a wedding was taking place, by hook or crook.
That night, Shernel hardly slept and the next morning, Floyd was trying to make a dash from his home to meet his bride at Accra.
“I was home and at one point I called Shernel because I just couldn’t get out. I remember hearing a voice telling me I will give you ten minutes to get out the house.
“At that point the weather eased and I grabbed everything and I left home. By the time I reached Six Roads, the rain started to pour again,” he recalled.
Shernel was at the hotel taking her fair share of concerned calls the morning of her wedding.
“People were calling to say they couldn’t make it. Some of my friends had damage to their homes and the debris also blocked the roads, so some people just couldn’t make it,” she said.
So instead of 108 guests as planned, the couple got married before only 24 people.
Shernel admits this didn’t dampen her spirits.
“My pastor Elder Leroy Daisley was coming, my daughter Abigail was coming and was giving me away, Floyd was there, my best friend was coming, and the photographer was coming. So I was good, nothing else mattered,” she said smiling.
Walking down aisle
It was minutes after ten that Saturday morning that Shernelwas walking down the aisle to the man she plans to spend the rest of her life with.
The reception followed, which also included a “foot washing” ceremony.
“We are Christians, so in praying about the wedding I wanted to do something that would fit in more with the Bible,” said Shernel, who added that at first she said ‘hell no’ to the thought of a foot washing.
“I Googled it and realized that it has been done in a Christian wedding ceremony already. I still wasn’t sure because to me it was something so personal,” she confessed.
However, Shernel said it was “an act of service and humility” and she was willing to do it and Floyd agreed.
The couple, who worships at New Dimensions Ministries, also recalled that because of Tomas, the management at Accra was toying with cancelling all events that day.
In the end, only a skeleton staff worked that day, and the couple thanked Accra’s Ameril Philips who made it out in the storm to help them weather through.
The day after while the rest of Barbados was in mop-up mode, the couple when they surfaced from the hotel, could not believe what they were seeing.
“I turned to Floyd and said ‘we got married in this?’ ”
Leaves were all over, branches, deck chairs were thrown around – and this was only at the hotel.
“We are determined to stay together and not even this hurricane can break us up. People were asking us if we didn’t think this was a sign to not get married, but we said this was a storm that needed to be weathered,” said Floyd as they both exchanged glances.
