A love ‘Granted’ by God: Alicia and Carlyle’s path to ‘I Do’

God’s love and TikTok are just two of the early indicators that made Alicia Edwards and Carlyle Grant fall in love. Plagued by the boredom of lockdown, it was December 2021 when the two began their journey.

Looking back at the moment it began, Alicia explained, “One day I was on Twitter and I saw a tweet he made. It was something relating to God and I was like, ‘Wow, not a lot of men have this mindset’. I was intrigued, so I went over on Instagram to follow him.”

Before they knew it, they were sharing posts and having endless laughs on TikTok as if they were old friends.

Weeks later they had their first date at the Jamaica Liquor Warehouse in Kingston.

Barely able to contain her excitement, Alicia shared with Island Wedding, “I get so excited whenever we get asked this question, because it was truly the best date I’ve ever been on, and I’m elated that it was my last first date, but let me not keep the suspense going any further.”

She continued, “We arranged to have dinner at a restaurant that was close to us both; it was in this planning that we realised we actually live close to each other. He picked me up from home and we got there for 6:30 p.m., since that was the reservation time and it was on a weekday, so the restaurant was pretty empty.”

For four hours the pair ate and laughed and got lost in conversation. “I think they’re hinting at us,” Carlyle had said when he noticed the chairs being stacked on top of tables around them.

Choosing not to wrap up the evening, the duo opted to drive to a lookout point in Kingston. There, they sat, solidifying the fairy tale until 1 a.m.

“The only reason we left at that time was because we were like, ‘Okay, this look too bad now’. My sister and cousin were texting me, wondering if I’m okay, but that concern quickly faded when I came home and could not shut up about how amazing the date was. I went to bed very late that night because I was up, wondering if it was real.”

Four months later, on an otherwise unremarkable night, Carlyle uttered the words he had been certain of for weeks.

“I knew, because I felt God’s love through her. There was peace and a sense of unconditional support,” he began. “I love how she is aware of my hurt and the things I struggle with, and accepts all that it comes with. She’s slowly healing my traumas through how she treats me, and vice versa. I think that’s part of what God wants for marriages and Christ-centred partnership. For example, I’m not one who takes compliments well, because I didn’t have much ‘life’ spoken into me growing up; it was mainly criticism. She never makes an opportunity pass without making me know I’m attractive or I did ‘xyz’ well, or acknowledge an improvement in an area I addressed. For her, she battles with fear and I try my best to reassure and motivate her to push pass that, and to know that it’s not of God. So we compliment each other in those ways, and so on.

Sharing similar sentiment, Alicia chimed in, “Knowing that he fears the Lord and is intentional in his relationship with Him is what I love the most. We have the same mindset as it relates to faith and keeping God in the centre.”

GOT CONFIRMATION

Swept up in their whirlwind romance, Carlyle said it was at his mother’s birthday luncheon in March that he got the confirmation to make her his wife.

“I had her as a prayer point for quite some time, during our dating phase and during the relationship. Most of it was around the direction I should take and to confirm if she was the one for me. When I look back in my prayer journal, I smile at how I was asking God to confirm, and he did in ways he knew I’d understand and be at peace,” he recalled.

On July 1, 2023, Alicia said yes.

Though not keen on planning, Carlyle managed to surprise his bride-to-be with a small private affair.

“I run a creative agency, so I told her that my team member wanted to do a couples photo shoot for his portfolio at Hope Gardens and he asked us to be his subjects. I knew she wouldn’t suspect a thing. By the time we finally walked up to the scene, she thought it was all props and was all part of the shoot. I think it didn’t set in that it was real till I started putting the ring on, because she was just shocked, but all in all it went well.”

Confirming his suspicions, she added, “I was frozen, shocked, I didn’t think it was real. For a long time I thought it was just a prop for the photo shoot. I thought it was maybe a fake engagement type of idea, until I eventually realised it was real when he went down on his knee and I saw the ring that I picked out from like January.”

Deciding to skip all the fanfare and keep their wedding in line with their marriage, the pair said their ‘I dos’ in a small Christ-centred ceremony in Connecticut, USA, on November 21, 2023.

“We had a total of 10 people and it was exactly what we wanted. We truly felt the day was about our love and unity with God. The day was easy-going, there was no stress, just love. I think that type of peace only comes from elopements,” Alicia chimed.

shanel.lemmie@gleanerjm.com