By Chester Francis-Jackson, ContributorDAAHLINGS, AND so, the grandson of Jamaica's Father of Modern Tourism, the late Abe Issa, has taken unto himself a bride! He being Sebastian Cartade, the first of two sons born to Real Estate Developer and Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Hon. Robert Cartade and his fabulous wife, Carole Issa Cartade. She being former high-fashion model, fashion designer, Kingston high-society staple and one time international gad-about!
The Bride? A Texan blonde beauty and dish of fabulousness named Bonnie Garr, the daughter of Oklahoma businessman Larry Garr and former wife the charmingly lovely Helen 'Rose' Flowers.
Well Luvs, the wedding was last Saturday, at the very imposing Christ The King Catholic Church in Dallas, Texas. The reception followed at the absolutely dee-vine and oh so chic Hotel Crescent Court, situated right there in the centre of fabulous Dallas, and for my word, what a shindig!
Pumpkins, this was not only a charmer, it was a total celebration of the beauty of love, the joys and bounties of the grand life, and parental indulgence, of a faultless order!
Dearhearts, and so it was, that when word of the engagement and impending marriage of one of high-society's venerable sons and eligible bachelors was noised abroad, the groan of disappointment released by Kingston society was distinctly audible. Mothers and daughters groaned as they rued the loss of one of the more marriageable bachelors, and a well-to-do one at that! The pain was less bearable owing to the fact that the young Sebastian Cartade had grown from a roly-poly teenager into a hunk of god-dom!
FAIRY TALE ROMANCE
Anyways, Sebastian Cartade and the lovely Robin Garr, met just under a year ago, and since their meeting the embers of attraction flared into one fabulous fairytale love and romance. And so, after nearly a year of dating, when the fab couple let known their intention to marry, the decision was welcomed by family and friends alike and so, the die was cast!
Now, there's an old saying that in Texas, they do everything in a big way! The Cartade/Issa clan here, are also known for their larger-than-life parties and their grand style. In this respect, the Dallas wedding of Sebastian Cartade and Robin Garr did not disappoint, as it was indeed one fabulous wedding, big on style, elegant in its simplicity, and the celebrations thereof, bellissima grande, and then some!
To be sure, the wedding and reception were last Saturday, but pumpkins, the actual celebrations started just about two weeks before the big day with the groom's stag party. It was a showstopper and then some! Hosted by his friends in the tres hot city of Las Vegas, at the new Phoenician Hotel, where the partying was a celebration of the end of bachelorhood and how! To say it was hot, however, would be to be putting too fine a point to it as it was indeed one firestorm of hotness and straight out of the cauldron of fabness!
Naturally, the Bride and her friends were equal to the task of celebrating her last night as a bachelorette, and here nobody's talking. But the buzz is that her wedding shower was as fabulous as fabulous gets and most definitely not the kind of 'do' for maiden aunts or the prissy overly conservative type. This too was a celebration and then some!
PUTTING ON THE GLITZ
Then there was the Wednesday night party, thrown for the bride and groom to be, by well known Texas Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Sam Hamra and his simply fabulous wife, Sonia Hamra, (she being formerly of Kingston and a Younis and sister to Joy Mahfood), at their simply magnificent Highland Park residence!
And then there was the Thursday night reception for the family and friends at the Dallas home of the groom! Oh for my word, what a fabulous affair!
Doves, this was a social clincher and then some as indeed, it was a study in the art of sophistication, eleganza and pure snobissimo! We are talking haute-fabulissimo here and nothing but! No doubt you have all heard about 'Putting-On-The Ritz'. Oh yes you have, the problem with putting on the Ritz however, is often in doing so glitz rises to the fore and the essence of true style gets overshadowed by fluff!
Well Dovecakes, to begin with the groom, young Sebastian Cartade's home is a simply fabulous Mansion, located in one of Dallas's more upscale neighbourhood! The home is done up in a faultless tropically chic motif, with a refreshingly airy and oh so engaging embrace. It screamed fabulousness every-which-way! Dovecakes, we are talking 20-foot ceiling here with walls draped in nothing but the finest collection of to-die-for art, from Jamaica, and the wider Caribbean. In a home that was designed with nothing but fabulousness in mind - the living and entertainment area plush and richly so, the oversized saline aquarium that dominates this area segues beautifully into the mini-waterfall, just outside of the study, its gurgling content gushing into the pool, at its base!
But back to the reception, as Dovecakes, it was one absolutely fabulous affair. Those in attendance jetted in from every-which corner of the United States, Europe and Jamaica, to share in the festivities as well as to offer the soon-to-be-newly weds, their best in wishes.
But what a charmer of a reception! That, however, was on Thursday!
Saturday, My Dears, was the big-day and how!
THE WEDDING
The wedding got underway at 7:30 p.m. on the dot with the parents of the bride and groom being escorted down the aisle to their pride-of-place seating. They were followed by the bridal party of: Kandi Sharpe and Debbie Tinsley - the Matrons of Honour; Best Man Oliver Cartade; Bridesmaids: Kappi McAfee,
