Hopeton Bell and Sophia Balfour in wedded bliss. - Contributed

Teenage school sweethearts, Hopeton Bell and Sophia Balfour - both residents of Canada - were married on July 28 in Ottawa, on a tropical afternoon.

It was an outdoor pond-side garden setting of jumping frogs, a gazebo, and water lilies floating by.

The bride is the second of two daughters for Montego Bay journalist/publicist, Byron Balfour, and Julia Rose Balfour.

The groom is the son of the late Mr. Dennis Bell, from Carey Park district, Trelawny, and Mrs. Joan Bell Morrison, from the Wray family, of Brampton district, also in Trelawny.

Just over 100 guests witnessed as the couple were declared husband and wife by Jamaican/Canadian Presbyterian pastor, Rev. Mr. Rudolph Hunter.

Soloist Ariadny Whilby sang, and her husband, Samuel Whilby, provided musical entertasinment.

A mid-afternoon cocktail reception immediately followed - this preceded the formal reception, at twilight.

The 27-year-old bride looked striking in a simple, yet elegant floor-length, strapless white satin dress, complete with white satin shoes, a tiara and a veil. The groom wore a white formal tuxedo.

Guests attended from Jamaica, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, Nova Scotia and Toronto.

The bridal party also included best man, Mike Phillips; maid of honour, Joanna Czastkiewicz; groomsman, Steve Salmon; and bridesmaids, Claudeana Gordon and Mante Stearns.

Aaliyah Sylvester, the bride's 11-year-old niece, was the flower girl.

The couple's honeymoon was a Caribbean cruise aboard Freedom Of The Seas, with a six-hour stop-over in Montego Bay.

SuperClubs hosted the couple and some of their Jamaican relatives to a champagne lunch, at its Breezes Montego Bay resort.