Nashauna Drummond, Acting Lifestyle Coordinator

Latoya and Andrew Blake are picture perfect for their wedding day.

Latoya Tomlinson met Andrew Blake through a mutual friend in the church and they had a brief relationship for about a year in 1998. In 1999, she emigrated to the United States, thinking she would never see him again.

Seven years later in 2006, she had a death in her family and returned to the island. In the midst of her mourning, her heart overflowed with joy.

"I thought about him, but I didn't believe in long distance relationships," she recalled.

For Blake, when the relationship ended, he thought it was just another chapter in his life that had closed. But he still wanted to see her again. "We had a neat little relationship where we would just sit by the beach and watch the sun set, or try to count the stars. I knew I wanted to see her again even if we didn't enter into a relationship."

Old flames ignite

Blake attended the funeral to support her and her family, but the old flames reignited. "He walked through the door, our eyes met and old flames were reignited," recalled Tomlinson.

"I went to support the family, but at the same time I wanted to see her. It was a sad occasion, but at the same time I was excited to be there and to see her again as I never thought I would. After the funeral, we spoke and I realised that we still liked each other, a connection was still there anddistance or time didn't destroy it," he recalls.

Latoya returned to Alabama but they kept in touch exchanging emails, photos and spending hours on the phone. "As we corresponded it just rekindled. She came to visit me spending a week, then a month. That someone went through all of that to see me, I felt loved. I felt very important that someone came all this way to see me. She goes out of her way to let me know that she cares. She not only says it, it shows in her actions and I do the same. So, I thought if we had this connection we might as well make it official," said Blake.

Together at Last

The Blakes relax on the lawn after their wedding. - contributed photos

Blake got the ring and waited for the right time. "I had the ring and we were driving around then decided to go to Strawberry Hill. We stopped at Devon House to get some ice cream and I left her buying the ice cream and went outside and bought a rose. I put the ring on it and hid it in the car. We were sitting on the bench by the pool enjoying the view, when I went to the car and came back with the rose. She thought it was so nice and then she saw the ring and I went down on my knees. She was breathless," recalls Blake.

For him, his wife is not only beautiful, but she has a good heart. She says she loves her husband's sense of humour, he always makes her laugh.

They were married on June 16 at the Patrick City Church of Christ. Officiating Minister was Karl Powell.