It has been 10 years since Monique Walcott, founder and managing director of wedding and events planning and décor company, MSW Events, came up with the crazy idea of having 14 lucky couples marry in one grand matrimonial ceremony on Valentine’s Day.
The concept, dubbed 14-14-14, offered an alternative to the traditional wedding, which oftentimes can prove to be stressful and cost couples hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“While we do get a lot of couples who want grand wedding ceremonies and enjoy planning them too, because it is worth the price tag when the love story is genuine, there are many persons who simply do not have the expendable funds to host the celebratory event,” Walcott said.
“Across the world, in different countries such as the Philippines, government authorities have provided opportunities for couples to marry in a mass wedding for free or at a low cost. With that not being available here in Jamaica, our company desired to make dreams become a reality, and we leaned on our industry partners to help put 14-14-14 together and it was a success. It’s time we make more dreams come true,” she continued.
It has been several years since the passionate wedding planner hosted the event, which featured 14 couples getting married at the Hope Botanical Gardens on Valentine’s Day, but having received several requests during the pandemic to create small weddings on a budget, she recognised there is still a demand for events like 14-14-14.
Along with her team, which includes some of the top decorators, stylists and florists in Jamaica, Walcott will once again create a memory worth remembering. Couples who wish to get married on February 14, 2024, must submit their love stories along with images to mswplanners@gmail.com and go through an interview process before being selected to be part of the final 14 couples. Family members and friends may also submit love stories on a couple’s behalf.
“We’re still in the early planning stages and are optimistic that our colleagues in the industry will jump on to make 14-14-14 happen,” said Walcott, as she encouraged married couples who wish to renew their vows, to share their stories too.
For the couples, Walcott shared, 14-14-14 will be a great experience, meeting other brides- and grooms-to-be from across the island, participating in pre-wedding activities and developing deep friendships with other couples.
