A Barbadian couple’s wedding in Scotland has led to a windfall for animal welfare charities back home, after guests donated $15 000 – instead of crockery and cutlery.
Jevan Jutagir, founder and owner of Red Advertising & Marketing, and his bride, Danielle St-Pierre, celebrated their nuptials in the chapel of King’s College in Aberdeen with an international guest list including attendees from Barbados, Trinidad and Danielle’s native Canada.
The historic chapel, which dates back to 1498 and serves as the multifaith chapel for the University of Aberdeen, had a personal significance for alumnus Jutagir, who was president of the Student Union. The wedding, featuring traditional Scottish kilts worn by the groom and his groomsmen, was otherwise far from conventional.
Instead of bringing conventional wedding gifts, guests were invited by the couple to make charitable donations to two animal welfare organisations in Barbados: Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary and Safe Cats of Barbados. The response saw the charities receive a total of $15 000 – about £5 700.
The marketing specialist explained their decision in a release: “Danielle and I are very lucky, not only to have found each other, but also to be able to live a comfortable life with access to most of the things we need!
“Hence, we decided that, while our guests would have liked to shower us in wedding gifts, it was far better to harness their extreme generosity towards something we care deeply about. That is animal welfare and the rescuing and rehoming of stray or unwanted dogs and cats in our adoptive home of Barbados.
“Our guests opened their hearts… and their wallets… and we were delighted to be able to give generous donations to Ocean Acres and Safe Cats of Barbados, both of whom are doing a wonderful, but often thankless job, saving the unwanted dogs and cats of Barbados.”
Newly-wed Mrs Jutagir also reflected on their commitment to animals. “Both Jevan and I are deeply committed to animals and fully enjoy our cats, our tortoises, our humming birds, our ramiers, and even our monkeys in our garden home in Barbados!
“However, we are also very aware of a growing problem of unwanted pets and unchecked breeding in Barbados and always try to help when we can… even to the extent of taking a small dog with us to Canada to a new adoptive home there!
“Due to this, we met Karen of Ocean Acres and Barbara and Wendy of Safe Cats and were delighted to turn our wedding guests’ generosity towards these two very worthy registered animal welfare charities. We hope others will be inspired to also find creative ways to help animals in need, particularly through these two hard working and effective charities.
“This donation is a wonderful start to married life together! Thank you to our wedding guests for making this possible!”
(PR)
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