CONTESTANTS in the fifth annual ‘Race to the altar’ will today compete in their last event before the winning couple is announced. The couples will, in the third and final segment of the competition, participate in a Valentine’s Day Gala at the Roraima Duke Lodge. During this phase, the couples are tasked with showcasing their talent. The winning couple

will be announced on Friday and will be married on the second day of Wedding Expo, Saturday, March 25. The ceremony will be broadcasted live on NCN Television.
Meanwhile, Wedding Expo’s ‘Race to the altar’ 2017 kicked off the second phase of the competition on Sunday, which saw the final six contestants vying for the top prize of a $3M all-inclusive wedding.
The event, hosted by Roraima Airways, treated the six couples to a day of adventure and fun, while they competed in activities ranging from mountain biking, kayaking, and forest expedition to couple communication at the Arrowpoint Nature Resort.
The competing couples are Roderick Grant and Kacy Datson, Colwyn Boyle and Kittindie Pearson, Rajesh Chandrapaul and Romana Puran, Akeem Peters and Kerron Boston, Dale Thomas and Lauriel Inniss and Gregory Loo and Keisha Fraser.

The second phase of the competition was geared at providing the judges an opportunity to examine the interaction of couples while in stressful situations. The couples were observed from the time they departed Georgetown at approximately 08:00hrs from the Timehri Docks, from where they began a 45-minute speedboat ride down the Kamuni Creek to the resort.
The betrothed couples also got a walk-through tour of the Santa Mission Village, as they ventured through craft shops, interacted with villagers and gobbled up folk tales of the village by the tour guide.
Roraima Airways’ Captain Gerald Gouveia, who is also the chief judge, took the couples to breakfast when they arrived at the resort and spoke of how each couple met.
Thereafter, the team went hiking into the rainforest for almost one mile and kayaking through the jungle, as they were expected to race back to the resort. The men also had to piggy-back their partners through rough terrain and go head-to-head in biking.
The chief judge said the exercise was aimed at observing the commutation, care and consideration for each other as well as team work.

“The couples were treated as tourists to experience the best the resort has to offer, while being judged on their chemistry as they interacted with each other,” he said, while he explained the criteria for one couple to win the $3M wedding prize.
“The couples’ inability to afford the luxurious wedding, ability to be good ambassadors for the Wedding Expo brand and the public’s votes,” are all factors that will be taken into consideration as the competition progresses.
Sparing no time, the captain changed his hat to that of a guidance counsellor, giving the couples marriage advice after being married for more than 30-years to Debbie Gouveia. “Marriage is all about communication,” Gouveia said.

Roraima Airways has over the years been promoting Guyana as a wedding destination through the hosting of the fifth annual ‘Race to the Altar’ and the 9th edition of Wedding Expo. This year’s competition attracted 20 couples, an increase from 2016, which saw 16 applicants.