Sweet Romance

Packy Malley pulled the motorcycle over at the Garden of Eden Botanical Garden in Maui, Hawaii, on Mother’s Day 2005. He gave Kym Petit an offer she couldn’t refuse. “I asked her to be the mother of my children, and I promised to be faithful to her and supply her with a lifetime supply of chocolate!” Malley recalls.

Patrick “Packy” Malley — co-owner of Malley’s Chocolates as well as a concert promoter and wedding DJ — met Petit when he offered to buy her a drink at AJ Rocco’s Espresso Bar in the Gateway District, during a Carlos Jones reggae performance. The couple later discovered there was a heart — either stained or painted — on the exact spot on the floor where they first met. A mutual love of reggae, live music, Cleveland and each other was celebrated at their Sept. 9, 2006, wedding.

After a ceremony at St. Peter’s Catholic Church at East 17th Street and Superior Avenue, 400 of the couple’s friends and family members joined them for a reception at Voinovich Park behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the cocktail hour, steel drummer Deighton Charlemagne from St. Lucia played, and then the Fat Tuesday Big Band Orchestra took over, playing jazz and swing. After a spectacular fireworks display, everyone got their groove on to Carlos Jones and the PLUS Band, the same reggae band that was playing when the couple met.

The evening concluded with an after-hours reggae cruise on the Goodtime III. Of course, an enormous selection of Malley’s chocolate goodies were served and given to guests as favors.

“We were so delighted, it was perfect from start to end,” Malley says. “I can say hands down, this was the greatest day of my entire life.”                                                                      

 

  — Tori Woods