Bahamas Wedding Stories: Tales of Bahamian Weddings
 Last
week, I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of one of the
nicest couples I have met, which I now have the privilege of calling
friends – Mr. and Mrs.
Kayte and Derrick lived together for four years
in Canada and finally decided to tie the knot in the Bahamas.
 They
arrived in Freeport a few days before Christmas and their bridal
party was supposed to come in from Canada a few days later – on
Spirit Airlines.
Of course, Spirit overbooked their guest’s
flight so none of their bridal party could make down from Canada to
the wedding; not the family, not the witnesses, and not the best man
or woman – nobody.
 In
fact, a multitude of unfortunate events happened – including Kayte
losing her bag – with their wedding rings, money, and credit cards –
only minutes before the ceremony was supposed to begin!
Some
would think that this union was not meant to be; but when this
couple was faced with sour grapes they made wine—and what a fine
wine it turned out to be!
When they had no witnesses for the wedding, new
found friends appeared to fill in their place (my friends staying
with me over the holidays); when their bag with their rings were
lost, with a mad dash and a quick retracing of steps, the bag was quickly found
outside the Pelican Bay Hotel lobby--undisturbed; when their
photographer could not make it from Canada; they found me (ok, so
two out of three ain’t that bad ;).
 Since
there were so few guests to worry about the bride and groom did not
have to worry about pictures with the family, etc. but they could
focus on each other – the result was some fantastic photos where one
could see the love and joy they had for each other: from the soft,
gentle caress of Kayte’s fingers along Derrick’s cheek, to their
joint laughs and giggles when their photographer howled as he
stubbed his toe on a rock (not funny guys!); from their deep gazing
into each other’s eyes, to Derek’s tender peck on Kayte’s forehand
which turned into a deep passionate kiss. The ceremony went off
without a hitch.
I wonder how many people in that same situation would be
depressed or bothered over these problems, as opposed to seeing the
big picture.
Every cloud has a silver lining, every problem
has a solution, and there is a bright side to everything – even when
one is facing ones own death (the bright side is that one is
still alive). It’s all a matter of perspective and choice. I’ve shot
a few weddings and all of them have had their “problems”—the
difference is how one chooses how to deal with them.
So this New Year’s and Holiday Season when life
throws an unexpected curve in your plans just look go with the flow,
or as Kayte would say “It’s all good.”
Happy New Year! --
Mark Da Cunha
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