Wedding Celebration

The event we have anticipated for months went off with very few hitches. My nephew Ryan married his soul-mate Anna in the Bahamas on the 22nd of this month, with eight adults and one infant from his family in attendance.

The weather on Harbour Island was "iffy" all week - to say the least, and the decision to hold the ceremony on the beach was made at the last possible moment. The photos I took can be viewed here. The reception was marred only by the sunburn inadvertantly acquired by various guests earlier in the day. Most notably, the best man's toast speech was cut short because of his discomfort, but was still remarkable.

In the days preceding the wedding, we spent time getting to know Anna's family at Farcliff and being immersed in family traditions: Dinner Tuesday night, sitting at a table with Anna and Ryan, her parents, sister and brother-in-law. A native dinner in the courtyard the next night, after which Anna's father led a hootenanny from two large volumes of songs collected over the years.

The next afternoon's event was a rousing beach volleyball game on the beach below Farcliff. I was given the honor of holding the game ball by Anna's father, Scott, for having scored 14 consecutive points on serve. We're wearing our "official" Anna and Ryan wedding T's and windblown hair-dos.

That evening, the rehearsal dinner was hosted at Landfall, an estate further down the beach rented by a contingent of Anna's family. Cheeseburgers and Conch salad!

Don't ask me to recall everyone's name, but I met a lot of really, really nice folks. This family will compete with the English Clan on almost every level.












We saw the newlyweds off at the government dock the day after the wedding. We know where the honeymoon is, but we're not telling... not that you're likely to be in the Turks and Caicos this week. In case you don't recognize this vessel, it is a water taxi, otherwise indistinguishable from the water craft that populate the Columbia River on any given day.