love & luck in the Bahamas

I couldn't resist the urge to blog from the BEACH! Lyndsay and Ryan have been married for 8 hours now . . . and I'm so excited to sneak a peak at pictures, that I've begun editing while our feet are still gritty with sand.

We're staying at the SAME resort (Atlantis, on Paradise Island in the Bahamas) where Ryan proposed to Lyndsay last January, almost a year ago to the day! Remembering that proposal while walking through the casino (the operative word here is "through" not "into") last night, Ryan confided: "I'm not much of a gambler; I just don't seem to have that kind of luck...but I gambled on Lyndsay, and look how lucky I really am." Spoken like a happy man about to marry the love of his life.

And speaking of marriage, this wedding day was an amazing start to Lyndsay & Ryan's. The women spent the morning (and a good part of the afternoon) in bathrobes (colorfully coordinated!):
then walked barefoot, laughing the entire way, to the ceremony (oceanside of course!):





Lyndsay & Ryan took a post-ceremony spin on the beach
And then it seemed that everywhere we turned was calling to us: "make a picture HERE!" There were storm clouds to the north:

fireworks (who knew?!) to the east:

a sunset to the west:


and to our south? JUNKANOO! (a carnival-like parade of west African dancing and music that my cab driver explained: "it's how we Bahamans share the gift of our cultural expression with the world"). Dressed in wedding garb, Lyndsay & Ryan really had NO chance at remaining bystanders and were pulled, straightaway, into the center of the action.

Love AND luck were in abundance today.

A big thanks goes to Allison & Evan (hey, be sure to visit his new bar, "On the Rocks," on Broadway in Columbia!), who allowed themselves to be recruited as instant lighting assistants. And WOW do I appreciate having been welcomed so warmly & so generously into this intimate, crazy fun gathering of the Perry & Herigon families! See you all at the Columbia reception!

~kim wade