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 Naisbitt 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