Alright - Finally to the Wedding!

As most of you are all aware, this was something that was spontaneous (not the desire to get married, just finalizing the whole kit and caboodle). While we would have loved to have had all our close friends and family attend, the idea of a 'white wedding' was daunting and strenuous just to think of. Our biggest factor in marrying while on our trip was timing. We've been engaged for...well, Dave's asleep, he's the guy who remembers these things...but, it's been awhile. We had decided some time ago that we wanted our wedding to fall on April 25, to sandwich nicely between Dave's birthday and my own. This works for two reasons: we'll be able to celebrate our lives together in one fell swoop, and it has the added perk of being easy for me to remember (I'm atrocious with remembering dates).

So, we mulled it over for a few days, consulted our parents and a few select friends a few days later, then started to make the whole thing move forward a few days after that. Overall, I'd say actual "planning" was  three whole days. One day to hitchhike into Marsh Harbour to obtain our wedding certificate, acquire a Justice of the Peace and to find a wedding dress, one day of determining location and inviting a few of the locals, then finally the day of the wedding itself. Stress free. Easy. Relaxed....

We had a surprise from our announcement; Max, a dear friend of ours from Florida, bought a plane ticket to Abacos Sunday night and flew out to us on Tuesday. We tried to get the only rental cottage in town, but we unable to secure it. So Pete, the owner of the pub and foundry (and damn near the town itself), offered for Max to crash in the 'loft' upstairs from the foundry. Free of charge.

The Penthouse Suite.

It had barn doors. 

Below and behind, you can make out a part of the foundry. 

We all thought this place was too cool. Dave and I stayed with Max the first night - I was actually envious of Max's accommodations. 

 The day of our wedding, instead of getting my hair done or panicking over last minute arrangements, we went playing. Reichard, Natalie, Bret and Kristen had invited us out in their skiff to go Blue Hole free-diving. We couldn't pass that up! We saw dozens of turtles, dove into dark aquatic caves, and took a magical ride through shallow channels of white sands and mangroves (I don't use the word 'magical' lightly, but no words could describe how amazing this experience was). Natalie and Kristen grabbed some photos, hopefully they'll send them to me and I'll be sure to post them.

Left to right: Bret, Reichard, Max. Out playing in the blue hole.

Natalie and Kristin.

Reichard in the water, and Bret on top - about to commence spear fishing.

The spider web of shallow channels among the mangroves.

We had down time afterwards to enjoy the Fat Tire beers that Jason De Cristofaro had so kindly sent us while we were in the Keys! For those of you who are saying to yourselves, "What?" - Dave's all time favorite beer is Fat Tire, from New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado. Which is, sadly, impossible to get east of the Mississippi. (http://www.newbelgium.com)

Finally, our ceremony began around 6:45pm. Dusk. Our Justice of the Peace, Mr. Cephas Cooper, drove down from Marsh Harbour. We were glad we went with him. Dave liked him from the start, partially because the name Cephas is Greek for 'rock'. That resonated with him. More importantly, he was laid back, friendly and had simple and elegant words for the ceremony.

We had a small group of locals who we invited and seemed all too interested to attend. We've grown to really adore so many of the people here, we were honored for them to come. We asked Max and Reichard to be our two witnesses.

We both wrote our own vows. We're both overwhelmed with love for each other and are happy to be husband and wife.

We picked up some o'duerves and a couple cakes from Marsh Harbour for our guests. We all went back to the pub, ordered a wonderful dinner, had some cake then walked up to Natalies house under a spectacular night sky for a little bit of wine and great company. It was a wonderful day.

The day after, we all went to Bookie's Beach to show Max the lively coral reef. We all lucked out and saw a Reef shark. The ultimate prize of the day? DAVE FOUND A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE! We had to break the bottle to get to the message (we'll put it in another bottle and keep it as a treasure), we found that it is from the Philippines from 2005. A man named Rene left his address in it, along with a pen and some blank pieces of paper. Everything was aged and worn, which gave it more appeal. It was honestly the single most impressive thing I've ever been a part of. According to CNN, it's estimated that "just one in 300,000 washed-up bottles contains a message." In researching this, it would appear that your chances of winning the lottery or getting struck by lightning are much higher. It was also, Dave's birthday. What. A. Gift. We intend to write to our mystery friend.

We missed everyone who couldn't attend, but everyone was with us spirit. We thank everyone for their warm wishes, love and support. Here's to spending our lives together! Much love!

Bob and Allison. Our fellow cave-dwellers.

The flowers were a gift from Natalie.

We found out later that this was the place that Volvo buried the car for the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' promotion.(http://www.prize-entry.com/volvo_potc/canneslions/games/)

Max was there to bear as witness.

We tied McKinley off to the nearest tree. This seemed to piss her off pretty well. She proceeded to star us down and bark through our entire ceremony. Luckily, Cephas didn't ask, "If there is anyone who knows of any reason why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." 

Reichard, witness two. We were honored that he accepted.

Special thanks to Max for taking the photos! They're perfect! And for flying out to be with us on this day, we love you Max! Also, we'd like to say a special thank you to the community of Little Harbour. This warm and friendly placed has touched our hearts, and we're so thankful to have had the opportunity to share this day here with the people of this town. Warmest regards to Reichard, Natalie, Bret, Kristen, Bob, Allison, Pete, Willy and Susan. You're all wonderful people, thank you for honoring us.