Tracy and Karl were married on December 8th 2014 at The One and Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island in The Bahamas. It was a lovely day and the  tiered Versailles gardens and 12th-century style Augustinian Cloister was the perfect backdrop for their intimate ceremony.

Tracy and Karl are two of the nicest people I’ve ever met and it makes my heart so happy to know they have found each other. I asked Tracy about how they met…..”One of the special things about our relationship is that we were great friends before we fell in love.  We got to know each other first by working together in an office environment, but we quickly found each of us had the ability to make the other laugh like we’ve never laughed before.  Laughter was a doorway to making us comfortable with each other and learning about other aspects each other’s life  – how we grew up and what was important to each of us.”

I first met Tracy and Karl at Tracy’s Brother’s wedding this past September. I photographed Jeffrey and Erin’s Wedding here on Nantucket and they too had an intimate wedding with just their immediate family. Throughout that day I loved getting to know  their wonderful families and knew I’d made new friends for life. After I had blogged their wedding it was much to my delight that Tracy immediately reached out…..when I answered the phone the conversation went something like….”we loved meeting you and the photos, what will it take to bring you to The Bahamas with us in December?” Their was no question, I was beyond honored to be invited along on this intimate and very special wedding trip. Tracy organized everything and before I knew it we were all boarding a non-stop flight out of Boston Logan heading for The Bahamas. As we all sat around the table at Nobu Sushi on our first night I loved hearing all of their great family stories and about how they had all gotten to this very special time in life. They truly treated me like part of their family through out the trip and spending those days with four of the sweetest people I have ever met was a gift in itself.

After getting to know Tracy more during our time leading up to the wedding I knew this was going to be a beautiful event and everything they had envisioned for their wedding. Tracy and Karl decided they wanted an intimate wedding ceremony without all of the stress and demands that a larger event can entail.  They both share a love of summer, the sun and the beach, so there was no better destination than the caribbean in December!  The One and Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas was a perfect choice, as the staff treated their small and intimate gathering as if it was their most important event of the year.

Destination weddings are so unique in that everyone really becomes truly present in the moment. Cell phones are switched off, sunsets are taken in and the palm trees sway in the ocean breeze as everyone can truly relax. Everyone shares a time together in a beautiful place and so many new memories are made. To Tracy and Karl, what made it even more special, is that they were able to share their wedding day with Tracy’s brother Jeffrey and sister-in-law, Erin.   It was the most beautiful day – The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the ocean was in our view at every turn……”After our wedding ceremony at the Cloisters, we strolled the beautiful gardens of the Ocean Club for pictures, and ended up on the beach for sunset with a beautiful pink sky and shining turquoise blue ocean.  We finished our day with a special celebration dinner at the “Dune” with Jeffrey, Erin and our friend Katie Kaizer, who perfectly captured our magical day in pictures.  We also were surprised with a serenade from a hotel staff member who sang a beautiful love song to us in front of the entire restaurant!”

There was so much love and happiness present through out the week. Tracy’s smile lights up a room and Karl’s stories and sense of humor kept us laughing all week. We are all so happy for them and I am so thankful to have spent this time together photographing their wedding celebration…… “Our wedding celebration was everything we wanted it to be and we will treasure the special memories for our lifetime!”