Taking the Plunge
Story by Jim Miller
Photos by Kelley DeBettencourt
On a balmy September day last year, Island native Nell Coogan and Anthony Carestia took their vows in Vineyard Haven’s Owen Park, and immediately after walked down to the dock and jumped in the harbor.
Brides traditionally dance with their fathers on their wedding day, but Nell’s dad Ed passed away in 2001. Ed Coogan loved the Vineyard, especially Owen Park and sailing on his sloop Welwyn, so his family spread his ashes in Vineyard Sound between East and West Chop. Nell decided right then that whomever she married would have to be willing to take a wedding-day plunge. “If I couldn’t introduce my dad – who was the most amazing dad – to my husband in person, then I’d have to marry a man who would be willing to meet him in a different way.”
Nell met Anthony in 2002, and he was game to meet Ed with a splash. “We ended up only telling a few people,” Nell says, “so we caught many off guard, but it was fantastic. The water was warm, my father’s soul was in that water, and it was perfect!”