When an American couple tie the knot today at Elbow Beach they will be putting the seal on more than just their own love, but also a family love affair with Bermuda that stretches back more than 50 years.

For half-a-century generations of the Fawsett and O?Brien families have been taking a yearly vacation on the Island with Elbow Beach becoming their second home.

And they say it is all down to the friendliness of Bermudians, the natural beauty and cleanliness of the Island and its unique charm that has led to their family becoming possibly the ultimate in loyal tourism visitors.

Now Jeff O?Brien, 29, who remembers celebrating his first birthday during a holiday on the Island, has decided to marry his sweetheart Shannon Samonek at Elbow Beach today.

He is the grandson of West Virginian?s Jane and Alan Fawsett who started the whole Bermuda love affair for their family when they first came to the Island with their five children back in the middle of the last century.

They liked it so much they decided to return year after year and this led to their daughter Dana continuing the trend as she became and adult and brought her husband Jim O? Brien and their children Jeff and Wendy to Elbow Beach each year.

So why have three generations of the same family been so spellbound by Bermuda that they return again and again?

As she prepared for her son?s wedding, Mrs. O?Brien, from San Antonio, Texas, said: ?It is such a special Island for us that my parents wanted to come here all the time. And then I grew up and I started to bring my children every June.

?It is the people here, and the beauty of it all and the cleanliness, the colour of the sea, the reefs, the coves.?

She added: ?It has become such an important part of our lives that Jeff decided he wanted to get married here.?

Over the decades they have become friends with many of the staff and people on the Island, such as Mickey Caines who was the recreation manager at Elbow Beach where he worked for 44 years and met the Fawsetts for the first time 53 years ago. He remembers Mrs. O?Brien when she was only three-years old.

He gave her son a summer job helping out with the beach and recreational facilities and is one of the special guests at the wedding.

Mr. Caines said: ?It is unbelievable that they have kept coming back, and they truly love this place.?

From her seafront cottage at Elbow Beach, Mrs. O?Brien said: ?It is like coming home when we come here.?

Her husband agreed: ?This is such a special place. When there is a special trip to be made it has to be here. When the kids said they were getting married I said ?Well, there?s only one place ? we?re doing Bermuda?.?

More than 100 family and friends have come to the Island for the wedding, but missing from the get-together are Mr. and Mrs. Fawsett, now well into their mid-80s, who were unable to make the trip.

Mr. Jeff O?Brien, who works for a bank in New York City, spent the day before the wedding catching fish, which were grilled and enjoyed by friends at Elbow Beach. He told the : ?I remember I had my first birthday here. For me Bermuda is the friendliness of the people, the atmosphere, the water, the little towns St. George?s, Tucker?s Town and the others.

?When I was a kid I thought it would be a dream to get married here. I brought my wife to be here for the first time in 2001 and we?ve been coming back each year.?