Megan, you may kiss your husband!

Despite a no show by the limo company, Matt and Megan had a wonderful wedding at Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs--a casual natural setting. We got started a little late but Anita Burroughs-Price's beautiful harp music lulled and soothed us all during the wait! She is such a marvelous harpist and it is such a pleasure doing weddings with her (and her golden harp is magnificent)!

Megan and Matt's ceremony started with a warm welcome to their guests who apparently have been waiting for years for this big event. We had a touching tribute to their parents, John and Paula, and Gary and Kathy. Both mothers, the bride and groom were in tears at the start of the ceremony. Th couple's hands were bound in the Celtic handfasting ceremony as they made their promises to each other and sealed them with their rings which symbolically took the place of the handfasting cord. The children of the bride and groom, TJ, Sierra and Hemi, were with us for the pouring of the sand. TJ stood as his dad's best man, Sierra was our flower girl, and Megan's sister Tammy was the matron of honor. Hemi was in his stroller and stayed very quiet during the whole ceremony. Thank you, Hemi! There were a few raindrops but they quickly subsided and we finished the ceremony with a sweet blessing. Then it was time to celebrate!

"We're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married!"

Yanessa and Preston did just that at the lovely Stone Chapel in Wake Forest April 26, 2008. The Stone Chapel is a great place to get married. Ranee Cloud and her staff are so efficient and think of every little detail. I do use my sound system there so I can speak in a normal tone of voice and put feeling into my voice. Preston's mother commented to me that she "felt my spirit" in my voice during the ceremony and loved every word the couple chose for their ceremony. Since my "roadie" Marty was off duty tonight, I enlisted the help of my husband Dave to help set up the sound system and take the photos you see here--except the one of him! I got the sand ceremony ready to go and we were all set.

The guests filled up the chapel and the ceremony began. Yanessa's two brothers escorted her down the aisle since their dad has passed on. It was very touching and the tears started to flow as I handed Yanessa a hankie. (I collect vintage embroidered hankies to give to the brides--and grooms--who shed tears!) After saying their vows, intermingling their sand, and being pronounced husband and wife, they literally skipped down the aisle and right out of the picture Dave took!

After the ceremony we re-assembled for photos by Diana Beraglia Matthews of Creative Moments Photography. Diana and I did a wedding together at The Umstead in March and she promises to send me photos to post here soon. She is creative and took shots of everyone from the balcony of the Stone Chapel.

Under the Big White Tent!

Patty and Tom were married at Sisters' Garden on April 19th at 6:30. (Sisters' Garden is one of my favorite venues for weddings. It is an elegant setting and they have doing weddings down pat!) By that time the sky was getting dark and the rain was threatening! But it held off until after the ceremony. Thanks to Marc Dabagian, the wedding director at Sisters', everything went smoothly as usual--even the runner. Runners can be problematic in the wind but Marc with his scissors and tape has gotten "runner laying" down to a science. Thanks, Marc!

Patty and Tom had a large wedding party with 8 groomsmen and 8 bridesmaids and the cutest little ringbearer who successfully made it down the aisle! The music was provided by a keyboardist and vocalist (Nina) and vocalist (Gerry--brother of the bride) who were great. The tent was full to capacity with about 150 guests. Patty's dad escorted her down the aisle so proudly and amazingly as I found out right before the ceremony that he had coronary bypass surgery with several complications only 6 weeks before the wedding! The readers did excellent jobs. We did the handfasting ritual with a silver and white cord as their hands and arms formed the symbol of infinity "blessing their marriage in the eternal ebb and flow of the universe." Then we had the sand pouring ceremony. I had told Patty and Tom to be sure to pour their sand slowly while Nina played and sang with Gerry "Come What May" and they did to the point that I thought the song was going to run out before the sand was all poured and Patty's arm was going to give out! Then I pronounced them husband and wife. They had done their "kissing" homework I had assigned to them at the rehearsal and came through with a great kiss--way to go, Tom! It was a delightful wedding!

Mark Holland was the videographer extraordinaire for Patty and Tom! He is with Ron K. Smith Productions and a delight to work with. He is so thorough and thinks of every little detail in order to get the perfect images and sound for the couple's wedding video. It was good to work with Mark again. After the wedding I got to chat with the DJ for their reception--Ryan Pflumm of Island Sound. What a handsome guy! We have done several weddings together in the past few years and enjoyed seeing each other this 2008 wedding season.

We dodged the rain!

Both weddings I officiated on April 19th were saved from the rainy forecast. I always watch the weather forecast the week before a wedding weekend and it is amazing how the forecast can be completely different by the time the weekend arrives! Sometimes that is good, and sometimes it is not!

At any rate, Lee Anne and Jason had a beautiful wedding ceremony at 2:30 in the Duke Gardens Amphitheater without rain, but the wind was very gusty! In fact, the wind blew over one of the floral arrangements where we were standing, blew the bride's veil over her face (see in first photo!), and deposited those little squiggly things from the trees into her hair and veil which I inconspicuously (I hope!) picked out while the readers were presenting their readings and Lee Anne had her back turned to me! We honored their parents, listened to wonderful readings and a touching song by Heather, Jason's stepsister, then did a handfasting ceremony with a purple and white cord to match the purple and white theme, the vows and ring exchange, and the pronouncement of marriage followed by a closing blessing and presentation of the newlyweds.

The wedding music was perfect thanks to Ross and Alice Merle of Just Music DJ Service. Ross is the DJ for the reception and his wife Alice plays the keyboard for the ceremony--what a nice arrangement. We do lots of weddings together and refer lots of couples to each other. It is always a pleasure to work with Ross and Alice.