A Blended-Family Wedding at Duke Gardens!

Carolyn and Chris contacted me in June to officiate their "small" family wedding with about 20 guests at Duke Gardens on August 30, 2008. Carolyn told me that they had each been divorced for a number of years and had met a year ago. They were so thrilled to have found each other! Chris has 3 children and Carolyn has 2 and they wanted a ceremony that included the children but did not know how that could be done. I sent them a proposed ceremony that included the ritual of the bride and groom and their children pouring sand of different colors into a central container symbolizing the birth of the new family. They loved it.

So, the big day arrived. It was softly thundering on and off and the humidity was so thick that the flash of the camera was reflected, as you can see in the photos. The guests and wedding party gathered and we decided to have the wedding underneath the leafy canopy of the pergola and moved all the chairs up the steps. Carolyn had ordered 32 chairs but there ended up being 44 chairs and 41 guests not including the couple, their attendants, and their children! I assembled the sand ceremony, the marriage license was retrieved from their car in the parking lot, and the groom and his twin brother, Allen, finally arrived after fighting the Duke football traffic. The children processed in first then the bride came up the steps and was met by Chris who escorted her down the aisle to where I was waiting. Allen was best man to his brother and Cynthia, a friend of Carolyn's, served as maid of honor. The ceremony proceeded smoothly and concluded just as the first raindrops began to fall! But, the rain diminished enough for us to get some good photographs before the couple departed to their reception. I was delighted to work with Matthew Kanon, classical guitarist, again and with Don Hadley, the photographer, again. I did not remember Matthew at first until he reminisced about doing a wedding with me at Duke Gardens a few years ago in which his cable was too short and he was able to plug into my sound system saving the day for him! My roadie, Marty got photos of them both. It is a rare photo of Don because he does not have his camera in his face! They are a lot of fun to work with.

All the best to you, Chris and Carolyn and your new family!