Julia and Jared Get Married in a Beautiful Wedding at the Carolina Inn!

Julia's mother contacted me last December about officiating Julia and Jared's wedding on September 13, 2008 at the Carolina Inn--one of the most prestigious and elegant wedding sites in the Triangle. I met with the couple, Julia's mother, Lisa, and her father, John, on January 26th to plan the ceremony while the couple were in Raleigh. They live in Boston. From my special collection of wedding ceremony material I emailed to them Julia and Jared selected the parts of their ceremony they wanted but they also wanted to include how they met and fell in love, what they loved about each other and some of their adventures together since some of their guests did not know the details. Together we created "Their Story" mixing in a bit of humor which the guests really relished.

We had their rehearsal the day before and practiced all the logistics with the assistance of their very capable wedding director, Anita Vick, who coordinates many weddings at the Carolina Inn. Their ceremony was held in the lovely Bryan Courtyard decorated uniquely with beautiful hanging topiary balls covered with hundred of roses (see photos)! Before the ceremony, however, the large flower ball in the front fell down with a muffled "kerplunk" while Marty and I were setting up my sound system! With Anita and Marty's help and a wire coat hanger, I speared the very heavy (at least 40 lbs) flower ball with the coat hanger and got it hanging up again...but just before the ceremony it fell again and this time all the guests were seated and there was no resurrecting it again! Turns out that the bride and groom did not even notice its absence!

The ceremony began with escorting in of the parents and then the wedding party entered. Their little flower girl, Scout, made it down the aisle slowly but she only dropped one petal! So cute! Then all the guests stood for the entrance of our beautiful bride. After her father transferred Julia's hand into Jared's and the guests were seated, we began with words of warm welcome and a prayer. They honored their parents with a tribute to them which brought on the tears. Julia's uncle, James, read The Art of Marriage and Jared's cousin, Jessica, presented An Apache Blessing. Then it was time for me to tell the story of the couple which generated a great deal of chuckling! The blessing of the hands, vows and ring exchange followed and I made the pronouncement. Then Julia kissed her husband amidst much applause. I introduced the newlywed couple to the guests and the recessional began. The guests recessed to the gala reception area while we reassembled for photographs.

The ceremony music was provided by the Stalberg String Quartet and the photography was by Aaron Hogsed, the videography by Aaron Morrell. Before the ceremony, Marty and I visited the Hill Ballroom where the reception was to take place. The floral arrangements by Lyn Graves of Fresh Affairs were simply fabulous! There were photos of the couple and their kitten, Sienna, and photos of the couples' parents on their wedding day. The Fantasy Band was warming up and sounded wonderful. Then we saw the gorgeous wedding cake by Donna Ford of Sweet Memories. Jared and Julia thought of everything! They had the guests create drawings commemorating the day which will be transferred onto plates. How unique and special. I don't know what the bride gave her bridesmaids but the groomsmen got cuff links with the insignia of their alma maters. They had beautiful wedding programs that were handed out along with custom packets of tissues and folding fans. Julia and Jared, you are a well-matched couple and I know you will have a great marriage! Congratulations on your marriage and such a well planned wedding!