Ruth and Mike's Special Wedding at Duke Gardens

Ruth and Mike came to see me last June. Their wedding date was January 3, 2009 in the Kirby Horton Hall (the visitor's center) at Duke Gardens followed by a reception at the Washington-Duke Inn. Both had been married before and wanted a wedding ceremony that reflected who they were and their feelings for each other. Ruth wanted to incorporate the glass breaking ceremony to honor her Jewish heritage, and Mike wanted to incorporate something from the Christian tradition. They wanted to include Ruth's adult children, Beth and Daniel, in the ceremony as well. I sent them my special collection of wedding ceremony material and they got to work fashioning the perfect ceremony for them. When I arrived for the rehearsal and the wedding, the Hall was still beautifully decorated for Christmas for their wedding so they did not need to add any floral decorations to make it very festive. Jennifer Kidd was on hand for the photography with her husband and her assistant, Jennifer, all of whom I had worked with before.

After the 150 guests had arrived and settled into their seats, the signal for the ceremony to begin was a wonderful solo by Catherine Alderman singing "All I Ask of You" accompnaied by Al Zaranka on the grand piano. When she began the next song "Calm as the Night," the groom, best man and I entered and took our places. Then Beth, as her mother's maid of honor, entered. I signaled all the guests to stand as Ruth entered escorted by her son, Daniel. When Catherine's song ended, we began the lovely ceremony. (The couple had requested no photos be taken during the ceremony so I don't have any photos to show of the wedding ceremony--only before and after!) After the reading of First Corinthians, Beth sang "Love Walked In" and she did so very well and has a wonderful voice.

After the warm and welcoming ceremony in which Mike successfully crushed the glass and everyone shouted Mazel Tov, the Hebrew words that mean congratulations and good luck, Ruth and Mike and their family lined up to greet their guests before going to the reception. I broke into the receiving line to get a post-wedding photo, then Marty and I were off to do a wedding in Wake Forest. Many congratulations to you, Ruth and Mike!