Fabulous Wedding for Cassie and Dane at St. Mary's Chapel!

Cassie and Dane married on Sunday August 2, 2009 at the historic Saint Mary's Chapel on the campus of Saint Mary's School in downtown Raleigh. Isn't it the sweetest looking little white chapel?

I had always been curious to see the inside of this quaint little chapel that I always notice when driving down Hillsborough Street. The chapel seats 250 at full capacity which includes seating on the wings. I found out that starting this year, the school has changed their policy from renting the chapel only to alumna and staff and will now rent it to the general public. This is great news for couples wanting a beautiful church setting for their wedding.

The chapel was built in 1942 in the Episcopal tradition. It has lovely stained glass windows and dark polished wood. I was able to plug my receiver and wireless microphone into their sound system and the sound was perfect.

The beautiful old organ is quite something to see and to hear. Here is the lower part with keyboard.

Here is the upper part. In the picture is the back of Kevin Kerstetter, our fabulous organist and pianist, who provided the lovely music for Dane and Cassie's wedding. (He did not want his picture taken but we got this one when he was not looking!)

This is our photographer, Allison, getting photos of the groom and groomsmen before the ceremony.

What a good looking group of guys! So handsome in their tuxes with Carolina Blue ties, of course!

This is Dane's father, Marc, who was his son's best man doing his legal duty by signing the license. I really enjoyed meeting Dane and Cassie's parents. Dane's folks came all the way from Vancouver, Washington and Cassie's from Healy, Alaska. Cassie and Dane have been together for 4 years and everyone was so happy to see them tie the knot!

As the grandparents and parents were being escorted in, Amanda, a friend of the couple, sang "Never Saw Blue." It was a beautiful song for a wedding and she did a great job!

Then the groom, groomsmen and I processed in followed by the bridesmaids. Here we are all awaiting the entrance of our beautiful bride.

After Cassie's father transferred her hand into Dane's, the couple ascended the steps up onto the altar with me which is symbolic of taking their relationship to a higher level on their wedding day.

The photos of the ceremony taken with my little camera were not good enough to keep because the flash was severely insufficient for the level of light in the chapel. Here we are after the ceremony. This photo has been lightened up enough to show this handsome couple and the bride's gorgeous dress.

Cassie and Dane are an extraordinary couple and I was very honored to be their wedding officiant. Not only are they a picture-perfect couple but they are also very bright and very generous and loving individuals. I commented to Dane's father that they looked so much alike they could pass for brother and sister-- their resemblance is remarkable. He agreed and told me they kid around about getting DNA tests! Cassie is in UNC Law School and Dane will be starting an MBA program in the fall. He has spent the last year or two in the Teachers for America program teaching Zuni Pueblo children in New Mexico--a job he found to be an extremely rewarding and enriching experience.

I am chatting here with Ginny Martin, wedding coordinator of the chapel. Ginny was great to work with and I look forward to doing many more weddings with her in the future.

This is Allison Davis of Sandfoot Photography. I had met Allison a few months earlier at a Professional Wedding Guild networking luncheon and it was good to have the opportunity to work with her. Allison just recently returned from her own wedding in July on the Outer Banks and honeymoon to Jamaica. You can see her wedding photos on her blog. I am sure she will add Cassie and Dane's wedding photos on her next post.

This is Adrianna, Allison's assistant/apprentice who is grateful for the opportunity to work with Allison and learn the ropes. She was manning the cameras on the tripod for the photos of the ceremony.

Well, here is the get-away car all decorated with shaving cream that was not sticking very well in the humid weather! Their reception was at Caffe Luna nearby. I know they had a lot of fun!

Cassie and Dane, congratulations on your marriage. I wish you all the happiness and success in the world. I know you two will make great contributions to the greater good of society and be exemplary role models for your future children!