Fabulous Candlelight Wedding for Courtney and Denny at All Saints Chapel!

Courtney and Denny and I met last January to plan their November 7, 2009 wedding at All Saints Chapel, one of my favorite places for weddings in Raleigh. They are a delightful young professional couple who are careful planners and knew what they wanted. All Saints Chapel was a perfect setting for them and their 130 guests. It was close to the Capital City Club where their reception was and they hired buses to transport their guests from the hotel to the chapel and then from the chapel to the reception.

After Courtney's grandparents and the parents and all the attendants and I had processed in down the candlelit aisle, it was time for our flower girl, Caitlin, to sprinkle the aisle with pretty fall leaves.

Here comes the beautiful bride escorted in by her beaming father!

Here we are during the ceremony. Can you see all the candles? I happen to know there were at least 100!

The deed is done and Courtney and Denny are husband and wife and so happy! They exited to the front of the chapel followed by their wedding party and parents and grandparents.

Then I asked all the guests to stand and turn around and fill in the aisle, being careful of all those candles in the aisle! Then the parents, grandparents, wedding party and finally the bride and groom came back in to stand in front of the guests while our photographer, Robin Lin, got a shot of everyone from the balcony in the rear of the chapel. (All the photos on this blog are with my point and shoot digital camera, courtesy of my "roadie" Marty!)

Then I invited the guests to proceed to the reception while we took some photos of the bride and groom and their attendants and relatives. Courtney and Denny had decided to have a "First Look" before the ceremony so a lot of their wedding photos were taken in various spots around downtown Raleigh. Courtney's dress was gorgeous! She has such elegant beauty.

Courtney and Denny, I wish you lifetimes of happiness and all the best life has to offer!


Now to let you in on a few behind the scenes scenarios before this beautiful wedding happened: When Marty and I arrived at 4:00 for the 5:00 wedding, the aisle and the altar area were filled with beautiful glass vases of water of varying heights with white floating candles. The above photo shows where the candles were originally placed. But, the problem was, and I am sure the florist had no idea where the bridesmaids and groomsmen were to stand for the ceremony, that the candles were positioned where the attendants were to stand and there was nowhere else for the attendants to be. To leave the candles where they were was to risk them getting knocked over or the girls' dresses catching fire. The florist (Fresh Affairs) was long gone, having set up much earlier in the day.

Here Andrew Martin of All Saints Chapel and I are discussing what to do about this situation. (Andrew was filling in this weekend for Sarah Morris who was away at a wedding. Andrew told us that his wedding was at the chapel two weeks earlier!) We had no choice but to move the candles. So, Andrew, Marty and I set about rearranging the vases--some were quite heavy--toward the back of the altar to clear the steps and front of the altar. The photo below shows the final rearrangement and it is lovely. I loved all the candles and the romantic mood they create. But wait, another problem presented itself once we got the candles in place. It was now 4:30, 30 minutes before ceremony start time, and time to light the candles. We discovered we had no way to light all these candles! Andrew searched the chapel for a long handled butane lighter and Marty searched my car. Nothing but matches and the short cigarette lighters turned up. They would not work because you cannot stick your hand into the vases and light the wicks without burning yourself!

So, at 4:30 Marty and I hopped in my car and drove three blocks down the street to Caffe Luna where I also do many weddings and found Ryan Hill, the catering manager, and hurriedly explained the problem and she gave me two long handled butane lighters. Ryan, you saved the day! Marty and I sped back to the chapel waving to the wedding party on Person Street having photos taken. Andrew and Marty set about lighting the candles which were not easy to light, believe me. There were hanging glass candle holders in the little trees on the altar and in order to reach them, I had to climb up behind the altar, unhook each one from the tree branches, hold for Andrew to light, then hang up again. The guests were arriving and being seated as we were diligently lighting candles and one nice gentleman helped us immensely. Andrew found one taper candle that we could use as a lighter so with 3 of us lighting candles, we were done about 15 minutes before start time! The bride and groom had no idea what had gone on until I told them later! It would have been a shame if we could not have lit the candles.

In December of 2008, I officiated the wedding of Melissa and Chris at Long View Center (unfortunately now closed) and their musicians were Gregory Dixon on piano and Phillip Jefferson on oboe. I told Denny and Courtney how spectacular and mystical the combination of the two instruments was and so they decided that was what they wanted. So above are Gregory (919 274-1041) and Phillip (919 604-2431) making their beautiful music. I wish I had sound on this blog! I was so looking forward to hearing this music again. For one of the processional numbers, Denny and Courtney chose the theme from Forrest Gump. I have never heard it used in a wedding before but it was truly magical and perfect! I hope to hear it again in a wedding.

Marty and I did not go to the reception at the Capital City Club although we were invited. I rarely go to receptions any more. For one thing, most of the time I really only know the couple and I want them to have fun with their friends and families and not worry about me. Another thing is that if I went to all the receptions, I would weigh about 400 pounds by now! Just too tempting! I understand that Courtney and Denny had Complete Music as their DJ and that Simply Cakes did their wedding cake. Courtney's make-up and hair were by Primp Salon and she sure looked fabulous!