Lisa and Brandon Wed at Caffe Luna!

Lisa and Brandon were married on December 6, 2009 at Caffe Luna in downtown Raleigh. It was a wonderful wedding and the space was filled with their guests. Caffe Luna is a wonderful place to get married and have a casual but elegant wedding with the reception right there too. Ryan Hill, catering manager, was there to make sure everything flowed smoothly for the ceremony and reception. Thanks, Ryan. It is always a pleasure to do weddings at Caffe Luna.

Lisa was escorted in by her Uncle Joe who was a bit nervous but Lisa was such a beautiful bride radiantly sweeping down the aisle to her sweetheart!

Lisa and Brandon chose to have their guests facing the Hargett Street side of the restaurant and placed a drape behind the ceremony area for some privacy. The Christmas wreaths in the window remind us that it is the Christmas season. We paid tribute to their dear mothers which evoked a few tears and then asked their guests for a community blessing. Lisa was cool and calm until it came time for her to say the words to Brandon when they exchanged rings. She started choking up but after a deep breath she was okay. I could tell that Brandon just wanted to hug her and comfort her but I told him "no kissing yet!" which got a good laugh from everyone. We proceeded on to the pronouncement and then they kissed and I presented the newlyweds to their delighted guests. They wedding party and parents exited and the guests went to the two back rooms which were all set up for the reception. Then the staff started transforming the front room for the reception too. It was pretty busy and I joined the couple in the VIP room to congratulate them and get some photos.

Have a great time in Vegas, Lisa and Brandon! You are a dear couple and your love for each other is so evident. I wish you all the best ever!

This is one of the rooms in the back of the restaurant all set up for the reception. The owner, Parker Kennedy, is a dear friend and neighbor of mine and his talented wife, Nicole, painted all the wonderful paintings that hang on the walls.

Lisa and Brandon are big time Disney fans. See Mickey and Minnie topping the cake! They would have gone to Disney World for their honeymoon except that they had recently been there on another trip. So they decided to immerse themselves in the glitz and glitter of Las Vegas instead. This cake is by Lisa's friend, Melissa Taylor.

Melissa Taylor was also our wedding director. She did a super job directing the wedding party in. Here she is with Gene Raffel, our DJ with Gene's Mobile DJ Service  getting their cues lined up. Gene was really good to work with. Thanks, Gene and Melissa. Our florals were done by Ty Batista of A Floral Essence. Our photographer was Kelly Martin. It was good to work with her again.