Latercha and Michael's Wonderful Wedding at Crabtree Marriott!

Brenda Ragland contacted me last November to see if I could officiate the wedding of her friends, Michael and Latercha, on January 16th at the Crabtree Marriott. She was the wedding planner and taking care of organizing and procuring vendors for their wedding. Brenda is a Wedding Consultant and Floral Designer for A Perfect Setting. We made arrangements for me to meet her and the couple in a restaurant in downtown Raleigh. I usually meet with couples  in my home but they were interviewing ministers at the location of their choice. I was happy to go meet with them. After explaining my services and reading a sample ceremony to them, they signed with me on the spot. They wanted me to write their ceremony and add the story of how they met and fell in love. So, we emailed back and forth and came up with the perfect ceremony for them.

Marty (my "roadie") and I arrived at the Crabtree Marriott at 2:00 for the 3:00 wedding and got my microphone hooked into the sound system. Michael himself is a DJ and so he was intricately involved with getting this all set up for both the ceremony and the reception which were in different rooms. His friend Rasheed Smith was the DJ for the evening. The theme was red roses and they were everywhere. When Marty tried taking some photos, my new camera (which had worked fine for 5 weddings since Christmas) would not take pictures. It was too late for us to come back home and get my old one so Amanda Olson, our photographer, promised to send me photos when she gets them done. I have delayed posting this blog hoping to get the photos but decided to go ahead and put it up and add them later.

The ceremony went beautifully and Latercha was simply stunning in her wedding dress with her pretty "up-do" hair style. Her father escorted her in and proudly presented her to Michael. We paid tribute to their parents and I told their "story." After the vows and rings, they poured their red and white sand together and I made the pronouncement of marriage which was followed by the KISS then the presentation of the couple to their guests amidst much applause. They recessed followed by the wedding party and parents. Many guests came up to me to say how much they enjoyed the ceremony because it was so personal and different from traditional ceremonies.

After sticking around for photos after the ceremony, Marty and I left the happy couple and their guests to celebrate the rest of the afternoon and probably into the evening. Latercha and Michael, you are such a good match for each other and I appreciate your maturity and dedication to each other. I know you will be so happy!

I want to credit their wedding vendors: I want to thank Kelly Bray, Events Manager of the Marriott, for all of her help with this wedding and for bringing me water when I developed a dry tickle in my throat and coughing during the rehearsal!   John Carter of A Perfect Day Images covered the MC and the video for the wedding. Bob Taylor, videographer was handling the video equipment. Sweet Memories provided the beautiful cake bedecked with red roses and Fallon's did the beautiful rose floral arrangements. Brenda, you did a great job assembling a superb team of wedding vendors and organizing a beautiful and smoothly flowing wedding!