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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Allison and Steve Tie the Knot at Brier Creek Country Club in Grand Style!

Steve called me last March. I was in Cape Cod at a restaurant in the middle of a gathering of my husband Dave's family. Of course I carry my cell phone everywhere. I excused myself and checked my availability for August 22nd, 2015 and happily reported to Steve that I was available and would love to officiate his and Allison's wedding. And so we set up a date to meet when I got back home and started on their fabulous ceremony filling it with laughter and tears of joy!
When Dave and I arrived at Brier Creek Country Club's Jasmine Courtyard, the staff of The English Garden were busy putting up the hanging vases of flowers at the altar area.
 Here comes Elise who is with Brier Creek and is serving as our wedding director-coordinator. 
 Upstairs in the ballroom where the reception will be......
 Lovely wedding cake by Five County Cakes! (Unfortunately they don't have a website or Facebook page to link to.)
 The color scheme is navy and hot pink! 
Randy Bennett is one of my favorite DJs. He is with Bunn DJ Company and I love working with him. We have just done a sound check.
 Love the hanging vases of flowers.  So simple and so pretty! That is all you need at this pretty place.  
 It is time for us to take our places and be ready to walk in when Elise cues us. 
 The guests have arrived and are waiting for the ceremony to begin.  
 After the seating of the parents, Steve and his groomsmen and I march in from the side. 
 Steve is beaming as his daughters process in. Me, I am checking my microphone!
 Steve's youngest caughter, Jenna, is our Jr. Bridesmaid and first one in. 
 Then Devin processes in. My my, look at those hot pink platform heels! 
 Then Katie......
 And Kate!
Finally our matron of honor, Shelly, who also happens to be the Events Manager at Brier Creek. This time instead of directing, she gets to be part of the wedding of her dear friends Allison and Steve!
It is time for the bride and I invited the guests to stand in her honor. The guy in the white shirt on the right graced us with rather weird sound effects during the ceremony!
 And so Allison is flanked by her father, Allen, right, and her stepfather, Buck, on the left. 
They bring her down the aisle to Steve where I asked them "Who has the privilege of presenting this woman, Allison, to be joined in marriage to this man, Steve?" Together they said "Her family and we do." 
 Allison's dad placed her hand in Steve's hand. 
 Welcome everyone! Then a sweet opening prayer.
 A tribute to their parents bringing tears to their eyes.
Then I invited Jenna and Devin forward to receive a blessing from Steve and Allison. 
Now it is time to tell the story of how Steve and Allison met and fell in love. 
It is a great story filled with lots of humor and funny adventures. 
Then I shared what they love about each other, why they want to marry and what they are looking forward to. 
Steve reads his vows to Allison from my book. 
Allison does the same then it is time to exchange rings. 
A closing blessing for the couple. 
Looks like Shelly is basking in the moment as I placed my hand on theirs to make the pronouncement. 
The pronouncement of marriage! 
Steve gets a good kiss in despite Allison's giggles! 
The newlyweds! 
As they step into their future! 
And off they go happily ever after! 
Shelly and Chris (Steve's brother and best man) exit. 
Kate and Jimmy.....
Katie and Patrick......
Then Jenna and Devin.......
Allison's mom, Tessa, and stepfather, Buck........while our wedding photographer, Richard Barlow, snapped their photo. 
Father of the bride and his son Ryan exit........
Steve's parents Annina and Donnie exit......
After the guests cleared the ceremony area we took some pictures. Allison and Steve, it was a great wedding and from what I read on Facebook, the reception was a wonderful celebration! I loved working with you and I know you are so happy to be married! I wish you all the best!
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To contact Kayelily:
 919-345-4608
Or leave a comment below!

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Monday, August 24, 2015

Red Hot Wedding for Ashley and Alan at The Oaks!

Ashley and Alan and I met the end of 2014 to plan their wedding ceremony. They are both in the restaurant service industry and friends of my daughter, Andrea. Turns out we have other friends in common as you shall see below! They were delighted to be able to put together their own ceremony and control not only the content but the length. They wanted no longer than 15 minutes and so that is what we created.
Their wedding day August 1, 2015 arrived clear, and hot! Hardly a cloud in the sky! So glad the ceremony was on the shorter side! The Oaks at Salem was all prepped and ready.
The reception area under the tent was cooler and all ready for the guests after the ceremony. Rocky Top Catering was providing the goodies! 
Veni is new with The Oaks and this was her first wedding solo. Joslin, the events facilitator I usually work with, had her baby girl early--the night before our rehearsal! Veni is a wonderful addition to the staff at The Oaks and really earned her stripes on this wedding with all the coordinating and dashing back and forth. I really appreciate that she gives me and the DJ a ride from the house to the ceremony site to get the sound set up.
And so, the guests are beginning to arrive and take their seats. Our DJ, Scotty Williams with Making Memories DJ Service, was set up and ready. Our photographer and videographer, Martin Vojtek with Martin Video and Photography was set up too.
First to process in around the street side of the lake were Ashley's grandparents followed by the parents then by Alan, Nick (Alan's younger brother) and me.
 I haven't  clue who the guy behind us is! We were busy talking away! 
 From the other side of the lake, the bridesmaids and groomsmen entered. 
Walking on grass with high heels on is quite a challenge. And if it has rained in the past day or so the ground is even softer and easy to sink into!
 This bridesmaid gave up and just took her heels off and walked barefooted! 
 Now our maid of honor and best man come along. 
Our oldest flower girl, Haleigh, had ventured closer to the water. You can see the bride and her father in the background along with Veni and April (owner of The Oaks) waiting for them to get in place.
 Miranda, our youngest flower girl, needed some assistance! 
 Haleigh gets going on down the aisle! 
So now we await the bride and her father. I asked the guests to remain seated so Alan could watch Ashley and her father, Joe, approach. Then when they got to the back of the chairs I invited them to stand in her honor.
 Scotty gets the cue to start the music for the bride. 
 It is an impressive walk around the lake and so beautiful! 
Joe answered my question to him, placed Ashley's hand into Alan's, carefully stepped behind her making sure he did not step on her train and Kristle straightened the train for the ceremony.
 Now we begin this wonderful ceremony that was full of laughter and tears! 
They have a good story too. They first met back in 2008 when they were both working at bars in downtown Raleigh. They hung out together with their friends and coworkers and were just friends.
In 2012 they were both invited to be in the wedding of friends. Alan's affinity for redheads prompted him to make the first move and the timing was right! By the time of their friends' wedding, they were dating.
 Alan popped the question two years later during a trip to Blowing Rock and of course Ashley said yes! 
We pause for a moment for me to mop Alan's face which was dripping with sweat, not that the rest of us weren't dripping too!
 Being very careful not to drop the rings! 
 Alan placed the ring on Ashley's finger while saying the chosen words to her. 
 They got tickled while Ashley was trying to put the ring on Alan's finger! 
 A short closing blessing followed then the legal moment they become husband and wife! 
 I invited Alan to kiss his beautiful wife then made a beeline to get out of the way! 
 And it was a good thing that I did! 
 Here they are, folks, all married! 
 Let's go, baby! 
 And they strutted down the aisle so happy to be married at last! 
 And off into the future happily ever after! 
While I was removing my microphone, another couple I married in 2013, Heather and Jed, came up to say hello! It as so good to see them! Heather is Alan's cousin. I never know who will be attending weddings and I love it when other couples I know say hello!
Alan and Ashley, what a fabulous fun couple you are! It was an honor to join you in marriage. (And yes, I wore the same navy outfit this past week for your friends Allison and Steve's wedding which you will see later on this blog!) Thank you so much for your review. I appreciate it so much. Only a few more to go to get my 250 reviews badge from Weddingwire.com!
My husband and I were so pleased with how helpful Kayelily was from start to finish. She answered every small question we had, was very detailed in every step of the process and she was extremely professional, but yet so friendly she felt like family. We felt very comfortable with Kayelily and we will be recommending her to friends and family going forward. Everyone at our wedding commented on how graceful she was and we agree! Absolutely wonderful ceremony! We would not have had it any other way. Thank you so much for making our day absolutely perfect!
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To contact Kayelily:
 919-345-4608
Or leave a comment below!

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