Tesa and Don Throw a Great Wedding at their Home in Raleigh!

Tesa and Don wanted to have a small wedding at his home in North Raleigh which has a large backyard sloping down to a lake. The lake had lots of pretty lime green algae swirling around on the top of it that actually was a nice backdrop for their lovely wedding on July 16, 2010. They had hung pretty paper lanterns in the tree, had shepherd hooks of gorgeous flowers on each side of the altar area with a table for the Covenant of Sand ceremony. The very long runner was secured into the ground with nails and washers flanked by more shepherd hooks and flowers. It was lovely!  After I got my sound system up and going the guests began flowing from the cool air conditioned house into the hot humid air outside.

Don and his son, Greyson, and I took our places as the bride was escorted down the aisle by her son, Harry.

When we were all assembled I turned to place Tesa's bouquet on the table behind me and discovered we had forgotten to get the containers and salt in place. So, we called to Don's sister, Debbie, to run back into the house to get it. In the meantime, Don's mother, Mary Ann, was taking some photos of us here. That is Greyson on the right and Harry on the left. Debbie was back in a flash; Don put the salt into the two separate containers and we began.

They exchanged their vows and the rings. Tesa's ring was absolutely gorgeous and Don's ring was so unique. It was gold with platinum on top with intricate hand carved crosses on it. He told me that they found it at a jewelers where it had been made for someone else who decided not to buy it. It was so perfect for Don so really, it must have been meant to be.

 Here they are pouring their individual containers of salt together into the central container. One thing we did not anticipate was that the humidity in the air made the salt clump somewhat but they got it all together! The Covenant of Salt harks back to Biblical days when contracts were sealed with salt which was a precious commodity. The intermingling of the salt symbolized the merging of their two lives. "According to tradition, the contract you make today can only be broken if each grain of salt in the container can be sorted, identified, and then returned to its rightful owner. Therefore, since your salt is now inseparable, you are joined together forever."  (The current popular sand ceremony is derived from this ancient one.)

"By the love that has brought you here today, by the vows you have exchanged, and by the integrity of your commitment, in the presence of these witnesses and in the presence of God, it is my pleasure and my honor to now pronounce you husband and wife!" Then they kissed. (Dave, my husband, cameraman, and "roadie" for this weekend, attempted to get a shot of the kiss but Don quickly dipped Tesa backwards and all Dave got was a white blur!)

All married now!

Family gathering for photos--mostly Don's family. Tesa was born in the Philippines and both her parents are deceased. Her daughter was away in school and regrettably could not be with us. She was grateful that Harry was able to escort her down the aisle and be with them for the wedding.  

Susan Riggs graced us with beautiful music for the ceremony. I have known Susan for years because she used attend and  play the piano at the church I attend. It was good to see her again.

Amanda Olson was our photographer. I know she got some fabulous shots of the wedding. 

Catering by Design owned by Chef Gregory Lewis catered the wedding. His food is so good! 

Tesa and Don, you are such a fun couple and I know you will have a great marriage with much happiness and satisfaction! 

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!