Lori and James Wed at Lake Crabtree Where They First Met!

When Marty and I arrived for Lori and James' wedding on October 9, 2010, Sherry Lattin (violin) and Julie Frederick (flute) of Florian Music were already set up and playing their beautiful music. Lake Crabtree is a Wake County Park where James asked Lori if she would like to go for a bike ride sometimes when they met each other at the Fat Mountain Bike Festival in 2006. Hence it was only fitting to have their wedding ceremony here. He proposed to her at sunset at the Grand Canyon and so our ceremony was near sunset but not so close that we all got locked up inside the park which closes promptly at sunset.

Ann David of An Elegant Affair kept us all in order and organized! At the right, she is outstanding in her field!! Sorry, Ann, could not resist that one!

This wide open flood plain next to the lake is quite picturesque and was a beautiful place for their wedding as you will see in the photos taken by Marty with my digital camera. Our renowned wedding photographer, Brian Mullins, will have some spectacular photos to show on his website too.

When we were ready to begin and the parents and guests were all seated--we had quite a crowd--Ann started cuing us in.

I love this shot with the long skinny shadows cast by the setting sun to our right.

Then the ladies appeared out of a secluded wooded spot followed by the bride and her father.

 

These flower girls were adorable and had such a good time at the wedding. They are Ariana, niece of the bride, and Claire, Goddaughter of the bride. You will see later that they sat down in the grass and played with the flower petals. Apparently the wedding ceremony, although quite intriguing for the guests, bored these little girls! 

We are all in place up front and waiting for our beautiful bride and her proud father.

 

(Notice the flower girls? They were so quiet, I did not even know what they were doing until I saw the pictures!)

 

 

James' friend, Christine, presented a reading from "Gift From the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. She did a great job!

 

 

 

 

At the conclusion of the ceremony after the recessional, I announced for the guests to come up front as the bride and groom and wedding party circled around for a group photo. Brian, standing on two chairs--one foot on each, hoisted the camera high. Brian is 6'5" and so he got some good height for this shot. Ann and I are looking on at this wonderful assembly of James and Lori's family and friends. Then the guests expeditiously returned their blessing stones given to them in the beginning of the ceremony to infuse with their blessings for the couple into buckets provided and proceeded to the reception at The Museum of Natural Sciences.

Lori and James, what a fantastic wedding you made come true! I hope it fulfilled all the dreams you had of your big day. You are an amazing couple and I congratulate you both! May you have a lifetime of love, peace and joy!

Professional Wedding Guild meets at Washington-Duke Inn!

On Wednesday, June 30, 2010, about 75 local wedding professionals gathered at the prestigious and elegant Washington-Duke Inn & Golf Club in Durham NC for our monthly networking event of the Professional Wedding Guild (PWG) sponsored by Gail Galloway of the Perfect Wedding Guide. These luncheons are so much fun and I love mingling with people in the wedding industry when we are not working at a wedding and can get to chat and know each other better. I have been attending these events for years and have gotten to know so many great people to refer wedding couples to for their services. Each month we meet at a different venue. I knew this month's attendance would be greater than usual because of the venue. So, I brought my camera because I knew I wanted to put this on the blog.

Here's Gail Galloway, our sponsor. Pretty in pink this month! Gail and her staff put on these luncheons in the Triangle and in the Triad. There is no membership fee nor do you have to join any club or association. Just pre-register and pay $20 at the door will get you lunch and the opportunity to meet and mingle with others in the wedding industry. Thanks, Gail! She also publishes the wedding magazine Perfect Wedding Guide, a great resource of vendors in the area.

Diane Tighe of the Washington-Duke Inn and Sally Oakley Herring with An Elegant Affair wedding and event planning pose for my camera. I love working with both of these great women. I discovered at the luncheon that Diane and I have both been doing weddings for 11 years. We must have gotten started at the same time. Diane helps couples create the most unique wedding settings and entrances. I distinctly remember 3 weddings in which Diane choreographed the entrance of the wedding party for weddings in which the guests sat in a circle around the couple. So different and so elegant. Sally and I just finished up a wonderful wedding together in May at Duke Gardens. It was so much fun working with Sally. We have another one coming up together at the Carolina Inn in October. Thanks for sending these couples my way, Sally.

This is Gina McLean who is photographing this event for Gail. Gina is a wedding photographer I have loved working with for several years now. Note that most photographers are not used to having their picture taken! She is looking a bit uneasy and suspicious of me here! Gina brought her father with her to the luncheon. He is a retired professor from the University of Texas who now lives here in NC near Gina.

Speaking of photographers, here are Kevin Seifert and Jerry Dillard, both wedding photographers. They have covered other PWG luncheons too. The photos are posted on the PWG website. They did not notice me taking their photo from a distance!

Smile, Julius! Julius Carrasco is an amazing classical and Flamenco guitarist! He and I have done several weddings together and I highly recommend him. You can listen to his music here and you can view weddings we did together on this blog. I invited him to attend this luncheon and he told me he really enjoyed it. He also won a door prize! The cupcakes next to him were baked by the esteemed cake baker, Donna Moore, of Sweet Memories Bakery for this event.

And here she is, Donna Moore, who owns and operates Sweet Memories Bakery. I see her cakes at weddings more than any other cake baker and they are beautiful and each unique to the couple.

Look at this table full of sweet goodies Donna made for us. There were not only different flavors of cupcakes but also little containers of mousse and pudding with cake. Delicious! Thanks, Donna!

It was good to chat with Angie Wright of Chic Details, wedding and event planner.  We have done many weddings together. Angie is always such fun to work with and creates a beautiful wedding. Notice in her hand is the first course of our meal. We all went to a salad bar station and had a salad built in a martini glass. So delicious. There were several wedding planners present. Joy Edwards of A Joyful Occasion was there and we chatted a bit but I did not get her photo.

Diane is talking to Michelle Castro of Maggiano's Little Italy, Italian restaurant in Southpoint Mall. I have done several weddings at Maggiano's and it is a great place for a smaller wedding. Michelle and her staff are so accommodating.

So, we all sat down and enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by the Washington-Duke Inn's executive chef Jason Cunningham. The appetizer was chilled tomato soup with avocado sorbet. The entree was spinach and walnut ravioli with basil ricotta, Heirloom cherry tomatoes, chilled sweet corn and citrus herb butter.  Then we indulged in the sweets provided by Donna. When we finished the meal, Diane Tighe and Beth Pendergrass, also with the Washington-Duke Inn, presented our program which was about the impression we leave with our clients and others involved in our events. Great presentation. One of the slides was captioned: "Some days you are the bug and some days you are the windshield!"

The beautiful tablecloths and linens were provided by CE Rental. Some of the table cloths were covered with sequins and others were covered by raised fabric in the shape of roses. Beautiful!  The beautiful floral arrangements were provided by Floral Dimensions. Sotren.net Video Production was doing a video of the event and will be on the PWG website. Bartending Unlimited, Treasured Connections and the Washington-Duke Inn provided door prizes.

Very Special Wedding for Jenn and Andy at Duke Gardens Pergola!

Originally Jenn and Andy wanted to have their wedding in Henderson but when they could not find an officiant there, they decided to have it in the Triangle. The noon slot at Duke Gardens pergola just happened to be available on their wedding day of May 22, 2010. And, as luck would have it, I was available too having already booked the wedding at the pergola following their wedding. So, it all worked out great! The weather on Saturday was unstable and rain was threatening. But, we made it without a drop falling! Here are some behind the scenes photos of what takes place at the pergola beforehand to get ready for a wedding. 

One of my very favorite groups, Arioso Strings, sets up to provide the ceremony music.

Our Event Planner and Wedding Director with An Elegant Affair, Sally Oakley Herring, is putting on the chair covers and ties to dress up the plain green folding chairs that the Gardens furnish. Each wedding gets 50 chairs. If more than 50 guests, they stand to the sides of the chairs in the grass.

Sally did an incredible job of organizing this wedding and bringing all the vendors together as well as directing the ceremony. Thanks, Sally! 

Dara Blakeley, our photographer, and I go over the ceremony logistics and from which directions the wedding party will enter. At the pergola, the minister, groom and best man usually enter from the rear of the pergola once the mother of the bride has been escorted up the aisle below and seated. Today, since Jenn's mother and father were escorting her in, and Andy's mother, Carol, was being escorted in by her son, Buck, who was also the best man, Andy and I entered first with Dave, groomsman, and took our places first. Then Carol and Buck entered and he stepped up into his place, then the bridesmaids and so on.

Fresh Affairs delivered the bouquets and boutonnieres to the pergola. I pinned on the boutonnieres and Sally took the bouquets and rose petals down underneath the tree behind the bushes where the bride was hidden.

The cinematographers doing the wedding video were Chris and Toni of Barton Creek Weddings. They covered everything!  

Dave, our groomsman, was in charge of the couple's beloved beagles, Marcy and Max, before the ceremony. Marcy had not yet put on her veil or Max his bow-tie !

And so it is time to begin. I cued the musicians and Andy, Dave and I walked forward to the top of the steps.

Buck and Carol get ready to enter when Sally cues them in. Our flower girl and ring bearer are patiently waiting their turn.

Next our pretty bridesmaids, Heather and Deb, enter. Jenn's color scheme was black and platinum with multi-colored flowers.

Next our junior attendants, Coby and Alexa, enter with Marcy with her veil on and Max with his bow-tie and eager to get going!

Finally it is time for Carter, our ring bearer, and Chloei, our flower girl, to enter and sprinkle the petals.

Cloei did not fully comprehend her job as the flower girl and balked along the way finally dumping the basket of rose petals out and moving right along. Carter is unsuccessfully trying his best to get her to do her job right!

And now, the big moment, the bride and her parents enter. Dara is ready and Chloei has found her mom. I ask all to stand in honor of our beautiful bride.

Beautiful bride, happy parents, Mariellen and Phil.

As they come up the aisle, Andy comes down the steps to receive his bride from her parents as they "hand her over!"

Jenn and Andy were so ready to get married. During the ceremony I told their love story including how Andy had pursued Jenn persistently until she finally agreed to have dinner with him. He knew there was something really special about her and he wanted to find out what it was. Theirs is a match made in heaven! 

From the grin on Jenn's face, I think I must be telling the story of Marcy and Max and how they came to be part of this new family. Marcy was being a bit vocal here and wanted to run up the steps and be with her two favorite people in the world. Max was pretty laid back about it all though. 

Jenn's best friend since childhood and maid of honor, Debbie, read a quote from Oprah magazine by Natalie White which was quite touching and perfect for this couple. She got a bit choked up at first then did quite well. Thanks, Debbie.

Jenn is reading her vows to Andy from my book while putting the ring on his finger. They wrote their vows themselves and they were so sweet with some really funny lines too.

Okay, they are now married, at last! Happy, happy couple and I am so happy for them. They are really great together and I know they will have a great marriage.

Here are the two families and the wedding party. Everyone is ready to celebrate except Chloei who did not like it when her daddy made her take the bubble bottle out of her mouth!

All the best to you, Jenn and Andy! I hope you will keep in touch and I know we will run into each other from time to time.What a wonderful wedding!