Danielle and Josh's Long Awaited Wedding at Shady Wagon Farm!

Danielle and Josh have known each other since they were kids in California. Josh always had a crush on Danielle but Danielle just thought of him as her friend's little brother who dressed up as Star Wars characters! They grew up and went their own ways but Josh never forgot Danielle. Fast forward about 13 years later when Danielle and Josh's sister reconnected via Facebook and Josh heard about it and decided to find out if Danielle remembered him. She did. They miraculously found out that they were both single again, with kids, and got acquainted again, this time as adults! One thing led to another and they fell madly in love and made a huge decision to move to North Carolina and start their lives over--this time together. Josh had waited for this moment almost all his life and Danielle realized that his feelings for her were intuitive beyond compare. 

They planned their wedding for October 16, 2016 at Shady Wagon Farm. The venue fit their style of Western/rustic/bling all the way. They found me on the preferred vendor list and Weddingwire and we met in July and began planning their truly amazing wedding ceremony.

Their theme was the KEY. One of my favorite symbols and my logo. 

Six Stylez was their band--here setting up for cocktail hour and the reception on the terrace outside the barn. 

This cake by Ambrosia Cakes reflects lots of bling-- perfect for their sparkly wedding! 

Sparkle theme.......

The barn is decked out for the reception. Many of their guests including parents traveled from California. 

The table with programs was set out for guests before the ceremony.

Anything Music DJ furnished the ceremony music and controlled my sound. JD Silverthorne DJ and I have worked many weddings together and I can always count on him for the perfect sound level.

The jars are all filled with the different colors of sand for the family unity sand ceremony. 

Such a pretty wedding ceremony site. I've been officiating weddings here since they opened and gradually Cindy (the owner) has made incredible embellishments. In the beginning the aisle was just dirt and grass. Now it is paved with bricks stamped with the names of the couples married here.

Mr. Puddy is Cindy's beloved Persian cat I love to visit with every time I come here for rehearsals and weddings. I had been worried about him because the last time I had seen him a few months ago he was seriously ill. It was good to see him still alive and back to normal. He used to come greet me like a dog when I arrived. He has been known to venture down the aisle during a wedding ceremony and also dash across the keyboard of a piano set on the porch during the ceremony!

The wedding is running late. Bride's not quite ready. The rest of us are beginning to assemble on the front walk of the farmhouse. The guests are standing in the shade in back of the ceremony area. It was a hot day for October. Our professional photographer for this wedding is the great Joe Payne and Mews Design did the florals.

The groomsmen and bridesmaids and flower children are getting lined up. 

Almost ready! Love the lacy dresses and cowboy boots! 

The grandparents and parents to be escorted in are getting in line too. Terri Yates, our director and also daughter of the owner of Shady Wagon Farm, is calling out the order. She has her own wedding planning service called Keep Calm Weddings! Perfect! I loved working with her!

The view of the beautiful farm house and old wagon which is always where we begin the processional. 

At this point the groomsmen and I have entered followed by the grandparents. Now Josh will escort in his mother-in-law to be, Debra.

The bridesmaids are next.

Jayden and Azria (Danielle's older daughters) and Helena (their daughter together) are our cute little flower girls. Their not quite one-year-old old son, Chandler, had been carried in earlier.

Our beautiful bride and her father, Dale, emerge from the farm house and make their way down the aisle. 

Dale transfers Danielle's hand into Josh's and she gives dad a little kiss as he takes his seat and the guests are seated while the bride, groom and I walk into the gazebo.

I welcomed every one, recognized the parents and the couple's children then launched into their fabulous story! 

They hear their sweet secret paragraphs then exchange vows. A blessing of their hands comes before the ring exchange.

They exchanged rings.....and then I invited their children to come into the gazebo for the family unity sand pouring ceremony.

Danielle holds Chandler while Josh gives Helena a lift so she can pour her sand into the family jar. 

After a closing blessing, it gave me great pleasure to finally pronounce them husband and wife. 

Sealed with a kiss! 

The newlyweds step into happily ever after! 

Chandler wants to go with them!!

Such happiness! 

Married at last! 

The guests were invited to cocktail hour at the barn while the family members hung out near the country store for photos. Another neat addition to the property and fully stocked inside!

Josh, Danielle---at last. A storybook wedding too. You worked so hard and it came off beautifully. I hope you were as thrilled as I was with the ceremony that truly reflected the two of you. I am so happy you found each other again and that Josh, you never gave up hope. Worked out! I wish you the best always!

Christina and Tenita Wed in an Enchanted Forest!

Christina and Tenita came to me with their dreams for a beautiful wedding. They are very creative independent thinking women and definitely wanted to put their own spin on their wedding. I loved being part of it. They chose the date of October 31, 2015--yes, Halloween but there was nothing spooky about their wedding! Christina's parents happen to own a lovely wedding venue in Pittsboro--Het Landhuis. I had heard about it and seen beautiful photographs of the site and looked forward to their wedding there.

After about an hour's drive from Raleigh way out into the country, Dave and I arrived where people were scuttling around getting ready for the wedding. We found our way to the area where many wedding ceremonies take place--see above. Usually there are rows of white pews set in the rectangle where this day there were cocktail tables covered with pretty purple tablecloths reflecting their color scheme. Note that I am wearing purple too.

Signs for the ceremony directed us onto a mulch covered pathway into the woods. All the pine tree stumps were topped with whimsical figures.

 Greeting us when we arrived was this sign. 

 The white pews were in semi-circular fashion facing the center where the ceremony would take place.

 The other set of pews.

J.D. Silverthorne, our DJ with Anything Music, had already set up and was waiting on me to plug my microphone into his system and do a sound check. He is wonderful to work with and the sound was perfect for the ceremony.

 A silver candelabra topped this wooden post. 

 Many of the posts were topped with little statues of Buddha and many guests were dressed in Indian garb. 

 Out of the woods and back toward the meadow area where the building and the pretty lake with fountain are. 

 This is a really old log home beautifully restored. 

 Christina's parents are from Holland and bought this estate and have transformed it into a wedding venue.

 A tent was in place for the reception. Love the rattan chairs and the purple satin table cloths!

 The caterer was Kabab and Curry and a wonderful menu of Indian food, one of my favorites.

 It was my pleasure to meet Chris, Christina's father and owner of Het Landhuis. 

 And Indian goddess of sorts!

 This one looks like a Chinese dragon! 

 This bowl was to be sounded with three chimes to signal the beginning of the ceremony.

 The guests have found their way and are seated and waiting. 

The plan was for Tenita and her mother, Linda, to enter from one direction, Christina and her parents, Chris and Lisa, to enter from the opposite direction and meet in the middle where I would be standing.

 Here comes Christina! 

 Here comes Tenita and I have taken my place and invited the guests to stand in honor of the brides.

 They get closer and closer!

They must have practiced this walk to make sure they got to the center at the same time!

As they came together, Christina and Tenita handed their bouquets to their mothers and the parents were seated with the guests.

 The ceremony began with a welcome to all who had traveled to be with them.

Then words on how they met and fell in love followed by what they love about each other. I moved around as I spoke so I did not block anyone's view of these lovely ladies in their identical dresses.

They loved a poem called The Meaning of Love by Krina Shah which expressed their feelings for each other so well.

 So I asked them to look at each other as if they were speaking to each other as I read the poem. 

They chose to include the Celtic hand fasting ritual in the ceremony so I wrapped their joined left hands in the purple hand fasting cord which represented their love for each other.

Then I asked them to join their left hands forming the symbol of infinity blessing their marriage in the eternal ebb and flow of the Universe.

 They made their vows to each other.

 Then I removed the cord for the exchange of rings which symbolically replaced the cord. 

So, I asked "May I have the rings, please?" Both girls looked at each other and I realized at that point that the rings had been forgotten. The photographer, Elizabeth Thorp, realized the dilemma and she is offering hers. I quickly pulled two rings off my left hand and the ceremony continued as if nothing was wrong!

 And so Christina and Tenita were married with my rings which amazingly fit them perfectly! 

 Before the pronouncement of marriage, we had a blessing for the brides. 

 Ahh, almost there! 

 I really had fun pronouncing these two sweet women married. 

 They chose to be pronounced wife and wife.

 And they sealed their union with their first kiss as a married couple!

 Yay! We did it! 

 I scooted over to their mothers and retrieved their bouquets. 

 Honored guests, it my delight to present to you for the first time, the newlyweds, Christina and Tenita!

 And away they go for photographs!

Believe me, it was quite a feat walking up the naturally uneven steps with their huge dresses and trains that if not held up snagged on every rock.

 They finally made it to the top. We sent Tenita's brother to the house to get their rings. 

 Elizabeth and her second shooter got some great shots of the brides in this sweeping meadow.

 The rings arrived and we had a little private ceremony as they placed their real rings on each other's fingers. 

Christina, Tenita, your wedding was magical! I hope your vision was fulfilled. You did a great job pulling everything together. I wish you love, peace, joy and contentment in your life together!