Margaret and Vince's Wonderful Wedding at Highgrove on July 8th 2018!

Margaret and I met at a venue that was hosting a "wedding etiquette" class for wedding couples last January. She had hired just about all her vendors except for an officiant. During the class, Frankie Hagan, DJ with Island Sound, who was presenting the session called on me to answer a question from the audience about the legality of online ordained officiants. (I explained that the State of NC does not recognize online ordained ministers as authorized to perform marriages and any couple who is married by an online ordained minister runs the risk of their marriage being declared invalid should any other marriage by an online ordained minister be challenged according to 2 court rulings in the past.) A few weeks later, Margaret contacted me to see if she and her fiancé Vince could meet with me to see if they wanted to hire me as their officiant. And so we met and I was thrilled that they decided to go with me.

 Highgrove is a beautifully restored estate in Fuquay-Varina. I love weddings there!

Flowers on Broad furnished all the pretty florals including this gorgeous arrangement on the front door. 

 The pergola is elegantly graced by two floral arrangement on either side. 

Beautiful! 

Having a conversation with Sean with Island Sound after doing a sound check. Sean is the "techie" person always on hand to handle any technical issues that arise.

Happy to be working with Frankie again.  

The garden ballroom was all set up and ready. 

The cake by Sweet Memories was also ready!

The sweetheart table decked out in their color scheme of eggplant and silver!

Getting everyone in order for the processional. 

Our Highgrove wedding director for this wedding is Britnie Jaynes. Good job, Britnie! 

Making my walk down the aisle first. 

Vince escorts his mom, Laurie, in then joins me up front. 

Margaret's parents, Ruth and Hans, enter then Hans circles back to bring Margaret in. 

The bridesmaids and groomsmen came entered as couples. 

Here comes the bride! 

Margaret and her father were beaming as they made the big entrance. 

I invited the guests to stand in honor of our beautiful bride!

Hans answered my question then transferred Margaret's hand into Vince's and everyone was seated. 

A warm welcome to all! 

Then it was time to pay tribute to their wonderful parents. 

Now for the story! Margaret and Vince met the old-fashioned way--in a bar--but with a twist. Vince was the bartender in this jazz bar where Margaret liked to hang out and listen to the music and unwind while bantering with the bar staff. The attraction was there from the beginning but Vince did not want to overstep his bounds so he took a while before he asked Margaret out. And it's history from there!

After the story I revealed to each of them what their partner had told me in confidence what they love about them. So sweet!  Margaret heard first.

Then Vince. It is so much fun for couples to watch their partner's expressions upon hearing these words of adoration and love they have told me for the first time in the ceremony.

They chose to read their vows to each other so I print them in my book and flip them vertically so the words are facing them. Vince says his vows to Margaret.

Then it is Margaret's turn. (She reminds me of Barbra Streisand here--one of my heroes!)

Then it is time for them to exchange rings. Vince repeats after me the words to Margaret as he puts the ring on her finger.

Then Margaret.

She patted his hand with the ring on it! 

I placed my hand on both of their and pronounced them equal partners joined in marriage!

Of course the kiss came next!

The deed is done! 

I introduced them to their guests and invited everyone to stand and join me in congratulating them! 

Our photographer, Cristobal with Azul Photography, gets a great shot of them recessing!

Then the attendants exited followed by the parents into the house for photos.  The guests were invited to enjoy cocktails on the covered terrace.

Vince and Margaret!! What a great wedding! Congratulations on having found each other and putting this all together and your upcoming bundle of joy. You did a fabulous job. And, thank you for choosing me to join you in marriage!

Corey and Tyler Wed at Cedar Grove Acres!

Cedar Grove Acres in Creedmoor is a pretty cool place! Corey and Tyler liked the rustic setting, the variety of activities for wedding guests and the easy-going nature of the owners, Richard and Paula Kolarov. This was the first wedding I have done there. 

Corey and Tyler's wedding was May 27th, 2017. It was a hot day made hotter by the humidity and the forecast was for spotty showers. We had our fingers crossed! But it turned out to be just fine!

Off to the side is a meadow that is the perfect place for the ceremony. There is a platform for the wedding party to stand on and an arbor to decorate. The walk is compacted sand with a brick frame. Much easier to walk on than concrete and does not snag the bride's train either! I think the two guys handing out programs are the bride's brothers, Joseph and Ian.

The structure behind the chairs is the site of the reception. It is called the Hay Shack. The sides are open with a deck overlooking the ceremony. That is also where our DJ, Eric Hodgden, All Around Raleigh DJ is set up.

I have plugged my mic into Eric's body pack and now making my way down to the arbor to do a sound check.

Eric is happy the way the sound works and agrees that this is a great place for a wedding! 

There are many different buildings. This one is where the bar is set up. 

Looking down the way from the drive up area is this wide expanse of gravel with cornhole boards. That is Paula in the red shirt on the left. The building on the right is where Southern Harvest Catering is set up to prepare the food. Just in front of it is a lemonade and water stand.

Quentin Dyson, day of planner with the caterer, got all the wedding party lined up and cued us in. I have already processed in with Tyler and now the guys are coming in. The bridesmaids are ready and the bride is hidden around the corner. 

It's a fairly good walk. You can see that I am almost at the arbor with Tyler. 

Here come the bridesmaids! Dave is shooting just behind Cristobal Perez with Azul Photography, our professional photographer who is so kind to let Dave snap these photos for this blog!

As the last bridesmaid makes her way to the arbor, the guests began to stand for the bride. Note all the cell phones ready to get a record of this!

Here comes our beautiful bride with her proud father, Paul.

After the presentation of the bride, all the guests were seated and Tyler and Corey stepped up onto the platform and faced each other for the ceremony. I began with a warm welcome to everyone.

Then I stepped out from behind the couple and thanked their parents on their behalf for all their love and support. 

Then it was time to tell the story of how Corey and Tyler met, how they fell in love and all their adventures together. We had some good laughs too!

Next were the secret paragraphs and then the exchange of vows and rings. 

Tyler placed the ring on Corey's finger as he read the words from my book.

Then Corey made her vows to Tyler and placed the ring on his finger. 

After a closing blessing, I made the pronouncement of marriage and invited them to kiss! 

No problem here! 

They turned and faced their guests. My mic kept sliding off my ear because I was perspiring so much! Introduced them as husband and wife to their guests and the recessional music began amid cheering and applause!

And away they go! 

Corey's mother, Margaret is escorted out by her two sons, Ian and Joseph, followed by Paul.

Kevin and Patricia, Tyler's parents followed. 

Quentin directing the guests where to go. They told me there were some raindrops falling but I never felt any and besides, they went away. I heard one guest say that there was a rainbow over the trees!

Getting unplugged now and relaxing. Eric is so much fun to work with. We are both members of the NC Wedding Ring and love working weddings together.

Quentin helped me round up the witnesses to sign the marriage license. 

Almost done! 

Meantime, Quentin and Eric are putting the fabric drape that was on the arbor onto the rafters over the sweetheart table.

Got a quick photo with Quentin. He is such fun! If you book Southern Harvest for your caterer, he comes with the deal! 

Watching the guests mingle while re-hydrating with a cup of water! 

Off toward the open field to the left of the catering barn is a great fire pit. 

Congratulations, Corey and Tyler! Fabulous wedding you pulled off! It was great working with you and getting to know you. My honor to join you in matrimony! I wish you a fabulous marriage and all the happiness in the world!