Rustic Elegant Wedding for Crystal and Matt at Shady Wagon Farm!

Shady Wagon Farm is a great site for a fun wedding. I love doing weddings there. Crystal and Matt combined rustic and elegant elements to make their wedding unique to them. The wedding ceremony had a Celtic theme which was special to them. The wedding day was May 9th, 2015 at 5:00 and the weather was iffy. This was the weekend that Hurricane Ana came ashore at Myrtle Beach and we were getting the outer bands of rain and wind. When Marty and I arrived at 4:00, Monica, the wedding director for the venue, told us that we should wait to set up my sound system because a pocket of rain was coming but would be over in 15 minutes. So about 4:20, we set up my sound system and did a sound check and covered the unit with a plastic bag just in case more raindrops fell during the ceremony--but they didn't.

This is a view of the lake, the farmhouse and gazebo from the barn. It was actually taken after the ceremony and the wedding guests and families of the couple were enjoying cocktails in the pavilion off the barn.

Guests were arriving and getting parked and waiting in the pavilion off the barn until the rain stopped. Of course these geese did not mind the rain at all!

And the rain stopped and the sun appeared!

This is the pavilion for enjoying cocktails and socializing after the wedding ceremony before the reception takes place inside the barn.

Randy Bennett with Joe Bunn DJ Company was all set up and ready. Because he was not providing ceremony music, he actually got to hear all the words of the ceremony and raved about it! 

A "vine" tree onto which photos were clipped.

 Inside the barn the tables were set and ready for the guests. Catering by Design was catering. 

 This lovely cake was by Edible Art. 

 These cute little bicycles were favors. I think they might be bottle openers too. 

The seats have been dried off, the sun is shining and although there were a few raindrops being blown off the trees, we were ready to get this ceremony started before the next rain arrived.

This cute little house contains the dressing rooms for the bride and her maidens and the groom and his guys with opposite entrances. Very nice. 

I never know who I am going to run into at a wedding! I married Ernest and Meghan in 2008 at the Stone Chapel in Wake Forest. He was one of Matt's groomsmen. I knew he looked familiar at the rehearsal but I thought I was mixing him up with another groom. When I was pinning his boutonniere  on before the wedding, he said "you married me and my wife" and then I remembered! Had to get this picture with them. 

This is Monica West! She is the granddaughter-in-law of Cindy and Doug Carroll who built and own Shady Wagon Farm. This is our first time working together and I am so happy to have her as a colleague in the wedding industry. She is one of the two dedicated wedding directors for Shady Wagon Farm. The other is Terri Yates, Cindy's daughter.

The bride and her bridesmaids make their way to the farm house porch from where they will process in. 

The guests are asked to take their seats. 

Robert White, our bagpiper, provided the processional and recessional music. It was impressive.

After the grandparents and parents are in, Matt and I entered. 

The bridesmaids and groomsmen came in as couples then it was time for the bride who was led in by the bagpiper!

I requested that the guests not stand up until I invited them to so that Matt could see Crystal enter.

Crystal's dad, John, was thrilled to escort his pretty daughter in. (He had some surgery on his face and had to wear a bandage--in case you are wondering.)

I invited the guests to stand once Crystal and John got to the arch at the far end of the aisle. 

And so we begin. Our videographer, Thomas, with Its Pronounced Films, gets a good view down the aisle. 

Pretty maidens all in a row. The florals were provided by Fallon's Flowers. 

The groomsmen were pretty good looking too! 

I like this shot a lot! Navy is a very popular color for bridesmaids dresses this year. I think I have done at least six navy weddings so far and more to come!

I think I am telling their story here. It was entertaining and funny. And sweet! 

Probably saying their vows here. They were a mix of humorous ones and serious ones! 

Our photographer, Autumn Harrison, is standing in the arch while her second shooter comes around from the left side. 

 And now the rings......

They read the words from my book where they were printed facing them. 

They become husband and wife!

Sealed with a kiss!

The presentation of the newlyweds!

And out they go! 

The happy couple posing with me for this blog! 

As we were leaving, we spotted the photographers with Crystal and Matt getting some fabulous shots in the tall grass which is actually a crop grown for livestock. It makes for beautiful photos. (I think Crystal got something in her eye.)

Crystal and Matt, what a wonderful wedding! The rain didn't have any negative impact and the clouds made for comfortable temperatures and great lighting for photos. All your hard work paid off for a beautiful marriage celebration and I am honored to have been a part of your special day. I wish you the very best forever!

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Elegant Wedding for Erin and Dean!

 Julie Lee contacted me earlier this year to see if I could officiate for her sister, Erin, and her fiance, Dean, on October 1, 2010. Of course I was delighted to do so. Julie is in charge of booking events at the Crabtree Marriott here in Raleigh and we have worked together for years. In fact, in 2003, I did a baby blessing ceremony for her niece and Goddaughter, Gillian, who, now age 7, was at the wedding with her parents, Melissa and Skip! Here is her photo! What a pretty and bright little girl she is. I loved seeing them all again!

In fact, here is a photo of Skip, Melissa, Gillian, Ed and Julie (Godparents), and me on that day in 2003.  

Back to the wedding! This is the reception in Salon C. It is really spectacular. What a transformation of the ballroom!

And this is the bride's face when she saw it for the first time right before she processed in with the bagpiper. 

This is probably the groom's cake. Dean is from London. I am guessing at this but it is probably his family crest. 

The ceremony was held across the hall in the meeting rooms all opened up to form one large one. There were approximately 130 guests. There was a nice long aisle for processing in which was good because a bagpiper escorted Erin in and then escorted the wedding party out at the end of the ceremony. 

These are Dean's children who were the attendants. There is Harry, Danny and Charlotte. Lexi, Erin's daughter, is somewhere behind them.

After we were all inside the ceremony room except for the bride, the doors were closed by Kelly, our coordinator from the Marriott. 

Meanwhile Erin had taken a look at the ballroom and then was ready to follow the bagpiper in. Don't have a good photo of that but I am sure our photographer, Brian Mullins, got a good one so watch his blog! 

That is Lexi, Erin's daughter, on the far left, then Charlotte, then Julie, the Matron of Honor. On the right is Jeff, the Best Man, Danny and Harry. The ceremony was quite sentimental and combined elements from both Dean's heritage and Erin's family. For the prayer, we played a recording of Erin's late grandfather singing The Lord's Prayer which is a custom in their family to play at weddings.

After the vows and rings, we had the family unity sand ceremony which included all four children and the couple mingling their sand together. 

This is what it looked likeafter all the sand was poured in. 

The pronouncement of marriage and the kiss! And it was time for the bagpiper to escort the wedding party out. 

Erin and Dean, I am so happy you found each other. I was honored to officiate your lovely and meaningful wedding ceremony. I wish you all the happiness and love in the world! 

Our Vendors

First of all, the Crabtree Marriott Hotel. A great place for a wedding and reception. All the amenities and plenty of parking too! Julie, thanks for asking me to officiate. Kelly, many thanks for running the show!

Brian Mullins, photographer, one of my very favorite photographers and such fun to work with. Thanks, Brian!

Fresh Affairs did the spectacular florals and decorations for the ceremony and the reception. Always breathtakingly beautiful! 

Blue Moon Bakery did the gorgeous wedding cake and groom's cake. Great job!

Jesse McPherson, Highland Bagpiper, provided the bagpipe music. He was great! He is from Sanford.