The Wonderful Wedding of Jaime and Zac at The Umstead!

The beautiful courtyard/garden at The Umstead Hotel and Spa is ready for Jaime and Zac's wedding on 9/13/14.

The temperature is pleasant but it has been raining on and off all day. The earlier wedding  at The Carolina Inn was forced indoors. But, amazingly the weather slightly improved and held for Jaime and Zac to have their dream wedding!

The musicians from Triangle String Quartet are setting up while I apparently am either watching the sky or looking at all the onlookers from the balconies of the hotel rooms overlooking the garden. When I arrived for this wedding I was spotted and greeted in the lobby by Sarah and Jason, a couple I married at the Shady Wagon Farm a year ago. They were at The Umstead celebrating their first anniversary. It was great to see them again! And during the wedding ceremony, I could see them standing on the balcony watching the wedding! Fun!

Gina Anaab with A Southern Soiree is our very capable wedding director. Great job, Gina! 

Meanwhile my assistant, Marty, located the reception room. The flower arrangements were provided by the aunts of the bride. Beautiful! 

 Also in the reception room was Steve Stow with Joe Bunn DJ Company, getting ready for the reception. 

This beautiful cake is by Ashley Cakes. 

Back in the garden, our musicians are all set up and tuning up. Our photographers for this wedding are Emily and Gary with Big Star Photography.

 The processional has started. 

 Jaime's mother, Linda, was escorted in by Jackson, Jaime's son, and Olivia, Jaimie's niece.

 There were seven groomsmen and seven bridesmaids. 

 Watching the bridesmaids enter one by one. What are those groomsmen on the right laughing about?

 Serving as her mother's maid of honor, Jordan, makes her walk down the "runway!"

 Now for the bride. By this time there are many hotel guests watching from their balconies.

 Here comes our gorgeous bride and her proud father, Bruce! 

This is Jaime's second wedding. I officiated the first one too. So happy she called me! 

And so we begin the ceremony with a welcome to all, prayer, community blessing, then I got to tell their love story! 

 Their story was filled with sweetness and quite a bit of humor! 

 On a trip to the beach it hit them both at the same time that they were meant to be together!

 The proposal story was funny! 

  I love seeing smiling bridesmaids! 

Telling Jaime what Zac loves about her, why he wants to marry her and what he is looking forward to in marriage.

 Then telling Zac the same from Jaime.

 They read their vows to each other from my book where the words were printed facing them.  

They exchanged rings then it was time for the family unity sand ceremony. I invited Jackson and Jordan to the table to join us in pouring their sand.

The hole the sand had to go through was small and the funnel was slow to empty, so we just got to put token amounts of sand in with the rest to be added later.

 Who says guests don't read programs?

Jaime and Zac had an amazing wedding program. It was designed by her cousin, Carl Broaddus, who was a reader in the wedding. 

Jaime's cousin, Carl, did a fantastic job reading the Irish Blessing before the pronouncement of marriage. 

 The legal moment when they become husband and wife! 

 Jaime had on very high heels so Zac did not have to bend over too far when he kissed her!! 

 Applause and cheering from their guests when I announced them!

Aaah! Jaime and Zac, what a great wedding! I am so happy the rain held off and we could have your wedding outside as planned. Despite your height discrepancy (!), I know you are a great match and I wish you all the happiness in the world! Thank you for choosing me for your officiant again; it was my honor!

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revk@aweddingminister.com

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Post Script from Jaime after viewing blog: 

We are back from our honeymoon. Paris was fabulous!!! Your blog post is great!! :)  Thank you so much for everything you did for us!! It was perfect, and the credit is all yours for the wonderful ceremony. Thank you again!

Danielle and David's Fabulous Wedding at The Carolina Club!

Last May I met Danielle and David while they were in town. They live in DC but were planning their wedding on August 4, 2012 at the Carolina Club in Chapel Hill, since David went to UNC. I was taken with this delightful couple right away and we seemed to have the same ideas about the ceremony. They were excited about writing it themselves with my guidance and loved the sample ceremony I read to them to give them an idea of how unique and personal their wedding ceremony could be. So we got started on their ceremony right away.

When Marty and I arrived for the wedding, the reception room was all set up and looked gorgeous.  

Turns out that their florist, Bea Miller with Floral Dimensions, is a very good friend of David's mother, Vera. She did a beautiful job and it was good to work with her again.

They had a candy bar and a table for the guests to write notes to them and put in their guest book.

This gorgeous wedding cake was baked by the chef at the Carolina Club and matches their multi-colored theme.

Separated from the reception area by expandable walls (later folded up so the reception could expand into this area) was the area for the ceremony. 

Florian Music, a popular string ensemble, headed by Sherry Lattin on the left, provided the beautiful music for the ceremony.

Meanwhile our beautiful bride was hidden away in the conference room down the hall with her beautiful ladies enjoying a champagne toast and having pictures taken by Garry and Emily with Big Star Studios.

The staff of the Carolina Club,Tristen, center, our sound guy and Liz, right, Private Events Coordinator, coordinated and directed the festivities.  Thanks for all your guidance and help!

We delayed the start of the ceremony a few minutes as an unannounced last minute activity in the stadium next door to the Carolina Club made parking a challenge for our guests.  So, rather than starting and having the guests trickle in during the ceremony, we decided to delay about 10 minutes.

The guys are hanging out in the hall as the guests are being seated. David assembled his good friends of many years to stand up with him. His father, John-Henry, was telling me how they had all met and stuck together although their careers took them in many different directions. That is David's brother on the left manning his two cell phone cameras.

After the seating of the parents, David and I entered from the side followed by the handsome groomsmen. Then the bridesmaids walked down the aisle and took their places up front.

"Please stand in honor of our beautiful bride" Danielle's father, Terry, proudly escorted her in as Steve Stowe, our DJ for the reception, watches from the hall! Steve was so helpful getting my microphone plugged into the house system before the ceremony. The sound was absolutely perfect! Danielle's parents are both full Lumbee Indian and of course, so is Danielle.

I learned on Facebook a day after the wedding that Terry had instigated a special father-daughter dance for the reception for which he and Danielle practiced for a week so I copied that photo for the blog! Sorry I missed that!

 

Heart Stone Films videoed the wedding and I can't wait to see the video, especially the Father-Daughter  dance! 

Danielle and David included a sweet tribute to their parents and a reading by Danielle's cousin, Chasity. Then I shared their story with their guests. It included a lot of laughs. They met two years ago and no one was surprised that they met in a gym because they are both dedicated to being fit and healthy. They love working out together and participate in runs. In addition, they are both career-oriented and like to work hard. Danielle moved to DC when David's work took him there. She is following her dream and is in law school and he is a real estate developer. They are very well matched and so happy to finally officially be a family.   

After exchanging their vows and rings, I invited their mothers to come forward and pour wine into two separate wine glasses that represented the bride and the groom. Then the couple poured half of their individual wine into a larger wine glass indicating their coming together in marriage. They did not pour all the wine together symbolic of continuing to be individuals and still connected to their respective families. During the Wine Unity Ceremony, the string trio softly played Ave Maria.

Then it was time for the big pronouncement of marriage, the moment they officially become husband and wife.

 Sealed with a kiss....

 

Danielle and David, it was my pleasure and my honor to join you together in marriage. It was fun working with both of you to create your special ceremony. I know you both will go far in your careers and together in marriage. I wish you all the best life has to offer!