A Sweet Mother-Daughter Wedding Theme for Rachel and Jake!

On October 14th, 2017, Rachel and Jake pledged their hearts in marriage to each other. They chose The gardens of Fred Fletcher Park and The Borden Building  for their wedding. It was a beautiful sunny day. Many thanks to Kevin Seifert who accompanied me to this wedding and took these fabulous photos for me.

The garden is so pretty. You can't see it but my small sound system is set up in the flower bed and practically invisible.

Fallon's Flowers was their florist.

On the right is Tara with Premier Party Planners who organized and orchestrated the wedding day. Great job, Tara! We are going over the processional while waiting for guests arrived. Because of fair traffic, the ceremony started 30 minutes late.

This lovely wedding turned out to be a "mother-daughter" wedding. Each bridesmaid walked in with her small daughter. To continue the theme, Rachel's mother escorted her in.

Jake is taking care of our ring bearer dog, Buddy, a rescue by Rachel who has become their beloved fur child and of course had to be included in the wedding.

Our quartet is Integrity Strings and they did a beautiful job!

The guests began arriving and finding their seats. Funny how the back rows fill up first???

Writing notes to the couple.......

Jake's mother, Marybeth, a young guests and her father, and Tara and I await the start of the ceremony. 

The groomsmen are all ready to go!

The guests have all arrived and the chairs occupied!

My cue to walk in from the side and make an announcement to the guests to please put away their cameras and cell phones and be truly present for this wedding without the distraction of technology.

Jake escorted his mother down the aisle followed by his father, Joe.

Giving Dad a hug!

The sun is shining right in our faces as the processional begins. Our wedding photographer, Lori, with The Purple Tree Photography, kneels down to get a good photos of the bridesmaids and their daughters.

And here they come!

And now Buddy makes his entrance with Nate.

Nate brings Buddy forward to Jake where he was expected to sit quietly beside him during the ceremony.

Rachel's mother, Pam, escorts Rachel down the aisle as everyone stands in their honor.

Pam placed Rachel's hand into Jake's hand and gave them a hug.

We began with a warm welcome to the guests for being with us. Then we remembered those who could not be with us, in particular Rachel's father and their grandparents.

Then I stepped out to address and pay tribute to the couple's parents. Buddy chose that time to roll over on his back and wiggle in the grass, upstaging us all! We all had a good laugh at him.

After the parents' blessing, I told the story of how Rachel and Jake fell in love when they were freshmen in college 11 years ago. The story included summer jobs at the Outer Banks, Rachel's travels to the West Coast and Thailand, and Jake's journey through law school then finally settling down together in Raleigh leading up to this wonderful wedding day.

It turned a bit hot in the bright sun so Rachel needed to mop Jake's face a little!

They made their vows to each other and exchanged rings.

A glance down at Buddy to whom Rachel referred to in her vows!

The pronouncement of marriage!

Their first kiss as a married couple!

Nate dashed up to hug Jake as I introduced the newlywed couple to their guests.

The wedding party followed. What sweet little girls! 

And away they go. Their reception was later at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. The guests were invited to the lawn of the Borden Building for a champagne toast.

Retrieving my sound system!

The champagne toast!

Rachel and Jake--a fabulous wedding! Congratulations on the journey of your lives to this wonderful moment and celebration. I am honored to have met you, worked with you and joined you in marriage!

A Lovely Wedding for Rosemary and Stephen in the Garden of Fletcher Park!

Rosemary and Stephen knew exactly what they wanted for their wedding when they met with me in February and they made it happen. They are two like-minded, well-matched and determined people! It was fun to get to know them in the process of writing their story for their ceremony. Their paths crossed one Memorial Day weekend a few years ago when Rosemary subbed for Stephen's late night radio show at Stony Brook University's radio station in New York while he went on a composer's retreat. She was working as a park ranger and part-time at the school library and always enjoyed his show. He was in graduate school. He listened to the recording of the show, liked it, and sent Rosemary an email. It was a while before they met in person but when they did, they started going on some fun dates and adventures. It was not long before they decided to become girlfriend and boyfriend.  Then they decided to move to North Carolina, by far the most challenging thing they have faced together. But they stuck together and became even closer to each other through it all by staying focused on being happy in life, despite the circumstances. When they decided to get married, they started planning their wedding. It was to be small, just family and close friends. The Borden Building at Fletcher Park in downtown Raleigh was the perfect spot for them with its beautiful gardens and spacious house for the reception. The wedding date was Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 11:00 AM and the weather could not have been more perfect.

The chairs were set up in the garden nearest the house. The day lilies were in full bloom and the grass so green from all the rain we have had lately.

 

 

The grounds here are gorgeous. I remember about 10 years ago they were re-landscaped and now the plants have matured and are fully grown. It is a little known about place for small weddings. The property is owned by the City of Raleigh and the fee to rent is probably quite reasonable. I do know that they do not allow DJs for the ceremony or the reception because of noise restrictions.

So, Matt Kanon was the perfect musician for their wedding. You can see on this blog that Matt and I see each other quite often at weddings and this year has been exceptional despite the fact that he has moved to Goldsboro. Nevertheless, he loves coming to Raleigh to do weddings.

We did not have a rehearsal and getting the grandparents and parents all lined up in front of the Borden Buidling was my job, then I cued Matt to begin the music while they processed in..

Meanwhile, Stephen and his best man, his brother Eric, and I stood in the wings for our turn to enter.

Our pretty bride watches from the back of the garden waiting her turn after her sister, Megan, our maid of honor, processed in before her.

Rosemary is quite an independent woman and knew without a doubt that she wanted to walk down the aisle unescorted. It fit her and any other way would have felt awkward to her.

 

The ceremony was about 15 minutes long, a collaborative creation between them and me. They chose a quotation written by Victor Hugo and an excerpt from the "Oyster Bed" section of Ann Morrow Lindbergh's Gift From the Sea. Then I shared their story with special paragraphs about why they love each other and want to marry. They made their vows to each other and then exchanged rings.

Following the rings, we closed with a blessing then the pronouncement of marriage!

 The sweet kiss...

 And out they go! 

Rosemary and Stephen, it was an honor to work with you and to officiate your marriage. Thank you for choosing me as your wedding officiant. Congratulations! I know you will be very happy!