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.
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!
