Raleigh Rose Garden Abloom for the Wedding of Cristina and Colby!

Cristina and Colby are such a wonderful couple. They have so much fun together and laugh a lot as you will see in these photos. You can tell!Cristina thoroughly enjoyed her wedding! It took place on Saturday morning, September 18, 2010 at the beautiful Raleigh Rose Garden.

 

They planned a simple wedding with no wedding party and one musician--Daniel Baucom who played the guitar, violin and sang.  When I gave him the signal, he began singing a chosen song. 

Then Colby and I walked out from behind the roses and took our places in front of the guests.

That was his cue to then switch to the violin for Cristina's entrance as I reached into my pocket to turn on my microphone..

She chose to be escorted in by her father and stepfather down the long walk from the entrance of the garden to the back of the chairs where the guests sat. In the meantime, Colby started walking up the aisle to the back of the chairs.

Then Colby shook hands with both fathers and they circled around to their seats while Cristina and Colby walked down the aisle together to be married. I had suggested they do it that way and they loved the symbolism of "walking into their marriage together."

We are standing in front of the small fish pond which you can hardly see for all the abundant foliage and flowers around and behind it. The sun was bright and it was getting quite warm as noon time approached.

We started off with a welcome to the guests then I asked:  "Do you give your blessing to this marriage and promise to keep them in your hearts?  If so, please respond by enthusiastically saying, 'We Do.”'" Of course they did and Cristina loved it.

Then I asked the parents of the couple to stand for the Parents' Blessing . It is always such a sweet moment as I express the couple's thanks to their parents.

The vows, the rings, the pronouncement and then Colby nailed Cristina with a kiss!!

It's a done deal!! We're married! 

What a fun wedding! Cristina and Colby, you were such a great couple to work with and thank you for choosing me to be your wedding officiant. I loved every minute of it! Congratulations and keep laughing!

Carol's Garden Inn in Durham Hosts the Wedding of Brooke and Chad!

Brooke and Chad chose to have their wedding at a B&B in Durham--Carol's Garden Inn. You can see the side and back of the large house in the background as Brooke's father, Chip, escorts her in for the wedding and assistant photographer Gary Kurtz captures the moment.

The lovely ceremony took place in front of a huge pecan tree which was a perfect spot for their wedding. There was a power outlet nearby for our sound system provided by our best man, David. Thanks so much, David!

(This photo above courtesy of our professional photographer, Jim Colman, with his telephoto lens.) Here Chad is making his vows to Brooke. He shocked both me and Brooke by having them completely memorized and delivering them perfectly and with much enthusiasm!

There they go...in wedded bliss!

Here is the wedding party all lined up for pictures after the wedding. I don't know how much acreage the B&B has but it sure looked like a lot. This was a huge open field bordered by woods.

Brooke and Chad chose to do the unity candle ceremony and I warned them of the perils of keeping candles lit outdoors but they found the perfect candle holders for outdoor weddings on clearance at World Market although I do not see them on their website. You can see that each individual candle is housed inside a glass vase with a hole in the side for ease of lighting yet does not allow enough moving air to get through to extinguish the flame. The center/unity candle is recessed into a goblet-type container which protects it from wind. Their mothers lit the individual candles with a long butane lighter. The couple used the taper candles to transfer their flames from the individual ones and joined them to light the center candle. It worked like a charm!

Lovely classical guitar music was provided by the talented Mark Liberto. His phone number is (919) 363-6586. He told me he would like to do more weddings.

Brooke and Chad, I know you will be very happy together. I wish you all the happiness in the world. (PS. We are all so glad the rain held off this day!)

Jim Colman sent me this photo above of the three of us. Jim and I have done 3 weddings together since I met him at a wedding on 7/24/09. He has been a photographer for many, many years but has only recently become more active in doing weddings. He is really good and has a blog too--go check it out. Thanks for sending me these photos so fast, Jim.

Introducing Carol Barden who owns and operates Carol's Garden Inn with her husband, Steve. This was my first wedding here and I found it to be a delightful wedding venue. The property is spacious and she has so many interesting areas to relax or play. There is a fish pond and patio, a deck under the spreading pecan tree with comfortable seating, a scuppernong arbor or two, a large swing, a pavilion for shelter and receptions and in case of rain, a ceremony plan B. There is plenty of parking and bathrooms conveniently located for guests. I hope to do many more weddings here!

This is the front of the house and the parking is to the left.

View of the house from the back yard area.

This is the set up for the wedding. As you can see there is plenty of space. The pavilion and an auxillary tent are in the background as well as a red barn type of structure that houses restrooms and storage.

A Great Wedding for Adam and Kristina at Anderson Point Park!

Friday, October 9, 2009, was an Indian Summer day with temps in the mid eighties! Adam and Kristina chose the beautiful amphitheater at Anderson Point Park in East Raleigh just off 264, a little gem hidden away in a spacious park with woods and rolling hills of green. I did a wedding several years ago there but we had the wedding in the charming cottage on the property because of threatening rain. Everything ran rather late this Friday--chairs, guests, food--but it was no big deal because there was nothing else pressing on my calendar. We began the wedding at 3:20 with the escorting in of the mothers. Adam's mother, Lair, had just flown in from their ranch in Texas and had to fly right back after the wedding because there was no one else to look after the horses, dogs and cats. Adam's father, Nick, was already here as he was serving as the best man for his son. Cheryl, Kristina's mother, was escorted in by her son Jason.

Enter our Flower Girl, Natalie, with her shiny gold shoes. She is Kristina's niece.

Here is our beautiful, beaming bride! She is escorted in by her brother, Chuck. She is wearing a shimmering beigy-gold colored wedding dress. It was so pretty on her. Her bouquet was reflective of lovely fall colors.

So, here we are at the beginning of the ceremony with Aidan, Adam's son, age 4, sticking close to daddy. Adam had a brown jacket and shoes for him to wear but he refused. He was being pacified by a ziplock bag of Fruit Loops!

When it came time to do the Blessing of Aidan in the ceremony, I called his name and he turned and walked in between Kristina and Adam and looked up at me so I crouched down to his level. This is what I said to him: "Aidan, you are a very special part of the lives of all the people here today. Your daddy and Kristina want you to know how much they love you and how important you are in their relationship. They want you to know that there is nothing you can do or say that will stop them from loving you. The three of you, as a family, makes them happy every day." He listened very attentively then gave me a Fruit Loop!

Aidan finally got so bored with the ceremony that he gravitated toward his grandmother to hold him.

Here is a wide view of the ceremony site. It is a wonderful setting for a wedding. Adam and Kristina made "fall leaves" out of yellow, orange and red tissue paper and right before we began (because it was breezy) we scattered them in the aisle and it made a stunning color palette for the wedding. Note that Kristina's two sisters, Jessica and Rachel, are wearing dresses identical to Kristina's except that they are red and orange. Adam and his father were both dressed in brown suits and Nick had a red shirt on. Kristina told me that she had hoped that the leaves in the trees would have turned by the wedding but they were still green today.

Adam and Kristina requested that the guests "shower them with the fall leaves" as they recessed out, and they did!
Kristina and Adam did not know what a big hit the leaves would be for the kids--an added bonus!

From left to right: Cheryl (mother of the bride), Aidan, Adam, Kristina, Lair (mother of the groom still in jeans because she did not have time to change), Nick (father of the groom and best man) and me.

This happy family of three, now married! Aidan is a little doll and we were so proud of how well he behaved himself! Still hanging on to that bag of Fruit Loops! Adam and Kristina, Aidan is a lucky little boy to have you as parents. I wish you all the happiness in the world.

Julius Carrasco provided us with wonderful wedding music. Julius is an accomplished classical/Flamenco guitarist. He brings his own sound system to weddings, just like I do! This time I supplied the battery for our power as there are no power outlets in the amphitheater. Thanks, Julius, your music was great.

Many thanks to Anna Lawson who directed this wedding for us. Anna and Adam and Kristina all work for the Washington-Duke Inn where I do so many weddings. In fact, I saw Anna there the next day at a wedding I was doing that evening.