Ushma and Josh's Interfaith Wedding at The Oaks at Salem!

Ushma's heritage is the Hindu faith and Josh's is Christian. They wanted two separate ceremonies but back to back. I've done this many times and so we got to work on the Christian Ceremony which was to follow the Hindu ceremony which was conducted by a Hindu priest.

Their wedding was June 15th, 2019. It was a bright, sunny and rather hot day. 

They chose the beautiful venue of The Oaks at Salem in Apex. This is a view of the ceremony site across the lake from the reception area.

When I arrived the Hindu ceremony had been going on for about 40 minutes. It is not uncommon for the guests to move around, get refreshments (they had an ice cream cart), and chat with each other. On this particular day folks were seeking the shade of the big unbrellas!

The Hindu ceremony was 1 hour and 45 minutes. Then we shifted to the Christian ceremony and the guests sat down as I began with a warm welcome to all. (The bride and groom were very warm in their colorful Hindu wedding clothing and had been standing a lot, so before I began, I asked them if they would like to sit down until we got to the vows. I got a resounding yes!)

Then we paid sweet tribute to their parents. 

A reading of First Corinthians followed. 

I love telling the story of how my couples met and fell in love and their journey from that day to their wedding day. Ushma and Josh have a good story having met at work in 2014.  Slowly their friendship blossomed into love. Then I shared with each of them and our guests what they told me in secret they love about each other and what they are looking forward to in marriage.
(photo courtesy of their professional photographer Erin Costa. Thanks, Erin!)

Since they had made their vows during the Hindu ceremony, we skipped to the exchange of rings. I asked Aaron, Josh's brother and best man, for the rings and blessed them.

Josh placed the ring on Ushma's finger as he said the words after me to her. 

Then Ushma encircled Josh's finger with his ring and said the ring vows. 

(Photo by Erin Costa)

A closing blessing for the couple.

I placed my hand on their joined hands and made the pronouncement of marriage and invited them to share their first married kiss!

(Photo by Erin Costa)

Woo hoo! The deed is done and they are finally married! Everyone cheered. 

I introduced them to their guests and invited the guests to go around the lake and enjoy the refreshments and the shade! I know Ushma and Josh were looking forward to getting out of the sun and changing in to cooler clothing!

(Photo by Erin Costa)

After the guests left, our couple headed back the other direction to change clothes for photographs. 

(Photo by Erin Costa)

Josh and Ushma! Fantastic wedding! You made it happen!  Thank you for choosing me to join you in marriage! I wish you the best always!

Kony and Patrick's Indian American Fusion Wedding at Caffe Luna!

Kony, Patrick and I met in January to plan their fusion wedding ceremony which took place on March 17th, 2019 at Caffe Luna in downtown Raleigh. They wanted to blend together the American wedding traditions with the Indian traditions of Kony's heritage.

Their photographer with Complete Weddings took them on a First Look and when they came back I had done a sound check and guests were arriving.

Kony was worried about her parents because they were late arriving. However, due to construction on Moore's Square, the parking situation was challenging and time consuming. They arrived shortly thereafter.

Kelly Kennedy of Teacup Florals was their florist and had the ceremony space ready with flowers on the chairs and flower petals lining the aisle.

The reception area was ready as well. 

The mothers! Julia on the left is Patrick's mom and Ruby on the right is Kony's. They had gotten to know each other during the courtship of Kony and Patrick who are very close to their parents. They had vacationed together several times and enjoyed each other's company. Kony's parents live in India.

It is time to begin the processional. I motioned the couple and their parents to get lined up on the sidewalk at the rear door of the restaurant.

Billy Ezzell with Complete Weddings was our DJ. Billy and I have worked together at weddings for 20+ years. He was stationed right by the back door and I cued him for the music.

I entered first to anchor the ceremony space as the couple and their parents joined me. 

Patrick and his parents entered first then Kony and her parents. 

The guests were standing in their honor. 

We began with a warm welcome to all and thanked them for being with them on this special occasion. 

Kony and Patrick wanted to thank and honor their parents during the ceremony and so they each wrote a paragraph printed in my book to read to their parents during the ceremony. Kony went first (tearfully) then Patrick. So sweet.

Then I got to tell the guests the story of how Kony and Patrick met in 2017. It was on line but not a dating site. They were both on Reddit at the same time and struck up a conversation that intrigued both of them and they decided to meet in person. The attraction was instant and mutual. The date ended up being 5 hours as they walked around downtown Raleigh. One thing led to another and they soon became inseparable. And as they say, the rest is history! 

After the story they each got to hear what the other had told me in confidence about what they love about each other, why they want to marry and what they are looking forward to in marriage.

Kony is hearing what Patrick told me in confidence! 

Then it was time for a few words of wisdom and advice about marriage then they exchanged vows and rings. 

I asked them each a series of questions to which they said "I do" and put the ring on their partner's finger. Patrick is pushing the ring onto Kony's finger!

Then Kony put Patrick's ring on.

Next came the Garland Exchange. The jaimala is an ancient Hindu wedding tradition that can be dated back to the Vedas – sacred Hindu scriptures that can be dated back to 1700 BC. The act of exchanging garlands signifies that the bride and groom are no longer separate individuals but are now united into a single family as equal partners. Given they are now one, they may share garlands, as they will everything else in life. Their mothers gave them a garland which they placed on their partner. 

Next came the Sindoor Ceremony. Sindoor, a vermillion powder applied in the parting of the bride’s hair by the groom holds importance in Indian society, and is considered auspicious in Hindu astrology. Mesha Rashi or the House of Aries is on the forehead, with Lord of Mesha – Mars, represented by the color red.  This is why red sindoor is applied at the forehead and at the parting of the hair. Both are signs of good fortune. Sindoor is also considered to be the symbol of the female energy of Goddesses Parvati and Sati. 

I opened the little tin of red powder and Patrick dipped his finger in it then placed the powder in the part of Kony's hair to signify their union as husband and wife.

Next was a closing blessing.

I placed my hand on theirs and pronounced them husband and wife! 

Their first married kiss! 

I introduced the newlywed couple and invited the guests to join me in congratulating them!

And away they go!!

I stayed behind long enough to invite the guests to go into the room next door for refreshments.

Kony and Patrick! What a wonderful wedding ceremony you designed. It fit you perfectly and was so fun and meaningful. Thank you for choosing me to join you in marriage and for your wonderful words and 5-Star reviews (below)!! I wish you the best always! 

Wonderful, professional and kind! 

Without Kayelily we wouldn't have been married - and I don't just mean it literally. She helped create an amazing story about how we met, what made us fall in love, and our journey together. She made the day so special and important, and even the guests commented on how beautiful the ceremony was.
Moreover, we were both kind of scared about saying things out loud, so she said our vows for us and that was so helpful! Neither of us are religious and she took that into account to still make the most beautiful ceremony ever. I also have to say that I find her voice so pleasing to hear, and that was great during the ceremony too. She also coordinated her outfit with us which looked beautiful.
Thank you again Kayelily, you're absolutely wonderful.

Spectacular Bollywood Wedding for Nikita and Matt at the Washington-Duke Inn!

Nikita and Matt met while freshmen at Duke University in 2007 and Matt proposed in the upper realms of Duke Chapel. So, when they began planning their wedding, the Washington-Duke Inn in Durham was the logical choice although neither family lived in North Carolina. They contacted me last December from the Washington-Duke Inn preferred vendor list about officiating their wedding on Sunday May 24th, 2015. Nikita is of Indian heritage and so in that tradition they planned to have an Indian ceremony earlier in the day followed by the American ceremony at 5 PM. As we planned the ceremony I learned that Nikita is a huge fan of Bollywood movies--the very dramatic, romantic, elaborately costumed musical and dance movies in India. So, really when I arrived on Saturday morning for their rehearsal, I should not have been surprised to see the tent going up over the President's Terrace with the water feature, pedestals, draping fabrics and statues of Ganesh being set in place! I wish I had a photo of it when it was ready for the Indian wedding.

When Marty and I arrived for the American wedding, we peeked inside the ballroom and workers were busily hanging bling from the ceiling, setting up the blue uplighting, a mandap with sofa for the bride and groom, glittery table cloths and two huge video screens showing Bollywood kinds of images!

Their initials were projected onto the dance floor and the DJ was getting set up inside and outside.

There were two huge video screens showing movies Bollywood style, of course! 

The cake by Mitchell's Catering was being set up under the mandap. 

Back outside the draping and decor from the Indian ceremony had been removed and a more typical American style set up was in place.

Bollywood DJ was from New York and I plugged my mic into his system.

Up front was this water feature. You cannot see in the photo but there was a sheet of water streaming down in the center. 

When the guests had been seated, the groom and his 9 groomsmen and I gathered in the back to enter. I also took this opportunity to get the best man to sign the license. 

Watching the grandparents and parents get all lined up on the other side of the terrace.

Then Matt's parents began walking in followed by the parents of the bride. Father of the Bride returned to escort in Nikita.

This is Steve Hubbs of Electric Karma, the wedding and event planning company that is famous for handling Indian Weddings internationally.

Just waiting for our cue!

There were about 350 guests who flew in from all over the world.

Urvashi Mishra with Electric Karma directed the bridesmaids in one by one.

Our Maid of Honor last.....

Time for the ring bearer and the two flower girls!

Ready for the bride! As soon as I could see her enter, I invited the guests to stand in her honor. Our photographers were Adrian and Tim with f8 Photo Studios and our videographer was Jonathan with f8 {in Motion}.

Kris, father of the bride, proudly escorts his beautiful daughter down the aisle. 

And so we began with a welcome to all and remembered those no longer with us. 

Then a warm tribute to their parents for all their love and support. 

They have a great love story. Even though I did not meet Nikita and Matt in person until their rehearsal, I felt though I had known them for years after writing their story.

Although they met and dated in college, they went their separate ways after graduation--Nikita to medical school in West Virginia and Matt to work in several cities most recently Boston--their relationship became long distance for four long years interspersed with trips and vacations all over the world.

When it came time to propose, Matt cooked up a trip back to Durham to visit their favorite places when they were students along with an elaborate plan to pop the question which required Nikita to solve riddles to get them from one place to the next place. They ended up in the very top of Duke Chapel, a place Nikita always wanted to go but never got there while a student. It was there that Matt gave her a little speech about how much he loved her, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Nikita was so busy crying, she couldn't see his face or the ring he custom designed until about 10 minutes later! Matt told me that his proposal scheme was so dramatic because Nikita had grown up watching Bollywood movies and the proposal had to be grand and dramatic to meet her expectations!

This wedding is a double celebration because Nikita graduated medical school and will begin internship in New York City and Matt has changed jobs from Boston to Manhattan. Finally, after 4 long years, they will be living together in the same city.

Matt and Nikita both shed tears during the whole ceremony. It was a good thing I had 3 hankies with me that day because we used them all!

They said their vows to each other reading from my book, then exchanged rings. 

At this point, I had them turn and face me and wipe their eyes, cheeks and noses! 

Then we moved on to the sand ceremony where they poured their sand together.

A closing blessing.....

The pronouncement of marriage. (The American ceremony was the legal one too.)

Sweet kiss!

Oh wow! We are really married now!

Presenting them to their guests!

Urvashi has the couple and the wedding party scoot through the cocktail area to a conference room to wait until the guests had cleared the tent. Then we went back in and took pictures.

Fantastic wedding!! It was truly Bollywood style with an American twist to it! 

After the pictures Nikita and Matt changed clothes for the reception. Here they are in the hall just outside the ballroom awaiting their announcement into the room filled with their guests! Nikita and Matt, what a fabulous, unforgettable wedding! I am honored to have been a part of your spectacular wedding day!

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