Margaret and Vince's Wonderful Wedding at Highgrove on July 8th 2018!

Margaret and I met at a venue that was hosting a "wedding etiquette" class for wedding couples last January. She had hired just about all her vendors except for an officiant. During the class, Frankie Hagan, DJ with Island Sound, who was presenting the session called on me to answer a question from the audience about the legality of online ordained officiants. (I explained that the State of NC does not recognize online ordained ministers as authorized to perform marriages and any couple who is married by an online ordained minister runs the risk of their marriage being declared invalid should any other marriage by an online ordained minister be challenged according to 2 court rulings in the past.) A few weeks later, Margaret contacted me to see if she and her fiancé Vince could meet with me to see if they wanted to hire me as their officiant. And so we met and I was thrilled that they decided to go with me.

 Highgrove is a beautifully restored estate in Fuquay-Varina. I love weddings there!

Flowers on Broad furnished all the pretty florals including this gorgeous arrangement on the front door. 

 The pergola is elegantly graced by two floral arrangement on either side. 

Beautiful! 

Having a conversation with Sean with Island Sound after doing a sound check. Sean is the "techie" person always on hand to handle any technical issues that arise.

Happy to be working with Frankie again.  

The garden ballroom was all set up and ready. 

The cake by Sweet Memories was also ready!

The sweetheart table decked out in their color scheme of eggplant and silver!

Getting everyone in order for the processional. 

Our Highgrove wedding director for this wedding is Britnie Jaynes. Good job, Britnie! 

Making my walk down the aisle first. 

Vince escorts his mom, Laurie, in then joins me up front. 

Margaret's parents, Ruth and Hans, enter then Hans circles back to bring Margaret in. 

The bridesmaids and groomsmen came entered as couples. 

Here comes the bride! 

Margaret and her father were beaming as they made the big entrance. 

I invited the guests to stand in honor of our beautiful bride!

Hans answered my question then transferred Margaret's hand into Vince's and everyone was seated. 

A warm welcome to all! 

Then it was time to pay tribute to their wonderful parents. 

Now for the story! Margaret and Vince met the old-fashioned way--in a bar--but with a twist. Vince was the bartender in this jazz bar where Margaret liked to hang out and listen to the music and unwind while bantering with the bar staff. The attraction was there from the beginning but Vince did not want to overstep his bounds so he took a while before he asked Margaret out. And it's history from there!

After the story I revealed to each of them what their partner had told me in confidence what they love about them. So sweet!  Margaret heard first.

Then Vince. It is so much fun for couples to watch their partner's expressions upon hearing these words of adoration and love they have told me for the first time in the ceremony.

They chose to read their vows to each other so I print them in my book and flip them vertically so the words are facing them. Vince says his vows to Margaret.

Then it is Margaret's turn. (She reminds me of Barbra Streisand here--one of my heroes!)

Then it is time for them to exchange rings. Vince repeats after me the words to Margaret as he puts the ring on her finger.

Then Margaret.

She patted his hand with the ring on it! 

I placed my hand on both of their and pronounced them equal partners joined in marriage!

Of course the kiss came next!

The deed is done! 

I introduced them to their guests and invited everyone to stand and join me in congratulating them! 

Our photographer, Cristobal with Azul Photography, gets a great shot of them recessing!

Then the attendants exited followed by the parents into the house for photos.  The guests were invited to enjoy cocktails on the covered terrace.

Vince and Margaret!! What a great wedding! Congratulations on having found each other and putting this all together and your upcoming bundle of joy. You did a fabulous job. And, thank you for choosing me to join you in marriage!

Ruina and Jikai's Wonderful Wedding at Prestonwood Country Club!

Jikai contacted me on August 23rd about officiating their wedding at Prestonwood Country Club on October 4th, 2014. Not much notice but I was so happy when they told me they could start their ceremony at 4:00 instead of 4:30 so I could fit their wedding in between one at 2:00 and another at 6:00. And, they were a delight to work with. I met with them on August 31st when they were in town. Jikai works in Georgia but was born in China and moved to Raleigh when he was 4 years old and retains the ability to speak some Chinese.  Ruina grew up in China and only recently moved here to be with Jikai. Their love story is delightful as you will hear below!

So, when I arrived at Prestonwood for the wedding the power was off in that section of Cary. But the reception room and the ceremony room for their wedding was filled with light from the walls of windows. So we were fine. The power did come back on about 20 minutes before the ceremony. The club had emergency generators for the refrigeration and freezer units but not for the rest of the building. I was glad I knew where there was a ladies lounge with windows!! On my way there, I peeked into the grand ballroom where another wedding was to be later that day and it was in darkness due to little natural light coming in. I know that DJ was relieved when the power came back on!

 A clever version of the fingerprint tree guest book! 

 Notice the Chinese writing for some of the place cards? 

 See how much light there was? And my sound system was battery operated so we were good to go. 

 After the parents were escorted in, it was time for me and Jikai and his groomsmen. 

 The pretty bridesmaids made their entrance.

 Our flower girl is ready! 

 At last, Ruina and her father, Qiang, make the walk down the aisle. 

I think every person in the room except for the wedding party had a camera! And our videographer was James Tignor with Island Sound Video. 

 We began with a welcome to all and remembered those who could not be with us for the day. 

Ruina and Jikai were thrilled to include the Chinese Tea Ceremony in their wedding. The bride and groom each serve a cup of tea to their parents. Tea is chosen because it is the national drink of China and serving it is an expression of respect and gratitude for their upbringing. Drinking a portion of the tea is symbolic of acceptance into the family and the sweetness of the special tea is a wish for sweet relations between the members of the family.

The tea tray after the ceremony with the red envelopes which contain gifts of money from the parents as part of the tradition.

 All watching the tea ceremony. 

After the tea, I told their story. In the summer of 2009, Ruina traveled from China to Raleigh to visit her aunt and uncle and attend a summer institute at NCSU to improve her English. Her uncle is a professor at NCSU and he and her aunt are dear friends of Jikai's parents and that is how Ruina and Jikai paths crossed for the first time that summer. But, they were involved in their own separate interests and made little contact. Ruina returned to China. In 2011, Ruina's aunt suggested that Ruina and Jikai become email friends and Ruina thought that would be a great way to practice her English. So they began emailing each other and although Jikai is quite shy in person, he had no problems communicating by email. They emailed each other about everything and Ruina was happy to have someone on the other side of the earth willing to listen to her! They got to know each other better and better and to make a long story short, Jikai ended up proposing by email then flew halfway around the world for 24 hours to propose officially by giving her a ring and to meet her parents. Having finished college and always ready to venture out, Ruina said yes. Once back home in the US, Jikai applied for a fiancee visa and after a long application and waiting period, the lovers crossed oceans, rivers, mountains unswervingly and stood before us hand in hand, surrounded by the people they love the most, ready to pledge their hearts to each other in marriage. Ruina's parents came all the way from China for the wedding and speak very little English.

Among many other things, Jikai loves Ruina because she is so adventuresome and he is looking forward to going with her on her adventures around the world. He is so proud of her for adjusting to all the cultural differences between the US and China and how much she has sacrificed to be with him.

Ruina loves Jikai because he is a good listener, a hard worker and a computer geek! She loves how hard he tries to make her happy. She loves to cook for him and is grateful that he enjoys her cooking. She believes that two people together are better than one and that you will both become better and better because you are together.

They made their vows and then exchanged rings. 

"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, and as a pledge to honor you with all that I am, and all that I shall become." 

 "I pronounce that you, Jikai, and you, Ruina, are now husband and wife!"

 Good one, Jikai!!

Ruina and Jikai, I am so happy your paths crossed and you found each other and that you found me! I am honored to know you and join you in matrimony! Thank you!

***********************************************

To contact me:

Send an Email

 919-345-4608

My Website

Pinterest

Facebook

Or leave a comment below!

**************************************************