A Wonderful Wedding for Hewan and Clarence at Marbles!

Hewan and Clarence met each other in Raleigh back in 2005 and their lives changed forever. Clarence was immediately attracted to this beautiful woman and she definitely noticed how handsome he was and how they had no problem talking easily about everything and anything. It did not take these two long to become a couple. After several relocations, the last one being to California, Clarence proposed during a trip to Hawaii and they began making plans for their wedding on March 23, 2013 at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh. The couple and their wedding planner, Courtney Jones, contacted me in January and I was so happy that I was available. We made all the plans via phone, email and US mail. I met Hewan and Clarence for the first time at their rehearsal.

I have done several weddings here both when it was Exploris and since it became a kids museum a few years ago. They chose the Zanzibar room for the ceremony and the reception was out in the play area.

When we arrived, Lyn Graves with Fresh Affairs and his staff were busily setting up the decor and flowers. Due to museum hours they could not get in any earlier than 5:00 and the wedding was at 6:00. The Zanzibar room walls are paneled and at the end which we used as an altar area, was hanging a huge chalk board. But you would never know it because Lyn draped the whole wall with billowing white curtains then placed the two pedals with sprays of beautiful flowers flanked by floating candles. It was beautiful and transformed the room.

Soon the play area was transformed as well with playful table cloths and gorgeous floral arrangements. Rocky Top Hospitality was catering and Jenn Carlin, Catering Sales Manager, and her team were busy getting set up.

This gorgeous cake with glittery icing was crafted by Cinda's Creative Cakes.

Dennis, Cinda's husband who delivered the cake, and Joselle Torres, Event Host with Marbles, were standing back admiring the stunning cake.

Joselle was on the move taking care of everything and coordinating all the vendors. She and Amanda Lewis, Event Sales Assistant, are pros at hosting events at Marbles.

The very talented Marilyn Wienand with Carolina Harp provided the heavenly music for the prelude and ceremony. The ceremony was delayed starting for about 15 minutes because guests were having difficulty parking due to an event in Moore's Square across the street from the museum. But she kept playing like a champ! Thanks, Marilyn!

Finally we got started although not all the guests were there. But they trickled in during the ceremony and did not miss the whole ceremony.

The couple were especially honored that Clarence's grandmother could be at their wedding.

Clarence had the honor of escorting his beautiful mother, Maureen, in.

 Following them was mother of the bride, Amsale. 

Aren't these kids adorable? They are all Clarence's cousins. You can see that Elan, our ring bearer, was surprised to see all the people! 

 Kayla and Angelina, the flower girls, steered him in the right direction.

 Waiting for the bride.......

 Hewan's proud papa, Hailu, escorted in his very beautiful daughter. 

There were about 250 guests, all standing in the bride's honor as they processed down the aisle. 

 Honoring of the parents as they stood.

 Sarah and Josh with Carolina MediaStar were our photographers. 

Hewan's Goddaughter, Rahel, read a poem and Hewan's cousin, Euael, read a passage from First Corinthians. I did not get a good photo of Euael though.

Then it was time to tell the story of how our couple met, fell in love and why they want to marry each other. There were some quite funny parts to it which we all enjoyed hearing about, especially the bride and groom!

 Next come the vows, then the rings followed by the closing blessing.

 Finally the pronouncement of marriage and they become husband and wife.

 They got tickled and so I had them "re-do" the kiss! They did not mind at all!

 Clarence says, "Let's go!" 

Wow! What a fun wedding! Hewan and Clarence, you did it up right! It was my joy to officiate for you and get to know you in the process. You are indeed a remarkable couple. I wish you all the love and happiness in the world!

Melissa and Chris Have a Beautiful December Wedding at Long View Center!

Melissa and Chris are a delightful couple. Shortly after I met with them in August, they decided that not only did they want me to officiate their wedding on 12/20/08 but they also wanted to do my Preparation for Marriage program. They wanted to be sure they were not overlooking something in their relationship that would negatively impact their marriage. Well, they did not have to worry! Their compatibility profile came in with flying colors showing that they were very compatible! We worked on communication skills, conflict resolution techniques and financial management, tools all couples need to have at hand when they are married. We explored their expectations of marriage and learned how their ideas on parenting and relating to each other's family matched up. As a result of counseling with them I got to know them quite well so their wedding was really special for me. It was unique for another reason too as their wedding is the last wedding I will be doing at Long View Center because unfortunately it is closing as a wedding site in Raleigh. I am hoping it will emerge under new ownership in the near future and I will keep this blog updated regarding this most elegant venue for weddings.

Chris and Melissa carefully put together their wedding ceremony from the material I sent them. They had everything they wanted including the Celtic hand-fasting tradition. We enjoyed a reading by Chris' sister, Tammie. We gave their parents a big tribute and thank you and asked all the guests for their blessing for Melissa and Chris and their marriage. The music for the ceremony was exquisite. A friend of Melissa's, Phillip Jefferson, played the oboe and Gregory Dixon played the grand piano. It was a terrific and heavenly combination! (see their photo below)

Chris told me while we were waiting for the ceremony to start that he and Melissa had a good time selecting their music for the ceremony. They chose "You are my Sunshine" for the seating of their grandmothers! All in all it was a terrific ceremony and so many guests came up to me after the ceremony and told me how wonderful the it was. Melissa's Aunt Kay just raved about it being the best wedding ceremony she had ever heard. Janet, Chris' mother, was amazed that the ceremony was "so Chris and Melissa!" So it was no surprise when I told them that the couple had put together exactly what they wanted from my material. Thomasina Whitley of Bowties and Lace was our wedding director and she had two assistants helping her, one of whom was Carol, a student of Tamera Davis of Cherished Moments, who teaches a class at Wake Tech on the wedding consulting business. She invited me to come speak about weddings from the minister's perspective one evening and Carol was one of the students there. She was on site learning the business at this wedding! Janice Cutler of North Raleigh Florists provided the lovely floral arrangements and Ana and her assistant Jessica of Studio One were our photographers.

After the wedding, Marty and I went over to Marbles Kids Museum to the reception. It was lovely and I know they had a lot of fun that evening. Randy Bennett of Joe Bunn DJ Company was the DJ, Irregardless did the catering, and Ambrosia provided the stunning wedding cake. For favors for the guests, Melissa and Chris had Christmas tree ornaments made commemorating the occasion. How special! What a wonderful Christmas wedding! My heartfelt congratulations to you both, Melissa and Chris!

Iona and James chose to have their wedding at Marbles!

Iona and James knew that a lot of children would be attending their wedding, and since they are such a fun-loving couple, they chose a place where kids could play and have fun while the grown-ups celebrated their marriage on July 5th. The perfect setting was Marbles Kids Museum, formerly Exploris, in downtown Raleigh. They had the ceremony in the main corridor downstairs and the "altar" was the top of the steps. They arranged to have a screen at the top of the steps for a backdrop to the ceremony on which they placed a custom painted scene especially created by Iona's mother, Trish. It was beautiful!

James' best friend, Jill, was his "best woman." Iona had seven flower girls she called "the flower girl gang" who entered after the groom and best woman and I entered. The youngest one just barely made it almost all the way down the aisle before she ducked into the row where her mother was sitting. She was so cute. Iona entered solo in her custom made beautiful and one of a kind wedding dress with hot pink shoes and bouquet. When she got to the back of the rows of chairs, to the delight of their families and friends, James started walking toward her and they met in the middle and processed up the steps for the ceremony together. You can see in the pictures that the late afternoon sun was beaming in on the right side of my face and right into the groom's eyes. I could not tell if his tears were from the intense sun or tears of happiness--probably both!

James' sister-in-law, Dana, had memorized the special reading they had chosen for their wedding day and presented the humorous poem "Love is Like Owning a Dog" by Taylor Mali with feeling and flair. This was so appropriate since the couple and their families are dog aficionados! James and Iona knew just what they wanted for their ceremony and they put together words that conveyed who they are and their views on love, life and marriage. It was a pleasure to deliver this service and the guests were very attentive to every word I spoke.

When the ceremony was over and the bride and groom had left for photos with the photographer, Tracey Franks, I invited all the guests to go up to the next level for cocktails and toasts. The downstairs area was set up for a sit-down reception catered by Caffe Luna later on and I was able to chat with Ryan, their catering manager, after the ceremony as she was putting on the final touches to the tables.

Their wedding cake was one of the most spectacular I have ever seen--covered with chocolate covered strawberries. It was tucked away in a utility closet to be moved out after the dinner for the cake cutting. The closet was filled with the rich aroma of the chocolate and I was able to get a good photo by holding my camera directly over the cake. It was prepared by friends of the family who live in Greensboro and brought it all the way to Raleigh. After stopping by for a photo with the couple, Marty (my roadie) and I left a good party that was just beginning! It was a great wedding. Congratulations, Iona and James!