A Wonderful Wedding for Nastassia and Luke at Caffe Luna!

I loved working with Nastassia and Luke! We met last May to begin designing their wedding ceremony which took place on Sunday October 6th 2019 at Caffe Luna in downtown Raleigh.

Nastassia is so beautiful and so ready to be married.......as well she should be! She and Luke met way back in 2008 when they were both undergraduates in college in New York. Their relationship has stood not only the test of time but also long distances that lasted for years while Nas attended medical school, residency and internship and Luke his graduate degrees. Finally they chose North Carolina to settle down in together and make home--and get married at last.

Meanwhile Cinda, the owner of Cinda's Creative Cakes, was on the job putting the finishing touches on her beautiful creation. It is rare when I see her as she has usually been on site and gone by the time I get to the wedding.

The finished product. Simple and classic! And delicious! 

Taking a quiet moment to review the script before I deliver it! 

Willis is a frequent DJ at Caffe Luna and, as usual, he did a great job providing my amplification and the ceremony music. Tre Bella Flowers did the arch up front and the bouquets and boutonnieres.

After persuading the guests to move forward and fill in chairs up front with Michelle Gunton, our wonderful photographer, we are ready to begin the ceremony. (Empty chairs--especially on the aisle--don't look good in the wedding photos. Often venues put out more chairs than the number of guests expected which makes it look like a lot of people did come to the wedding.)

When it was time to begin, I walked in first--past the empty extra chairs in the back. 

Luke and his parents, Donald and Laurel, enter next.

Luke joined me up front as his parents took their seats. 

Then the attendants came in as couples. Kareem and Daniela first. 

Todd and Melissa next.

Adam, best man and brother of the groom, and Shawnett, maid of honor, make their way down the aisle.

Their friend Jewel, our honorary director, cued Nastassia and her mother, Sharon, to begin their walk down the aisle.

They sweep past the guests standing in their honor. 

"Sharon, do you bless and support Nastassia as she comes to join in marriage to Luke?" Of course she answered "I do!" and took her seat as the couple turned and faced their guests.

I stepped out and began telling their guests the story of how they met and fell in love and their journey to their wedding day. It was a sweet story. They were smitten with each other from the very beginning when they were fixed up with each other to go to a party.

And there were some comical moments also and we all laughed a lot. In fact, their guests laughed in places I was not expecting laughter. Couldn't have been better! Always love that the guests are having a good time and enjoying the ceremony.

The story flowed into a welcome to everyone and a tribute to their parents. 

They turned and faced each other as I stepped behind them and revealed what each of them had told me in confidence they love about each other. Then they made their vows to each other. When it was time to exchange rings. I asked Adam for the rings. He placed them in my hand and as I looked at Nastassia's ring, I said "This is the tiniest wedding ring I've ever seen!" (NOT in the script!) Everyone laughed including the couple.

Handing the tiny ring to Luke as Nas wiped away tears of laughter! 

And more laughter as I asked Nas to take the substantially larger ring and place it on Luke's finger! 

I retrieved the hankie from her hand so she could place the ring on Luke's finger while saying the words after me.

They wrote love-letters to each other and sealed them without sharing. The Anniversary Box was brought forth by Adam's wife, Lisa, and they placed the letters in the box with the bottle of wine and locked it. I invited them to open the box on their first anniversary, pour each other a glass of wine, then read the love-letter from their spouse. Have a conversation about the wedding day and the year that has passed. Then write new love-letters, place in the box with the old letters and a new bottle of wine and repeat on every anniversary.

A closing blessing for our couple who were going to finally be pronounced married. 

The pronouncement was made and I invited them to kiss!

Sealed with a kiss! 

That sweet "after kiss" where reality that they are really finally married at last sinks in. 

Introducing them to their cheering guests! Willis starts Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You!"

And they step into their new married life together! 

What a happy couple! 

Luke and Nastassia! What a wonderful and fun wedding! I loved it and I thank you for choosing me to join you in marriage! I wish you the best always!

A Fabulous Wedding for Jessi and Stew at The Stockroom 230!

Jessi, Stew and I met last March to talk about their wedding on November 26th 2016 at The Stockroom and the ceremony they envisioned. They really liked that I wanted them to participate in creating their ceremony and would know and have approved in advance what I would be saying at their ceremony. And so we got to work! 

They loved the Anniversary Box ceremony where the bride and groom write loveletters to each other the day before the wedding and seal them without sharing them. During the ceremony they put them in the box which holds a bottle of wine and lock the box. On their first anniversary they open the box, pour each other a glass of wine and read their letters from each other bringing back all the feelings and excitement of their wedding day. Then they write another letter reflecting on the year that has passed and how they are feeling on their first anniversary, seal their letters unshared, place the original and new letters back in the box to be opened on the second anniversary and repeat every anniversary. In 25 years what a legacy of their marriage for themselves and their children and grandchildren.

The altar decor was very simple and elegant--table, candles, box, and glass for breaking in the pouch.

What great quote for a wedding day in November! 

Upstairs in the Glass Box, Michelle Gunton, their wonderful photographer, was busy getting photos of the bride and her maidens. Thank you, Michelle for sending me these photos. I always love working with Michelle! (The ones with her logo on them are the ones she took. The other "filler" photos were taken with my camera by my sweet husband and roadie, Dave.)

I just love this color! Cranberry is so perfect for Thanksgiving, isn't it? 

Michelle, Randy Bennett--our fabulous DJ with BunnDJ Company--and I having a pow-wow before the ceremony started. They love hearing my ceremonies. In fact, Randy recorded it and sent me the recording before I even got home that night! Thank you, Randy!

The guests began arriving and getting seated. After the ceremony, they went downstairs to the Mahler Gallery for cocktail hour while this room was flipped for the reception.

Our videographer, Gary Costner, captured the wedding on video. I would love to see what he put together! If he sends it to me, I will come back and post it to this blog.

Kelly Odom did all the florals. What great work he does. 

The guys opted not to have boutonnieres. Instead they had handkerchiefs. They did not know how to fold them and have them all look the same. So, I refolded and positioned each groomsman's hankie while we were waiting for the processional to begin.

Our esteemed wedding planner/director was Sally Oakley. She is getting us all lined up to process in. I just love working with Sally. We have done so many weddings together over the years and have a mutual admiration thing going on. Always know that the wedding will be well organized and every detail anticipated and handled when Sally and her crew are in charge.

The guys and I have entered and taken our places at this point. It is time for the bridesmaids to enter now.

The Maid of Honor, Hanna, is just taking her place before the music changes for the bride and her parents enter.

And here they come! 

Anticipation! Everyone is looking at Jessi and her parents as they enter. 

Closer and closer! 

Jessi and Stew chose for me to ask her parents: "Alice and David, do you support your daughter's decision to join together in holy matrimony with Stewart, and do you vow to receive him as a member of your family from this day on?" Of course they answered "We do!"

All the guests were welcomed and thanked for making the journey to be with us. 

Then a sweet prayer and remembrance of those loved ones no longer with us. 

I stepped out from behind the couple to address their parents and thank them for all their love and support all their lives. Guaranteed to bring forth tears from the mothers and often the fathers too!

They had quite a story to tell. This was a version no one had heard that I wrote based on their separate answers to my questions then edited by them. They met in November of 2013 while out with mutual friends celebrating another friend's birthday. There were very funny moments in the story as the friends moved from bar to bar and Jessi and Stew's conversation covered everything from music, Star Wars, family, traveling, and food and finally books. They also discovered the many times their lives could have intersected but did not. But, the timing was not right until the evening they met.

Afterwards these two were simply smitten with each other and the dating began. They had many adventures together and traveled many places.

The travels culminated in a long anticipated trip to Ireland August 2015 where Stew surprised Jessi by proposing on top of the Cliffs of Mohr after a 3-hour hike! It was quite a story!

Now Jessi hears for the first time what Stew told me that he loves about her, why he wants to marry her and what he is looking forward to.

Then it is Stew's turn to hear what Jessi told me she loves about him etcetera. Both of them have a wonderful sense of humor that was reflected over and over in the ceremony. The couple and their guests were having a wonderful time!

Stew reads his vows from my book to Jessi as he places the ring on her finger. 

Then Jessi says her vows and places the ring on his finger. 

It was then time to explain to the guests the significance of the Anniversary Box.

I handed them their letters and stepped aside so they could place them in the box and lock it.

In honor of Jessi's Jewish heritage, we had the breaking of the glass ceremony in which I placed the glass in pouch at Stew's feet and he gave it a good stomp and we all shouted Mazeltov! At that point I placed my hand on theirs and pronounced them husband and wife and invited them to kiss.

Got a good shot of this great kiss! 

This is what I call the "after kiss" moment. It always happens. It is like they are looking at each other and thinking "we did it!"

So happy to introduce them to their guests for the first time as husband and wife. 

Randy started the recessional music and up the aisle they went amidst cheering and applause. Michelle is capturing this very magical moment!

This wonderful image by Michelle of the guys must have been taken before the wedding when it was still daylight outside.

After the ceremony the wedding party and parents gathered in the Glass box for a few more photos and then Michelle took Jessi and Stew out on Fayetteville Street for some really great photos in the city lights.

The room has been flipped and ready for the guests to return. 

Randy introduced the wedding party and the bride and groom and they had their first dance! 

Jessi and Stew! You are the greatest couple! You are perfect for each other and it was inevitable that your paths would cross at the right place and right time. Thank you for giving me the honor of joining you in marriage! I wish you the greatest happiness and satisfaction life can give.