Very Romantic Wedding for Alla and Thierry!

I recently had the honor of joining Alla and Thierry in matrimony at  The State Club. Christobal Perez with Azul Photography was recording the wedding in photographs and my husband Dave snapped these photos for the blog.

 

After introducing them, Por Una Cabeza (Tango from "The Scent of a Woman") began to play as they swept down the aisle and began dancing to the music! They were fantastic and it was ever so romantic!!

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Ali and Landon's Incredible Wedding at The State Club!

Ali and Landon's wedding ceremony "takes the cake" for the wedding with the most laughter of any other wedding I have had the privilege of officiating! And that is due in large part to their fun-loving personalities. I got to know them pretty well because they took my Marriage Optimization class.  I loved teaching them about what to expect in marriage and answering their insightful questions. It was no surprise that they are very compatible and a great match.

Marty and I arrived on October 11th 2014 at The State Club to find Landon and his guys outside the club but there were no chairs set up for the ceremony. I  found out they had checked the doppler for weather predictions for their start time of 5:30 that afternoon and spotted a very large dark cloud headed their way. So, they wisely "called" the wedding and moved the ceremony indoors. And it was a good thing because we found out later it started raining during the ceremony.

Best man Zach, Ali's brother, on the right, and one of our ushers relax before the ceremony. You can see their photographer, Cara, with f8 Studios and her second shooter in the background. Cara and I have done a lot of weddings together through the years.

 View of the ballroom from the second level all decked out for the reception. 

 The room for the ceremony is ready to go! 

 Monica Noa with Nouveau Events has everything under control! Such a pleasure to work with her. 

 Such a pretty wedding cake by Edible Art! 

A table full of photos of their parents' and grandparents' weddings and a headpiece from one of the brides. 

 Their guest book made with photos of their travels. 

 Engagement photo!

So the guests took their seats. It was a "kid-friendly" wedding and one of our small guests is having a  great time already!

Monica has us all lined up beginning with the four grandparents. Mitch with Joe Bunn DJ Company is providing our music. 

 Landon and I in line waiting our turn to enter.

 Andrea, Landon's sister, is Ali's Maid of Honor. Kelley with Teacup Floral provided the pretty flowers. 

 Ali's father, Rick, brings Ali in! That is Wendy, event manager for the Club, in the background.

Welcome to all, opening prayer and tribute to the parents first. Then a reading of "I Carry Your Heart With Me" by ee cumming was shared by Christy.

Then their story. What fun! The day they met is a clue to their fun personalities and why this ceremony was so funny. In 2009 they were with a gathering of mutual friends at the Flying Saucer, sitting at opposite ends of a table. Because neither was interested in the conversations around them, they amused themselves by making funny faces at each other. Eventually they got around to talking and getting to know each other. After a few months they began to hang out together and developed a close bond which blossomed into romance.

Ali was working on a horse farm and pursuing her master's degree at NCSU. Landon had recently gotten out of the military and was unemployed. When Ali graduated and got her first "real" job, not wanting to be a slacker, Landon got a job with a crane company which he soon discovered was not for him. He promptly quit and began pursuing a degree in electrical engineering and will graduate next May.

They love to travel. In fact, two months into their relationship they took an 8 day Caribbean cruise. Landon spent four months earlier this year on an internship in Switzerland and of course Ali went over to spend a few weeks with him so they could explore Europe together.  In fact, they worked on putting the first draft of their ceremony together from my material while sitting in a beer garden overlooking Prague.

 The proposal story was quite funny as Landon's proposal did not go as he had planned! 

 Whew, getting married is hard work, isn't it, Landon??

 So, now for the secret paragraphs and their vows to each other.

 The rings were exchanged, then a closing blessing. 

Landon kept sniffing during the ceremony so I had to check to make sure everything was good for the kiss that was coming up after the pronouncement!

 The pronouncement! 

 Off we go! 

We gathered in the room where the groom and groomsmen and fathers hung out before the wedding. It was supplied with nerf guns (I think that is what they called them!) and so Ali and Landon had a good time playing with them as Cara and Marty got some good pictures of them. When all the guests had gone down into the lobby for cocktails, we returned to the ceremony room for photos.

And so it is!! Congratulations, Ali and Landon. What a fabulous wedding for a fabulous couple who are so attuned to each other! All the best to you!

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April and Dave's Fun Wedding at The State Club!

Some wise match-making friends of April and Dave decided that they should meet each other and persisted until they got them together. Neither April nor Dave was looking for a relationship, both having endured too many relationships that did not pan out. But then on the other hand, they felt they had nothing to lose either! April was known to be very picky and was finally convinced to meet Dave on the basis that "for goodness sake, you don't have to marry the guy!" Once they met each other, the bonding went very quickly and April added Dave to her season tickets for the Canes as they both shared a love for hockey and football, although April is a Giants fan and Dave a Jets. But they have worked out their differences, most of the time anyway. And after a while, they decided that they wanted to make their relationship a committed one by getting married. April's good friend, Andrea, whom I had also married to her husband, John, a few years ago and also performed a baby blessing ceremony for them and their daughter, Rhyan, told her she had to "get Kayelily" to officiate! April also remembered that she used to work with my daughter, also named Andrea, at Michael Dean's a few years back. So we met in February and started planning this wedding at The State Club for Sunday November 6, 2011. (I learned that you don't have to have attended or graduated from NCSU to use this fabulous facility. You do have to join the club but the fee is quite reasonable and certainly budget friendly for weddings.)

It was simply a gorgeous day for a wedding!  I had just flown back into town from having attended my 50th high school reunion the Friday and Saturday before. Dave and April were so thoughtful in letting me work with them on the previous Thursday on how to have a rehearsal which they did successfully on Saturday night while I was in Georgia having a good time with my former classmates. I thank you, April and Dave, for being so understanding! The outdoor area of The State Club was bathed in sunlight which highlighted the beautiful fall colors of the trees in the background. Since the last wedding I had done there, another bride had put up a pretty pergola on the lawn and donated it to the club. It fit in perfectly and they put a swag of beige tulle on the front of it to fit into their brown and pumpkin color theme.

Inside the reception area was this adorable cake with two pups on it. After all, Dave and April are dog people just like me! The cake is by Piece-a-Cake and follows the same color scheme.

The reception area was all set up. The florist was Fallon's and they put up the pretty orange paper lanterns on the tables and down the aisle and made the pretty bouquets of the ladies as well as the centerpieces. The State Club catered the food.

John Hensley with Anything Music was our DJ for the ceremony and the reception. Good to work with John again! Beth Tilley Green was our photographer and she brought along a second shooter too.

The processional began with the entrance of me and the groomsmen including Dave's son, Hunter,  followed by April's stepmother, Michelle, Dave and his mother, Judy, and then the mother of the bride, Robbie, and April's stepfather, Eric. Then the junior bridesmaids, one of whom is Dave's daughter, Annalisa. Next our two little flower girls made their entrance.

 

April was stunning in her beautiful dress and pretty flowers in her hair. I saw a tear slip out of Dave's eye as he watched her coming down the aisle.

 

 

April got really tickled during the prayer and could hardly stifle her laughter. I asked her later what was so funny and she said she did not know. The whole ceremony was so much fun and there was lots of laughter throughout.

We wrote a very special section to honor and include Dave's children, Hunter and Annalisa. April made vows to them and they made vows to her then there were hugs all around.

 

 

 

 April and Dave read their vows to each other and then exchanged rings.

 

 

 

And off they ride into the sunset--well, almost! 

What a great wedding, April and Dave! And as I write this, I hope you are honeymooning in a sunny spot! So happy to have had the honor of officiating for you. I wish you prosperity, happiness and enduring love!

Sitting out and waiting for their turn to be in photos are Andrea, my former bride and the Matron of Honor for April, and Best Man, Ron. I spotted Andrea's husband, John, inside and spoke with him for a minute. It was really great to see them again. Andrea and John, you two are looking great and very happy!