The Siena Hotel Hosts the Wedding of Rabia and Jon!

The Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill holds many fond memories for me going back 12 years ago when I officiated the wedding of Laura and Gus, one of my first weddings. Their rehearsal dinner was at the Siena. (Back then I attended rehearsal dinners.) The Il Palio chef prepared Laura's family's favorite dessert from the recipe given supplied by her mother. It was layers of lady fingers and whipped cream drizzled with an amazing home-made chocolate sauce. Yummy. So fantastic that I asked for the recipe and still treasure it today! Since that time I have done many weddings at the hotel, some big and some small. They can accommodate just about any size wedding and the staff and hotel are wonderful to work with. 

This is Arie, the events manager with the Siena. She is great to work with and took care of all the details of the wedding day!

Jon called me in mid-November to see if I was available to officiate his wedding to Rabia on December 3, 2011 at the Siena--just a few short weeks away. Fortunately, I was available so we scheduled a meeting quickly.  We did not have a lot of time so I crafted a ceremony based on what they told me they wanted, sent it to them and they loved it. They really liked the parts reflecting their different family heritages (Rabia is Muslim and from Pakistan and Jon was raised Christian and American although he was born in Germany) making it an interfaith ceremony. Rabia particularly liked the idea of using a poem by the Persian mystical poet, Rumi, as a meditative prayer. She told me that her parents who traveled from Pakistan for the wedding love the works of Rumi and would be very pleased (and they were). For a closing blessing, we used a prayer based on First Corinthians. We also included a tribute to both sets of parents who have intact marriages and serve as wonderful role models for our bride and groom. 

Marty and I arrived at the hotel at 10:15 for the 11:00 AM wedding. This gorgeous cake by Sugarland was hidden away in the reception room. Needless to say, the wedding color was a beautiful pink. 

The Fisher-Park String Quartet from Greensboro was already there and warming up. They were very good!

This the room all set up for the ceremony. I am amazed that my new camera got this low light shot without flash! Wow!

These are our flower girls all lined up early! 

 

Jon's parents, Helga and Dean, process in first followed by Rabia's mother, Tehseen, escorted in by her two sons.

 Then Jon and I.

 The cute (unrehearsed) flower girls trickled in slowly! 

Rabia was escorted in by her father, Javed, then he transferred her hand into Jon's.

I don't have any photos of it but we did a "water pouring" ritual after the wedding address, the vows and ring exchange. "We honor water, to clean and soothe your relationship that you may never thirst for love....Together may you always share kindness with one another that will ease any pain that may come between you. With all the forces of the universe, we pray for harmony and true happiness for you both." 

Joining hands again after drying their hands. 

"It is my pleasure and my honor to recognize you as husband and wife!"

Their kiss was so brief I had them kiss again but still we got no photo of the kiss! I think they were a bit shy about kissing in front of everyone.

Waiting for the quartet to start the recessional music. Isn't Rabia's ceremonial dress beautiful?

 And out they go!  

Jon and Rabia, I am so happy that you called me that day and that we could work together to make your ceremony so special for you. I wish you all the best always!  Thank you for your note the next day that said: "I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful job you did on our wedding ceremony yesterday.  So many people came up to us and told us how much they liked the ceremony - you really made it memorable. We even had one guest say that she and her husband would like to do their wedding over again with you as the officiant! So thank you very much."

Barbara and Wolfgang's Fabulous Wedding at the Siena Hotel!

I felt so privileged to be part of Barbara and Wolfgang's wonderful wedding. One of the perks of being a wedding minister is getting to hear the stories of how couples met and fell in love. Barbara and Wolfgang's story is certainly amazing. They were both born and grew up in Austria. They came to the US to work as young adults. They both ended up working in the Triangle area of NC but never met each other. They are both highly intelligent and responsible people who established their life paths before pursuing love and marriage. When they were ready they both signed up for e-Harmony and that is how they met! And they are so perfectly matched! Their compatibility just emanates from them. (As an aside, I have noticed of all the couples who have taken my Marriage Optimization course, those who were matched up by e-Harmony have been incredibly compatible in all areas. This has convinced me that e-Harmony does a very thorough job matching people up. Better than all the others around because others I have worked with who met through other online matching services do not match up as well. Although Barbara and Wolfgang did not take my Marriage Optimization course, I have no doubts that their core values are the same--and that is the key to a happy and satisfying partnership.)

The wedding took place on October 17, 2009, at 6:00 in the evening in the Il Palio Ristorante of the Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill--an elegant venue for a small wedding. Before the wedding, Wolfgang and I rendezvoused in the bar area where I got the marriage license from him and tucked it into my ceremony book. He was ready to get on with the wedding!

After Wolfgang's parents, Wolfgang and I entered and took our places, Barbara and her father entered the room from the side entrance and walked down the length of the aisle. She took it very slowly and I could tell she really enjoyed the glory of it all.

The altar area was the far end of this room which was filled with about 70 friends and family members.

I stood out in front of the couple to speak directly to the guests. You can see our harpist, Marilyn Wienand, on the left and Shane Snider, our photographer on the right clicking away. The couple were particularly fond of the wine and chocolate ceremony I sent them so they included that in their wedding. They each drank wine which represented both life's bitterness and sweetness. Then they ate chocolate representing the sweetness and fullness of life, savoring every bite.

This was taken just after the kiss. Look at that expression on Barbara's face. She was relishing every moment of her wedding ceremony!

Posing for photos afterward in the lobby.

Not only did Barbara's father come all the way to the United States from Austria for this special wedding, but also Wolfgang's parents, on the left. Present were also other family members and friends who made the trip from Austria to be with these two on their wedding day.


Wolfgang and Barbara, I am so glad you found each other! You are a match made in heaven and I wish you all the happiness in the world!

Marilyn Wienand of Deerhollow Music was accompanied by Kim Allemang, flautist. The harp and flute duo are fabulous and Marilyn and Kim play often together. I love to hear their music and enjoy doing weddings with them.

Shane Snider was our photographer for this wedding. He must have taken a zillion photos...but that is the secret to his award winning photographs. Be sure to check out his blog for the professional photos of this lovely wedding. Always a pleasure, Shane.