Jamie and Marc's Fabulous Wedding at The Sutherland!

The Sutherland in Wake Forest is a beautiful wedding venue. The owner, Ashlee Adams, has carefully restored this old plantation estate to its current splendor. Jamie and Marc fell in love with it and booked it for their wedding on July 15th, 2017. 

This is an original cabin on the premises that is used for a place for the groom and his groomsmen to hang out in while the bride and her ladies are in the big house getting ready.

 It is a blazing hot day and the sun is as bright as it gets! But not untypical for a July day in North Carolina! 

 Inside the manor house here is an original fireplace in the old dining room that has been preserved. 

Off the dining room is a sun room where the cake is on display. The cake is by Ashley Cakes.

 The ceremony took place in the Walled Garden. 

 The Unity Candle ceremony is set up. To protect the flame, the Unity Candle is inside a glass lantern.

A new addition to the premises a few years ago is the Pavilion. This past year doors were added on all sides so that now it is climate controlled for the comfort of the wedding guests and wedding party.

Very spacious beautiful light-filled space to celebrate inside! The caterer, Donovan's Dish, is preparing for the reception.

 All is ready! 

We delayed the start of the ceremony 15 minutes due to an accident on Highway 1 which delayed one of the shuttles from getting to the venue. And now it is time to begin the processional.

 The guests are seated under the parasols to shade them from the sun.

Marc and I, followed by his brothers, Robbie and Andrew--his best men, enter from the side gate. I want to thank Alex Choi with Vox DJ for the music and for letting me plug my mic into his system. The sound was perfect! 

 The groomsmen and bridesmaids entered as couples followed by the Maid of Honor, Jamie's sister, Dena.  

They had six children in the wedding party and the last little girl, Emily, entered with a sign that said "Uncle Bubba, Here Comes Your Bride!" 

 Jamie and her dad, Ernest, entered around from the front door into the garden.  

 The guests are standing in their honor. The videographers  were Zach and Ethan with Bowtie Films. 

 Everyone is seated now for the ceremony. 

A welcome to all who traveled from near and far to be here. All of Marc's family came from New York for the wedding. We remembered those that could not be with us then began with a prayer.

Next was a tribute to their parents: Ernest and Francine, Robert and Mary Ellen. This is kept a secret so that it is a sweet surprise for them on the wedding day.

Then I got to tell the story of how Jamie and Marc met. Having no good way to meet people in person, they met on line, liked chatting with each other and decided to meet in person on July 11, 2015. The attraction was immediate, the dating began and they soon became a couple.

They found they had a lot in common, especially a love of football and their favorite teams. Marc supported Jamie in preparing for and running a marathon which showed her how supportive he was of her. Marc surprised her with a proposal of marriage on October 22, 2016 and Jamie of course said yes. Being a big Pinterest fan, she already had a lot of ideas compiled for her wedding so this wedding came together quite naturally.

Then it was time for them to hear for the first time what they each told me in confidence what they love about each other.

Their photographer was Ashley with Bowtie Collaborative. 

 They chose some funny questions for each other like:  

"Marc, do you promise to go to Target whenever Jamie wishes and even go towards the back where the seasonal section is located?"

 "Jamie, do you promise to let Marc buy Jeep parts on a regular basis?" 

 Then they made more serious promises of marriage to each other. 

 Jamie promises.

 Talking about the symbolism of these rings they will exchange.

 Marc: "With this ring, I give you my heart." 

 Jamie: "With this ring, I give you my heart."

 I invited the parents to come forward and light the individual candles for the bride and groom. 

 Then Jamie and Marc brought their flames together and lit the Unity Candle inside the lantern.

 Time for the closing blessing before the pronouncement of marriage.

 I asked them to close their eyes and feel the happiness and let it register in their hearts.

 Then they opened their eyes and I placed my hand on theirs to make the pronouncement of marriage!

 The customary kiss--long enough to get a good picture! Yay! 

 I think Marc is feeling a little sheepish about that kiss in front of everybody! Awww! 

 "Honored guests, please stand and join me in congratulating our newlyweds!" 

The music began and out they went! 

 Cheers! 

A kiss for the videographer! Christy Ethridge on the porch is our wedding director from The Sutherland. Great job, Christy! Enjoyed working with you!

 A photo of the Unity Candle after the ceremony. All the flames are still lit! 

Marc and Jamie! Congratulation on your marriage and a wonderful wedding! I wish you all the best! 

LESLIE AND PABLO'S "TWO-HANKIE" WEDDING AT THE DOUBLTREE-BROWNSTONE!

I met Leslie and Pablo last November and they hired me to officiate their wedding on April 22nd, 2017 at the recently renovated and redecorated Doubletree by Hilton.

The reception room complete with dance floor!  Kevin Seifert was generous to come along with me to photograph the wedding since my husband Dave was off on a men's retreat that weekend. Kevin did a superb job taking these photos in the low-light conditions. The couple's photographer was Cassie with FireRose Photography. I am sure she got some wonderful images too.

Eric Hodgden is the owner of All Around Raleigh DJ and a member of the NC Wedding Ring with me and Kevin Seifert and Ed Carpp who owns Watkins Flowers of Distinction and supplied the gorgeous flowers for this wedding. So 4 of us "Ringers" worked this wedding together.

Kevin scouted around the reception area for the nice little touches for the wedding. Here are the place cards. 

Chalkboard flanking the favors. 

Sweet favors! 

The tables are ready! 

The Sweetheart table.

Edible Art supplied the cake for cutting and the cupcakes. 

Can you tell that purple is Leslie's favorite color? 

The guest book and the unplugged wedding sign. Everyone was really good about this. 

Everything is ready but lighting the floating candles and the votive on the Unity Candle table. 

The beautiful flowers flank the Unity Candle table. 

The comfortable lobby of the hotel.

The water feature.

Raleigh people remember this as the Brownstone Hotel which it was for many, many years. A few years ago Hilton bought it and transformed it into the Doubltree by Hilton. They have done a nice job. The hotel is on Hillsborough Street right down from NC State and close in to downtown Raleigh. 

Callie on the left is with the hotel. Eric and I are talking with her about how things were going. 

It was time to light the floating candles but no one could locate a torch-lighter. It is impossible to light floating candles with a cigarette lighter they soon found out! Having had this happen before, I always carry a torch-lighter in my car so I dashed out to the parking lot and got that plus another stick candle lighter and gave one to the staff while I lit the Unity Candle votive.

Staff member returning the stick lighter to me. Sure does come in handy! There is nowhere in downtown Raleigh to buy a torch lighter--no convenient stores, department stores, and the drug store closes early.

So now that the candles are lit, we are ready! 

Leslie's family had brought an iPad to stream the wedding to her grandparents who could not come.

And so it was set up on a table in the back of the room. 

We are getting all lined up now! 

Cassie in action! 

Eric comes over to check and see if we are ready. The order of the processional was changed the morning of the wedding and so we needed to coordinate the music too.

JJ is our director and also sister of the groom! She was definitely a take charge person and good to have direct.  I am pointing out to her that there are many chairs in the front that are empty and could she ask people sitting in the back to move forward? She did. There were Reserved signs in the closer seats that should not have been reserved.

Lemont, our best man, on the left, seems to be deep in thought as Leslie's brother, Lewis, is getting his attention. 

After the groomsmen and I entered, Pablo was escorted in by his parents and they lit his candle and were seated. Then the bride's parents entered and lit her candle and her dad returned to bring in Leslie. Then the bridesmaids entered one at the time.

Then Lizbeth our flower girl entered. 

Time for our beautiful bride and her proud papa! 

They turn the corner and float down the aisle.

As I was welcoming the guests a tear slipped out of Leslie's eye and Pablo reached over and wiped it away with his finger. Time to get out my hankie!

I asked the guests to join me in prayer then we remembered those who could not be with us. 

Then I stepped out from behind the couple to address their parents and pay tribute to them for their love and support of their children who were joining in marriage this day.

The iPad is getting it all! 

Then it was time for their story! It was filled with laughter and tears! 

And a little bit more laughter!

Then I stepped back into place behind them and revealed their secret paragraphs to them. Sweetness and even more laughter!

At this point, I pulled out a second hankie and handed it to Pablo as I said to the guests: "This is a two-hankie wedding!"

They made their vows to each other and sealed them with their rings. 

We stepped back and they lit their Unity Candle. 

"Time to check noses because the kiss is coming up right after the pronouncement of marriage!" 

Yes, their first kiss as husband and wife!

So happy to be married!!

I make my way back to the DJ table to give Eric the body pack then head out to the front of the hotel to catch a photo with the couple before Cassie takes them somewhere else for more photos.

They were so thrilled with the ceremony! 

Congrats, Leslie and Pablo. What a great wedding for a great couple! I wish you the best always.