Melissa and Chris Marry at 111 Place in Cary!

Once more this weekend, the rain stayed away! Chris and Melissa were thrilled that their wedding was able to be held outside in the courtyard of 111 Place on Sunday September 20th. When it was time, we got started escorting in the mothers of the couple. Then Chris and I entered followed by the best man and groomsman. Here you can see the set up of the photographer, David Gann, and his assistant. In the background you can see the maid of honor and bridesmaid being cued in by a friend of the couple, Rebecca, who served as our director.

Here comes our beautiful bride being escorted in by her proud papa! Her bouquet of red roses is stunning!

We had to be careful not to get too close to the lovely pots of flowers on the terrace because they were buzzing with bumblebees! We had plenty of room though.

Melissa and Chris chose to have the Blessing of the Hands ceremony in their wedding. We also had a blessing for their parents and both mothers and maybe the fathers teared up a bit.

The happy couple, now married!

Chris and Melissa, all your careful planning paid off with a beautiful wedding! Congratulations and I wish you all the best in life!

Our Vendors:

David Gann of David Gann Photography was taking the wedding photos. He brought along his ladder to get some "aerial" shots!

This lovely wedding cake with the couple's names on the clear heart above was created by Good Taste Cake Design in Durham.

The Picnic Basket provided the delicious food for the reception.




Amy Kortus graced us with heavenly harp music for the ceremony. Amy told me that she and her family (husband and 3 small children) moved to the Raleigh area from Seattle a year ago. She loves playing at weddings. If you go to her website, you can hear how beautifully she plays her lovely harp.

Jamelle and Brian's Fabulous Wedding at Fearrington!

Jamelle and Brian were married on September 19, 2009 at the Fearrington Country Inn at the Willow Oaks site. The wedding started promptly at 5:30 and even after the bride had entered, more and more guests were coming in and the staff was putting out more and more chairs.

Jamelle and Brian chose to limit their attendants to one each--the Matron of Honor and the Best Man. To honor their special friends who were not part of the wedding party, they had them process in as a group and sit in the second row on each side just before the parents of the couple were ushered in. After the wedding party and I entered, the flower girls, Maddie and Josie, made their entrance. They were so cute. Josie started dropping her petals way back before the chairs but she still had enough to sprinkle down the whole aisle. They got to sit down after the bride was presented.

After the wedding party processed in, Jamelle's dad, Ron, escorted her in. She was wearing the most beautiful wedding gown. It looked vintage but she told me it was new, made to look vintage. It had the softest tulle panels inset at the bottom and trailing behind her. She looked absolutely radiant!

Jamelle and Brian told me that they had been to a wedding recently in which the officiant moved around during the ceremony and addressed the guests from a closer vantage point than from behind the couple and they liked that. So, I was most happy to do that for them. I actually like getting closer to and speaking directly to the guests during the welcome and the parents blessing.

I went to each side and welcomed the guests, paid tribute to the parents of the couple, and presented the two readings. The first one was an excerpt from Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres--a terrific reading for the wedding day. The second one was the lyrics from "Anniversary Song" by Michael Timmons.

See the size of this crowd? I know there were over 200 guests there. Weddings at Fearrington are such elegant events, everyone invited wants to be there!

Jamelle and Brian wrote one of the deepest, meaningful wedding ceremonies I have ever delivered. I was delighted to impart their beliefs and feelings about love and marriage to their family and friends. Here I am making the pronouncement of marriage.

The newlywed couple strides down the aisle so happy to be married! Notice the bride's blue shoes! They were blue suede and represented the custom of "something blue."

The "deed was done" and it was time to have some fun. The guests were sent on to the Barn for the reception while the wedding party took some photos. We were all so thankful that it did not rain for the wedding. Rain was forecast but it ended up just being overcast and comfortably cool. Jamelle and Brian, my heartfelt congratulations to you. I know you will have a long and happy marriage!

Our Vendors:

First of all I want to thank Cheryl, our wedding director with Fearrington. She did such a great job organizing everyone and making sure everything went like clockwork. The coordination of her staff is amazing. The catering and wedding cake were all provided by the staff of Fearrington as well as all the floral arrangements.

This is Brian Smith and Risa Patterson of the band The.Design that was playing for the reception. For the ceremony music they set up a speaker and keyboard for Risa to play the musical selections of the couple. She did a great job. Brian told me that their band was formerly known as Sugar.

The photographer for the wedding was Mike with Missy McLamb Photography.

A Sweet and Joyful Wedding on the Terrace at The Umstead!

Out of all the people in the world, Rose and Knight were blessed with the good fortune of finding one another to share their love and their lives. Rose and Knight are a wonderful couple. Both of them were widowed and never dreamed they would find each other. They both felt that life has handed them an unexpected and miraculous chance for happiness, and they are devoted to fulfilling the promise of that chance. I was honored to be a part of their special day on September 19th, surrounded by their family and friends. Rose's father, Vince, is on the far left, her Matron of Honor is her good friend, Stephanie. Knight's son, Kevin, and his daughter, Christie, stood beside him.

"Knight, this ring is a symbol of my love. With it I take a piece of my heart and place it into yours. May it encircle our spirits and bind us together forever."

Rose, you may kiss your husband!!

"May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another." Congratulations, Rose and Knight!

Our Vendors:

First of all, The Umstead, is one of the most elegant and wonderful places you can get married in Raleigh. Ami Wheeler handles all the arrangements for you and she will do just about anything needed to ensure you have the wedding of your dreams! Thanks, Ami. This was a really sweet wedding.

Donna Ford of Sweet Memories Bakery provided the pretty wedding cake.










Mary Page Block of Arioso Strings provided our wonderful music.









I love working with Mary Page! Here we are conferring before the ceremony deciding how we would get the couple and wedding party into place and with what music.






Steve Humbert was our photographer. He is going to send me some more photos so I may update this post once I get them! Thanks, Steve.

Abigail and Jason's Wedding at Duke Gardens Amphitheater!

Abigail and Jason are a well-matched young couple and I was honored to officiate their wedding. They are both so sweet-natured and knew just what they wanted in their ceremony. Their careful planning delivered their vision on their wedding day September 18th. The forecast for rain was upon us but we took the chance and set up outside in the beautiful amphitheater and did not see even one drop of rain! Here Abigail is escorted in by her father, John.

Jason's lovely little sister, Jessica, presented a reading from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. She did a really good job delivering this with feeling. Thanks, Jessica. This was the first wedding I have done since I got my new wireless handheld microphone and it worked very nicely.

Jason and Abigail chose to have their best friends, Joanna and Justin, serve as Maid of Honor and Best Man.

Here is the pronouncement of marriage! (Jason reminds me so much of the actor, Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in Lord of the Rings! Can't you see the resemblance?)

Jason and Abigail disappeared into a secret garden right after the wedding for a few moments of private time while the guests were invited to the reception in the visitor's center. We then took photos of the wedding party and their families.

Congratulations, Abigail and Jason! I wish you many many years of wedded bliss!

Our Vendors:

Stacy Borelli of Swank Photo & Studio was our photographer for the day. Her assistant, Kristin, was so moved by the words of the ceremony that she asked for my card to give her brother who is getting married next year.

Molly Olah and Strings provided the beautiful music for the ceremony. They were stashed over in the gazebo across the way from the ceremony.






Cinda's Creative Cakes provided this adorable and sassy wedding cake!

Premiere Catering was in charge of the food and refreshments. You can always count on them to provide a wonderful spread! Gail Stephenson dropped by the rehearsal the day before to make sure we were all on the same page should we have to move the ceremony indoors due to inclement weather. Thanks, Gail. We are glad we did not have to use Plan B!




Ross Merle of JustMusicDJ was our DJ for the reception. It is always fun to see Ross again. We work together often as you can see in my blog and he is one of my very favorite DJs. Here Ross is clowning around for the camera before the ceremony!

Linda and Jared's Wedding at the Preston-Woodall House!

Weddings at the Preston-Woodall House are always wonderful! Although it is 42 miles from my house to theirs, it is a trip well worth it. Linda and Jared's wedding on Sunday September 13th was no exception. Linda and Jared were referred to me by Reta Kohari of French 75 Events wedding planning services. Reta and her daughter, Meredith, knew that I welcome couples who want to be an integral part of writing their own ceremony so that it fits their beliefs and feelings. When Linda and Jared decided on their venue and their wedding date of September 13th, we met and got started on their ceremony.

Linda's dad, Lee, brings our beautiful bride down the aisle where Jared is waiting at the bottom of the steps to take them up to a "higher level" for the wedding ceremony!

Jared and Linda love children and want to have their own soon! You can see that there are children of their friends in the ceremony and there were quite a few in the audience as well. At this point in the ceremony, Samantha, our flower girl, is being held by her father Rich, our best man. When she got fussy and the novelty of being in front of all those people wore off, her mom, Barb, the last bridesmaid on the left had to retrieve her and take her to someone in the audience. Sam's brother, Nick, our ring bearer, was so good. He stood there next to his dad like a champ the whole ceremony.

Jared and Linda barely took their eyes off each other during the whole ceremony! They wrote secret vows to each other that they heard for the first time on their wedding day. Another element that they wanted on their wedding day was Blessing Stones. They have an affinity for rocks and stones and this tradition spoke to their hearts. Each guest was given a stone to hold during the ceremonyto infuse a blessing for the couple then placed the stones in a bowl as they exited the ceremony to be displayed in the couple's home.

Bianca gets a good shot at the now married couple!

Congratulations, Linda and Jared. Have a great trip to Disney World and let me know when you start your family and we will do a baby blessing ceremony!

This cake by Sweet Memories was made to represent a rafting trip the couple went on! How clever.

Linda followed a fall theme throughout. The table decorations were so attactive!

Our Vendors:

French 75 Events. Reta and Meredith, thanks so much for sending Linda and Jared to me! It was a pleasure working with you again. I know I can count on you to be easy to work with, thorough and cover all the details!

Matt Kanon provided wonderful classical guitar music for the ceremony. Thanks, Matt. It was good to see you again at the Preston-Woodall House.

Bianca and Seth of A Moment Like This were our photographer and videographer. Their work is super!

One of my favorite DJs, Lenny Fritts, was doing the reception. It was good to see him at the wedding.

Denise Hutter was there behind the scenes doing the make-up for the bride. She is so good. Check out her website: Images by Denise.