A Beautiful Wedding for Jessica and Bart at The Sutherland!

When Marty and I arrived on Saturday, April 9, 2011 for Jessica and Bart's wedding at The Sutherland, an elegant restored eighteenth century estate in Wake Forest, the tent for the reception was all set up. The Japanese type green lanterns look so festive!

Their wooden box with the bottle of wine, two wine glasses and their sealed love letters were in place for the ceremony.  During the ceremony they lock it and unlock it on their first anniversary. This has gotten to be quite a popular custom in weddings these days. This particular wooden box can be ordered on line and can be monogrammed too.

Sean Spollen is a friend of Bart's and he provided the music for the ceremony. I believe he and Bart play in the same band. We are going over the cues for music here before the ceremony. A couple I married on January 3, 2009 were guests at the ceremony--Kerry and Gerritt--and came up to greet me after the ceremony. Turns out that Gerritt and Bart are also in the same band and he was providing the reception music. I am often pleasantly surprised at weddings to see some of my wedding couples there and I always love it when they speak to me before or after the ceremony. I may not always remember their names on short notice but I sure recognize them!

The Walled Garden was all set up for the ceremony. The weather was overcast and it looked like rain although the forecast did not call for rain. On the other hand, this kind of weather makes the photographs spectacular--no shadows, no squinting in the sun, and the colors are super saturated. Our capable photographer was Jason Arthurs. I am looking forward to seeing his photos of this wedding because I love his photos on his website.

Waiting inside the house were the attendants including one of our sweet little flower girls, Grace, and her mother (Bart's sister), Jessica.

Ashley of Ashley Cakes was on hand putting the finishing touches on this gorgeous wedding cake!

 

After the rest of the wedding party processed in, it was time for the little ones. Grace was so adorable toddling down the aisle with the help of  our Junior Groomsman, Mason (Bart's nephew).

Then it was time for Kassidy and Kolby. Kassidy is a friend of Jessica's and Kolby is another nephew of Bart's. They did so well and I know their parents were so proud.

Now Jessica's dad, Bud, proudly escorts his beautiful daughter down the aisle. Ashlee Adams, one of the owners of The Sutherland and our wedding director, is straightening Jessica's train.

And here they come while the guests stand in the bride's honor! In the background you can see Jennifer Jones, Ashlee's assistant who helped her cue in the wedding party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It started sprinkling rain just as the wedding party was recessing out. It was barely raining so we took a few shots in the garden after the guests went to the reception. Jessica and Bart, what a wonderful wedding you had. I know you are so happy to finally be married after 12  years of knowing each other.  I wish you love, peace and joy always!

Vote for Me!

The Independent is having their "Best of Triangle 2011" survey right now and there is now a category for "Best Blog." So if you like this blog and would like for it to be considered the best blog in the Triangle, go to  their website, register, then fill in at least 20 blocks with your favorites including the Best Blog block with "Raleigh Wedding Blog." Thanks! Oh, and since you are completing blocks, maybe you would like to help my daughter, Andrea Campoli, win as Best Bartender, Wake County, at Piper's Tavern. She came in second last year! Thanks again! Survey ends April 15th at 4:00 AM so don't delay.

Beautiful Wedding Day for Melissa and Jeff at Duke Gardens Amphitheater!

 

Melissa and Jeff's wedding day, Sunday April 3, 2011, at Duke Gardens amphitheater turned out to be a beautiful day although the forecast the week prior looked pretty gloomy and I know Mary Page Block of Arioso Strings was worried about the weather too. Stringed instruments can be ruined if exposed to damp weather. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the weather turned out so nice. 

When Marty and I arrived for the wedding, the musicians were getting set up and the florist, Becky with Tre Bella, had put out the simple but elegant florals for the ceremony. There were pussy willow branches in one container and in the other containers were white flowers and floating candles with rocks in the bottom. The least little breeze can topple top heavy floral arrangements so these were perfect. The amphitheater had undergone quite a transformation since I was there last fall. Gone was the small redwood gazebo. The entire area behind the amphitheater had been turned into a beautiful garden with pathways.  The water lilies had not been added to the pond though--maybe it was too early. Still, it was a gorgeous setting for a wedding. 

 

This was the third wedding in a row that Arioso Strings provided the ceremony music for my weddings! The first was a duet of guitar and violin, then a solo violinist, and this wedding featured a string trio composed of Mary Page Block, David Oh, and Rebecca Carlson.  Mary, the founder and owner of Arioso Strings, brings her camera to snap some pictures for her blog. 

 

Inside the Doris Duke Center the tables were set for the reception and Cinda's Creative Cakes had been there and set up this gorgeous cake. The icing really looks like fabric! Steve Stowe with Joe Bunn DJ Company was there setting up his equipment to provide the music for the reception. 

When it was time to begin, Katie Dunn of La Fete, lined us all up, waved to the musicians to begin the processional music then cued us all in. Melissa and Jeff live in California and planned this wedding from afar. In fact, I met them for the first time face to face at the rehearsal. I was so happy that they hired Katie to be their "day of director." She did a great job of keeping everything organized and flowing along with the help of her sister, Rebecca Dunn. Thanks, Katie and Rebecca!

 At last it was time for our beautiful bride to enter with her father.

 All the guests were standing for the birde's arrival.

You can see that the sun was behind us lighting up Melissa's veil like angel wings! The poor guests were looking directly into the sun until it dipped a bit lower during the ceremony.

 

 

 

 

Melissa teared up a bit during the ceremony and I handed her a hankie, then her maid of honor handed her a tissue, and Jeff was in charge of keeping them in his pocket and retrieving them as needed. Jeff, you did a good job!  Instead of having their story in the ceremony, they opted to have me read a moving original poem entitled "The Wedding Prayer" written by Melissa's childhood pastor in Chicago, Rev. Charles Emery.

Robin Lin was their photographer. She is getting a good shot here of the couple recessing. She has posted a fabulous photo of the couple after the wedding on her blog. See it HERE!

They look so happy that they are finally married after many years together. They met their first year of law school at Duke in 2006 and wanted to marry here for sentimental reasons. Jeff's family traveled to North Caronlina from Canada and Melissa's from Illinois. Their guests came from all over the country.

Congratulations and best wishes, Jeff and Melissa!

Caitie and Charley Get Married at St. Mark's Chapel!

 

St. Mark's Chapel is a historic rustic chapel built in 1847 and is located on the campus of the Mordecai House in downtown Raleigh. It is the sweetest little chapel and the acoustics are amazing. The maximum capacity is 55 people. The photo above of Caitie and Charley at the Mordecai House was sent to me by Michelle Gunton, our photographer for the day. It was taken after the wedding, of course! 

Before the wedding, Charley was outside the chapel greeting the guests. The wedding day was April 2, 2011 at 4:00 PM. The rains had stopped and although it was quite breezy, it was a pretty day. 

Charley and Caitie had not wanted a formal wedding and thought they would just go to the courthouse and get married or go on a destination type wedding. But, Caitie's mother, Mary, really wanted them to have a real wedding so that at least the family and close friends could be there and celebrate. Caitie and Charley reluctantly agreed and found St. Mark's Chapel. Then Mary contacted me. I was happy that I was available to officiate and they hired me without ever meeting with me. Turns out that my daughter and Caitie went to high school together, something we did not realize until much later into the process of creating their ceremony. Yes, the connection was made via Facebook! 

Caitie and Charley really began to get excited about their wedding when we started working on their special ceremony. They, like many other couples, just assumed the ceremony would be pretty standard, cut and dried, and impersonal. Just something to get over with! But after reading the sample ceremonies I sent them and realizing the possibility of having theirs be very personal and to their liking, their excitement about their wedding was definitely sparked. They answered some questions for me about themselves and their relationship and I fashioned a story for them. Since both of their parents are together, that gave us a great opportunity to really honor them too during the ceremony. I met Charley and Caitie for the first time face to face at the rehearsal the day before. Of course I had followed them on Facebook too and they had followed this blog and my website, so we really were not strangers!

There were lots of cute kids attending. I believe most of them were nieces and nephews of Charley!

Mike Danchi, superb violinist from Arioso Strings, entertained all the guests before the ceremony started with gorgeous music. 

This is Jenny, Caitie's equally beautiful sister, and Maid of Honor. Their father, Lon, escorted her to the chapel from the old Post Office building where the brides get ready and wait until it is time to walk down the aisle.

Now it is time for the bride to get in place for her entrance and walk down the aisle with her father.

In the two photos above I am thanking the parents of the couple. Charley's parents have been married 40 years and Caitie's 38 years. The parents decided to swap sides they sat on so that the groom's parents could see the groom's face and the bride's parents, her face. Otherwise, the traditional seating only allows the parents to see the back of their child during the ceremony.

 

And now we come to the couple's story and theirs was a good one with lots of humor.  Everyone seemed to enjoy hearing about all the near misses they had before they finally got together and discovered how wonderful each other was! I thank Michelle for sending me the black and white photo above.

Both Caitie and Charley have "Mc" in their last names so I suggested they do the Celtic handfasting ceremony and they loved the idea and the ritual.

 

Then we came to the ring exchange. I ask the bride and groom to join left hands so they will be holding the hand they put the ring on--less chance of putting the ring on the wrong finger. However, this is a challenge for left-handed people because they have to use their right hands to put the ring on the left finger! Both Charley and Caitie are lefties so I had them practice ahead of time and they did just fine!

They also included the sand ceremony and Charley is at a disadvantage here that I did not even think of because he has to pour with his right hand! Sorry, Charley! Wonder if their kids will be left-handed.

 

 

It is all over now! They are married! (I saw where Caitie posted on Facebook during her reception at Solas that she was now married.)

After the couple and parents exited, Michelle and I rounded up all the guests and got them assembled for the group picture.

Caitie and Charley, it was such a wonderful experience working with you and getting to know you and officiating your wonderful wedding! I know that you will be so happy and contented to be married to each other and have a long sweet marriage like your parents. 

What a great shot, Michelle! You can see more wedding photos of Charley and Caitie on Michelle's Blog.