Laurie Said Yes to the Dress and Married Matt at The Oaks at Salem!

It was November 2011, the wedding was January 15, 2012 at The Oaks at Salem and Laurie and Matt did not have an officiant, the one required wedding vendor! So, a co-worker of Laurie's recommended that they call me since I had married her and her husband several years ago. We met on November 16th and hit it off. They booked me as their officiant and we began to work on their ceremony. They knew for sure they wanted to recognize Matt's 9 year old son in the ceremony so we put in the Family Unity Sand Ceremony. They also wanted to include the story of how they met and fell in love and what they love about each other and why they wanted to marry. Seems that they were both out one night in November of 2009 at a sports bar enjoying themselves when they struck up a conversation. Matt loved Laurie's bright smile and beautiful hair. She was impressed with Matt's sweet disposition and friendly smile. They exchanged numbers and Matt did not waste anytime following up. It did not take them long to discover that they really liked being together and soon became a couple. I asked them individually to tell me what they loved about their partner and why they wanted to marry him or her. Their answers were included in the ceremony giving it such a sweet touch. From what they told me about why they wanted to marry each other, it was obvious that they are very much in love.

So, on January 15th, a bright clear Sunday afternoon, too chilly to have an outdoor wedding, a tent had been erected on the patio of The Oaks at Salem. It is a gorgeous venue and probably the newest in the Triangle. The proprietor, April Maness, has done a wonderful job designing the house for weddings.

 

Marty and I parked the car and snuck in through the garage and downstairs. On the way we saw this beautiful wedding cake and matching cupcakes by Stick Boy Bakery in Fuquay. Jeff Eisenhuth with At Last Weddings and Events is also associated with Catering by Design and was catering this wedding. He has been in the wedding business for over 25 years. It was good to see him there.

Joe Wells with Top Notch Entertainment and DJ Services was setting up and he graciously plugged my wireless microphone into his system and we did a sound check. Thanks, Joe, it was a pleasure to work with you!

While I was waiting for the guests to be seated, this perky little videographer rushed in and introduced herself as Jill with TLC filming the wedding for the show "Say Yes to the Dress!" I was floored. I had no idea that Laurie had flown to NYC with her mother and friends to Kleinfeld's to buy her dress and was chosen to be on the show. How exciting! I watch the show all the time. I can't wait to see how easy or how difficult it was for Laurie to select her beautiful wedding gown. It was perfect for her and you could tell she felt like a princess in it! I have been on national television before (Heba and Ed, one of my wedding couples used wedding photos with me in them when they were on The Biggest Loser show.) So, I asked Jill if she needed for me to sign a release and she produced one after the wedding for me to sign. I sure hope this wedding makes it through the editing process and will be on the show. They don't show the wedding of every bride who gets her dress at Kleinfeld's. 

When it was time to begin and the mothers had been seated, we entered. The heaters had been turned off so that the sound would be better for the ceremony.

Matt's father, Sam, was his best man, followed by his friend Eddie, then taking up the rear was Sammy, Matt's son.

After the bridesmaids entered, Laurie was ushered in by her cousin David since her father has passed away.

You can see that the guests were seated at their tables while the families sat in chairs on the dance floor. The tent was beautiful and the backdrop of the lake was very special.

Laurie's friend, Trish, did a wonderful job of presenting "I Like You," a humorous poem by Sandol Stoddard Warburg.

Isn't her dress gorgeous? And the bride is too. Laurie was quite emotional and I could see tears starting as she walked toward us down the aisle. Eventually tears started leaking out of Matt's eyes and I was glad I had two hankies with me! 

They read their beautiful vows to each other from my book. 

Then it was time to exchange rings with these words: "I place this ring on your finger and my heart in your hand. I have no greater gift."

I think Sammy enjoyed pouring his sand! He was such a well behaved little boy! 

Finally Laurie is smiling as I made the pronouncement of marriage. 

That is Jill on the right, capturing the just married couple for TLC. Carrie Richardson Fry with Richardson Fry Photography was doing the still photos and Janice with Big Dog Little Bed Productions was the local videographer. Exquisite Occasions out of Roanoke Rapids furnished the flowers. The owner, David Dickens, is a friend of the couple and he also served as wedding director.

Right after the wedding, after all the guests were invited to go upstairs for refreshments and to warm up, Matt and Laurie were interviewed and videoed by Jill for TLC. Then we took our photos of the happy couple. I love that smile of yours, Laurie! I know you are both so happy and now on your honeymoon! Do let me know when your episode of Say Yes to the Dress airs!

Christmas Eve Eve Wedding for Jennifer and Mark!

While on a business trip in California, Jennifer's mother, Judy, contacted me on December 13 about officiating for her daughter Jennifer who was marrying her sweetheart Mark on December 23, 2011 at her home in North Raleigh. She was referred to me by Greg Lewis of Catering by Design. Thanks, Greg! (I so appreciate the vendors who send couples to me. Met with a couple this week who were referred by a musician I work with.)

So, Judy and I worked out the logistics of booking the wedding and then I contacted Jennifer and Mark for details about their wedding ceremony. They wanted to remember those not able to be with us, thank Judy for her love and support, and include their baby daughter, Leila, in the ceremony. I sent them a proposed ceremony and they took it from there, making it just what they wanted and that is what is so important!

The big day arrived and Marty and I finally found our way to Judy's house. The roads in that area of Falls of Neuse up near the dam have totally been rerouted and my GPS got all confused! The day was so beautiful, a sunny bright day in the high 60s, so nice we could have done the wedding outside but all the preparations had been done inside Judy's beautiful home.

The sand ceremony was set up and ready. 

 

Leila is not walking solo yet but she loves to push her little cart which Jen had filled with beautiful flowers so that she could be our flower girl! She was so adorable pushing the cart into the living room!

Of course, watching strangers take pictures is a lot more interesting than watching Mommy and Daddy get married!

Jennifer was so beautiful in her gorgeous wedding gown and Mark was all dressed up and handsome too. They were planning a big party that evening to celebrate and Greg was catering.

Judy is holding not only the bride's bouquet but also the flower girl and really was fulfilling the role of Matron of Honor!

They poured their own sand, brown and white, and added Leila's which was a pretty shiny gold sand.

 The finished container leaves plenty of room to add more sand for future children they hope to have.

I wondered why  Jen avoided looking at Mark during the ceremony. Then I found out after the ceremony she was afraid that if she did, she would cry. Here's a photo where she peeked!

 

I made them kiss 3 times so we could get a photo and although blurry, this is the best of the three!

Hah! Married at last! Breathing a sigh of relief and happiness! 

It's celebration time!! Congratulations, Jen and Mark! It was my honor to marry you to each other and be a part of your special day. Call me when you have another baby and we can add another layer to that vase of sand! Merry Christmas to you all!

Kerry and Joe's Wonderful Rainy Wedding Day!

Over a year ago in March of 2010, I met with Kerry and Joe to plan their wedding ceremony for May 14, 2011 at 5:00 at The Sutherland in Wake Forest. One of the great advantages to having your wedding at The Sutherland is that you can choose which of several areas to have the ceremony and the reception and in the event of adverse weather, tents are available for any of the locations. We usually have the ceremony in the Walled Garden and the cocktail hour on the Groom's Terrace with the reception in an adjacent large tent. At the rehearsal the day before, the tent erectors were busy putting together the tent above in the walled garden. When Marty and I arrived on the wedding day it was all set up and the tables looked so pretty. It was not raining at that point.

The beautiful wedding cake was by Swank Cake Design. It was kept safely in the house until time for the reception so the humidity did not ruin it.You can't see it in this photo but hanging above the cake was a large stag deer head that appeared to be keeping watch over it!

Our fine musicians have become buddies of mine: Craig Hanemann (violin) and Ed Stephenson (guitar) with Arioso Strings. I think we have done 5 weddings together so far just this year! They are great and play so well together.

Right before the ceremony was to begin the rain began in earnest. Thankfully there was not much of a gap between the tent and the house and only a few drips, hence the black rubber mats on the steps to prevent slipping. My good buddy, Lenny Fritts, was their DJ (Touch of Class DJ) and on hand early to set up his main unit on the back porch adjacent to the reception tent and a mobile unit in the ceremony location to plug my microphone into. Lenny is always a great help to me and all the vendors at weddings. He has done so many weddings he can see any mishaps coming and avert them. He helped Ashlee Adams (one of the owners of The Sutherland) round up and lay out rubber mats to make the transition from the house to the tent dry for the wedding party processional. And, he helped Ashlee get everyone lined up for the processional. At one point during the prelude music, a fuse got tripped and he knew right where the breaker box was and quickly turned the power back on..

Time for Joe and I to start walking down the L-shaped aisle.Kerry and Joe switched things up a bit and planned their ceremony on the Groom's Terrace and the reception in the Walled Garden which turned out to be a great decision as we did have very adverse weather that late afternoon.

Our two bridesmaids, sisters of the bride, processed in with the groomsmen. 

Then it was Lizzie's turn. She did so well! Don't you love the bright yellow dresses? We had sunshine despite the rain!

 

 Notice the background does not even look like it is raining.

 

Note the background of this photo and how dark it had gotten. In fact, the rain became so heavy and thunderous during the ceremony that I could not hear myself speaking and I knew the guests could not hear me despite the microphone/speakers being turned up to maximum volume. So, I decided to pause and wait it out. Joe and Kerry's love story was just too good for the guests not to hear. I have never paused a ceremony that long--I did not time it but it must have been at least 5 minutes. The other few occasions I have paused  during a ceremony were once or twice for a train passing close by and another time for a helicopter flying low overhead. Those things pass quickly but the rain on this afternoon was pummeling. When the rain abated a bit, the guests really enjoyed hearing how Kerry fell for Joe's car before she fell in love with Joe!

 

 They exchanged their vows then their rings.

We all remained dry and toasty although the sand in the sand ceremony did get a bit damp to the extent that Joe and Kerry had to thump the bottom of the containers like a ketchup bottle to get the sand to pour out! That was funny!

Finally time for the pronouncement and kiss!

And the ceremony is over as Kerry and Joe walk into their new life as a married couple. Our photographer for the wedding was Megan Kime of Megan Kime Photography. Always love working with Megan. I will be looking for some of her photos of this wedding on her blog. Catering by Design was the caterer and the food sure smelled appetizing as Marty and I left to go home after the picture taking.

Kerry and Joe, you planned a fine wedding and despite the rain it was beautiful and truly a day you will never forget! I wish you all the love and happiness in the world!