Dean Plantation Hosts Fabulous Wedding of Megan and Brad!

Megan and Brad had a wonderful wedding. Here is what Megan wrote to me after the wedding: "I cannot begin to say thank you for EVERYTHING you did for us to make our day so special :)  My goal was to have a very personalized wedding ceremony and my DREAM came true! :)  Everyone the entire night and still yesterday were talking about how wonderful the ceremony was and how amazing you were!  I am so grateful to have connected with you and thank you for taking the time to make the ceremony so personal :)  One mom told me that she had 3 three daughters get married and she didn't cry near as much at their weddings as she did ours - she was so touched!" And, amazingly enough the parents of three daughters, Lisa and Mark, for all three of whom I was the officiant, were there, although I know they cried at their daughters' weddings so this mom could not possibly be Lisa.

Megan and Brad's wedding was October 26, 2013 at Dean's Plantation in Zebulon. This was my first wedding at this fairly new and not often discovered horse farm where they train horses that compete in the big races. The property is simply gorgeous and so beautifully maintained. Anna Dean, daughter of the owners, manages the weddings and serves as wedding director. She was a lot of fun to work with and knew the ropes!

When Dave and I arrived on the day of the wedding, there was the Meg and Brad sign at the driveway into the farm and the owner was greeting guests and pointing them in the right direction. They had even put bows on the horse statues in the gateway!

The racing track is in the background. 

The reception was held in a building that was constructed to be a horse stable but never occupied by horses but the posts are there for individual stalls if they ever revert to stabling horses there. Everyone was busy getting ready. The Fire Pitt BBQ and Smokehouse in Wake Forest catered. Gorden with Anything Music was our DJ and Jeff and Carolyn of Pauk Photography captured the photos.

A fiddler provided ceremony music but I did not get his name.

Megan wanted a really different and unique "unity" ceremony and she found one on line where the couple paint a heart on a canvas using different color paint. I was excited to do something new and different and came up with the wording which worked out quite well. There was a bit of wind and there was some difficulty keeping the canvas upright. I think next time, I will borrow my daughter's heavy duty easel with clamps!

It was time to begin and Anna began cueing us down the aisle. Brad and I entered after the parents.

Anna holding the bridesmaids back until it was time for them to enter and take their places.

Our bridesmaids are in place and now the sweet little flower girl, Maddie, took her time sprinkling fall leaves down the aisle. It is a very long aisle!

Then our ring bearer entered, rather reluctantly until he got the hang of it! 

Megan's father, Bob, helps her out of this bright red Chevy Camaro!

And so we begin! Back in November of 2010, Megan and Brad met at a gathering of friends when neither of them thought they were ready for a relationship much less expecting to meet their soulmate. Brad can be a man of few words so he loved Megan's gift of gab although she was afraid she had put him off with her talkativeness! They hugged  each other upon leaving the gathering and that wonderful hug from Brad clenched it for Megan. They messaged through Facebook and went on their first official date in December of 2010 and since then they have been inseparable. Brad proposed on a starry night in December of 2012 and they began planning their wonderful wedding with great enthusiasm. I met them in February and found them to be such a good match and a delightful couple so full of love.

They exchanged secret vows and rings then it was time to paint!

I held the canvas steady while they filled in the outline of the heart with their two colors.

 Here is the finished painting. They plan to frame it and hang it in their home.

 I pronounce you husband and wife! 

Brad and Megan, congratulations! I know you are enjoying wedded bliss and can pat yourselves on the back for a great wedding. All your diligence and hard work really paid off! I wish you all the happiness in the world!

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Kate and Steve's Wonderful Family Wedding at Second Empire!

Kate and I made all the arrangements for their sweet family wedding at Second Empire on Saturday October 8, 2011 by email so I did not meet them in person until their wedding day. She and Steve wanted to include Kate's daughters, Kailynn and Clara, and Steve's sons, Elijah and Aiden, in the ceremony who would officially become one big family that day. The couple's parents would be present as well. So, I wrote a special ceremony for them which they reviewed and made the changes they wanted. I love the intimacy of weddings at Second Empire, a stately  historic mansion which has been renovated into an upscale restaurant and event venue in downtown Raleigh. I do many weddings there each year and Tracey, the wedding/events coordinator, is always on the ball and everything is ready when I get there. It is a beautiful and elegant setting for small weddings of usually up to 40 guests and they could probably accommodate more if needed. This particular day there were two weddings--ours at 12:30 and another one at 4:00.

Kate found this pretty glass container for the family unity sand ceremony with sand for the bride and groom and the four children.

The atrium downstairs at Second Empire is a bright and airy space for the reception. The pastry chef there bakes beautiful wedding cakes but they keep them refrigerated until it is time for the reception so I don't have a photo to show you.

Ed with Arioso Strings provided the music for the ceremony. Ed and I work together a lot. Sometimes he is solo like today and other times he is one of a guitar and violin duo. It is a joy working with the musicians that Mary Page Block, the superbly organized owner of Arioso Strings, provides for weddings.They are always on time, organized, know the music and their musical ability is unsurpassed. I can always count on them.

The children are all ready and bursting with excitement about the wedding and their new family status!  They cannot wait to get started on the ceremony. 

The couple's friend, Gloria, was the perfect director for the wedding. She was very organized and had us all lined up and ready to walk in on cue. Thanks, Gloria! Their photographer was Tonya Mae Photography and the flowers were furnished by The Flower Cupboard.

 

"Now today, we witness the marriage of not only two individuals, but also that of a family who has been so fortunate to find one another, to enjoy one another and to love one another, now and always." 

Kate's mother, Maxine, shared with us a reading from "The Oyster Bed" section of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book Gift from the Sea. She put in her own special touch for our couple based on her own marriage of 39 years. Thanks, Maxine!

Kate and Steve, may all your dreams come true and may you find much happiness and love in your new marriage! I wish you all the best life can offer!