Bill Surprises Diana with a Wedding At Regency Park!

Bill sent me an email on 12/21 wanting to know if I could officiate his wedding to Diana on 12/30/11. I wrote back and said that I was available but then did not hear from him for a day or two. Because he has a Yahoo email address and my responses run into problems getting through Yahoo's spam filter, I gave him a call. Turned out he was planning to surprise his bride by staging a wedding at the place where, as he put it, their hearts first joined. I knew then and there that Bill was a pretty romantic guy! The place was the Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park in Cary. Since I love being a part of creative weddings I was happy to participate in pulling off this surprise wedding. He told me that they were going to get their license a few says before and for all she knew the plan was to go to the courthouse that Friday morning to get married there. He asked me for suggestions about flowers and I told him he would need a boutonniere and to get Diana a wrist corsage since she can't hold a bouquet and hold hands at the same time. I also suggested a ring of rose petals to form a "unity circle" they could stand in and he loved that idea. So, I wrote a lovely ceremony for them and emailed it to Bill for his review and edits. He sent payment to me and for the two witnesses I was providing via PayPal and made all the arrangements with North Raleigh Florists close to me for me to pick up the flowers and bring with me. The plan was for me and the two witnesses, my husband Dave and my "roadie" Marty, to be there by 9:45 AM out of sight behind the bandshell. It was a chilly morning but as long as we stood in a patch of sunshine, we were fine.

Just on cue, about 10:00 Bill and Diana showed up and as they were standing in the bandshell looking out at the amphitheater, I walked out and introduced myself and asked Diana if she would like to get married here.

 She was absolutely flabbergasted and moved to tears. 

So I pinned on Bill's boutonniere, got the wrist corsage on Diana and made a circle of rose petals for them to stand in. Bill gave Dave his camera to take photos with while Marty used mine for the blog. Diana took off her coat and unveiled a beautiful dress for the wedding. She said she did not feel cold at all!

Bill and Diana, as a symbol of your unity and intent to be eternal partners, you stand in a sacred circle of rose petals. The circle is the oldest sacred symbol, one with no beginning, and no end.  There is a quotation that goes like this: “Our family is a circle of love and strength. With every birth and every union, the circlegrows. Every joy shared adds more love. Every obstacle faced together makes the circle stronger.”

For thousands of years men and women have exchanged rings as tokens of their wedding vows. These rings are your gifts to each other to remind you always, and those that gaze upon their beauty, that you have pledged your love and commitment in marriage to each other. And when you have been together for a long, long time, you will look at these rings, and you will feel the indentation they have made on your fingers, and you will know that these rings contain all the memories of what your lives and your relationship have been. May they always serve to remind you of how great your love is for one another.

Bill and Diana, by the power vested in me, in the presence of these witnesses, I now pronounce that you are husband and wife.

 Diana, you may kiss your husband! Bill, you may kiss your wife!

Bill and Diana, I wish you many years of wedded bliss!