Wendy's mother, Debra, contacted me in early November to see if I could officiate Wendy and Jason's wedding on May 15, 2010 at
Sisters Garden. Wendy and Jason live in Wilmington NC, and Debra was handling the wedding arrangements on the Raleigh end of things. I actually did not meet Wendy and Jason or any of their family in person until the wedding rehearsal. We made all the arrangements via email and US mail. I emailed all the ceremony material to Jason and Wendy and they chose the parts they liked. They wanted some thing simple and said they did not want to write their own vows but they could not resist putting in special words for each other and their ceremony was very unique. Their guests loved it. The atmosphere was jubilant!
Wendy's mother, Debra, was escorted in by father of the bride, Gary, and he circled back to bring in Wendy. See the pretty bridesmaids in their very colorful kelly green dresses with yellow and white flowers.
Marc, with Sisters Garden, is our director (as usual and thank goodness!) and is waiting for me and the guys to enter before sending in the bridesmaids. As you know from this blog, Marc and I do a lot of weddings together at Sisters. He is really on the ball and we tend to think along the same lines on wedding processionals and recessionals. I don't have to worry when Marc is in charge.
Daddy and Bride...ready to make the grand entrance. Just look at that gorgeous wedding gown and how slender Wendy is.
When the music faded, I asked "Gary, as Wendy’s father, do you and her mother, Debra, bless and support her as she comes to join in marriage to Jason?" He was supposed to say "Yes, we do." but he caught us all off guard by saying something like "I'll have to think about that......." The guests roared with laughter. He finally transferred Wendy's hand into Jason's and gave Jason's arm a big squeeze.
Wendy and Jason faced each other holding hands and our Matron of Honor, Kate, sister of the bride, fluffed the wedding dress train.
We were under the big tent out in the garden of Sisters. It provides nice shade when it is sunny and shelter if rain comes our way. We were free of rain and the temps were pleasant.
The best man, Phil, read to us the funny poem "Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog" which we dedicated to Jason and Wendy's two dogs at home wishing they could be with their two most favorite people in the world.
This photo might have been snapped when they were exchanging vows. They chose for me to ask them questions and for them to answer "I do." Here is where they put their own special touch on the vows and I asked "Jason, do you take Wendy to be your wife, knowing that she will always be your one true love, your best friend and your partner in life? On this special day, do you promise to always stay faithfully by her side, to be patient with her and support her in all her loves and endeavors no matter how crazy they are, when life is a day at the beach and when it is a stressful drive in downtown Boston, in good dogs and in bad, when your love is simple, and when it is an effort? Do you promise to travel to new places with her, cook with her and laugh so hard you lose control, to speak to her with words of encouragement and never allow her to say the words 'I can't'? Do you promise to love her without limits, to honor and respect her, and to cherish her always for all the days of your life?" Of course he said I do.
Then I asked "Wendy, do you take Jason to be your husband, knowing that he will always be your one true love, your best friend and your partner in life? On this special day, do you promise to always respect him, be honest with him, to have his back and always support him when life is an easy jog in the park and when it is an uphill marathon? When love hands you lemons will you make lemonade and when love hands you ground beef will you make cheeseburgers? Do you promise to always communicate with him even when it’s not easy and to always treat each day like a spontaneous adventure in your new life together? Do you promise to love him without limits, to honor him and to cherish him always for all the days of your life?" And of course she said I do.
The rings were exchanged, pronouncement and kiss done, and out they went!
Just one more kiss!
It's all over. A grand success of a ceremony; the guests loved it and Wendy and Jason can relax and have a great time with all their friends who had traveled far and wide to be with them on this day. Wendy and Jason, I think you are a great couple and I know together you will go far and have a wonderful life together.
Our Vendors: Sisters Garden is such a great wedding venue. It is so pretty, so well organized and operated, the food is exceptionally great, and I love doing weddings here. Marc, thanks again for running the show! I have seen you now for 3 weekend weddings in a row! Will miss you next weekend as I will be doing 3 weddings at Duke Gardens, one at the Carolina Inn and the last one at Angus Barn.
Kent Bloms of
Joe Bunn DJ Company was our capable DJ and I loved the music that Wendy and Jason chose. It was upbeat and non-traditional and that was a nice personal touch for them.
I was remiss in getting the name of the bakery who made this adorable cupcake wedding cake. These cakes are becoming more and more popular these days. You can vary the flavors and the colors.
Our photographer for the day was Chris Lang of
ChrisLangWeddings. He usually does weddings in the Wilmington area but was happy to come to Raleigh to capture Wendy and Jason's big day. Thanks, Chris.
I also failed to get the name of the provider of this fabulous ice sculpture. It was unwrapped while we were doing photos outside and Marty and I spotted it on our way out. See the great reflection in the mirror behind it? The huge tray of ice it was sitting on was supposed to have colored lights coming up from the bottom. Marc checked it before the sculpture was put in place and it worked fine. But later when the sculpture was unveiled, the lights would not come on. That would have been even more spectacular.
