Laura and Jeremy Wed at Caffe Luna!

Laura and Jeremy fit each other so well. Jeremy has the vision and Laura is the detail person who brings it to fruition! They met in 2008  in Virginia where they taught in the same school. They moved to Durham two years ago and their love has grown even stronger as a result of that adventure. We met on April 13, 2012 to plan their wedding slated for June 23, 2012. They wanted a small intimate wedding in a casual setting. Caffe Luna is just the place.  They had guests from Michigan where Jeremy is from and from Pennsylvania where Laura is from and other guests from Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma and North Carolina. The wedding was a Saturday night at the popular downtown Raleigh restaurant. Parker Kennedy, the owner of Caffe Luna, has transformed the two smaller dining rooms behind the main dining room into a fabulous space for small to medium size weddings and reception even on a Saturday night while the public dines in the big dining room separated by a large mahogany double door that keeps the areas separate and private. The larger weddings are in the main dining room on Sundays when the restaurant is closed to the public.

This is the very back room and the guests face Hargett Street for the ceremony.

This is the middle room with the main dining room on the other side of the wall on the right. It also faces Hargett Street. Here the tables are pushed together and after the ceremony, the tables will be expanded into the ceremony space.

This is the dividing wall with the doors opened between the two rooms. Jeremy and Laura had about 70 guests for their wedding and reception. Of course Caffe Luna provided the food and beverages and if you have never had their food, you are definitely missing a real treat. Parker used to be in the wine business and has an incredible selection of fine wines too.

This lovely wedding cake was provided by Kimball Confections.

Laura and Jeremy's color scheme was purple and blue, a lovely combination. They made their own wedding programs and cleverly folded a pretty purple napkin around them. I have never seen that cute idea. Laura also did all the flowers herself.

A table setting ready for the guests after the reception and cocktail hour.

They liked the trendy fingerprint wedding tree for their guest book and offered different colors of ink for the guests to choose from so their tree had multi-colored "leaves!"

They had no attendants and the only processional besides the bride and groom and myself were the parents and Jeremy's grandmother. I lined them all up in the hall, cued the operator of the computer playing the music, then cued them to walk in and be seated. Then it was time for Jeremy and me to enter.

Laura and her dad made their grand entrance into the ceremony room.

Laura was beaming and tears were leaking out already!

We had a family blessing and then remembered those loved ones who could not be there with a moment of silence.

As I read the words of their special song, "Indian Moon," by State Radio, they both had to stop and wipe their tears away!

After relating the story of how they met and fell in love and some of their adventures including the move to North Carolina when Laura broke her foot loading a mattress, what they love about each other and look forward to in marriage, it was time for the vows. They chose the Celtic handfasting ceremony.  

With each loop of the cord around their joined left hands, they answered 7 questions in this ancient ritual: Will you honor and respect each other and seek to never give cause to break that honor? Will you share in each other's pain and seek to ease such pain? Will you seek to share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow together? Will you share in laughter and look for the positive in each other? Will you share in each other's dreams and dream together to create new realities? Will you cherish the wealth you've found in each other through plenty and poverty? Will you seek to be always a constant friend, partner in life, and true love to the other?  

Then I asked them to join their right hands forming the symbol of infinity blessing their marriage in the ebb and flow of the universe

With my hand on theirs, they said their personal vows to each other line by line after me.

They exchanged rings as tokens of their love for each other.

They were so excited when I made the pronouncement of marriage! 

And they kissed.......

...and kissed some more!

The guests were applauding and you could feel the love.....

Yeah! Married at last! 

Our photographer, Charity Starchenko of Rustic House Photography took us across the street to Moore's Square for photographs after the wedding. Charity, it was a pleasure working this wedding with you! 

Congratulations and all the best wishes in the world, Jeremy and Laura. You are so well matched and delightful to work with. When I told you when we met to "be creative and make your wedding your own," you took it to heart and it was wonderful. Do keep me posted and when a wee one comes along, let's do a baby blessing ceremony.