Christine and Robert's Sweet Wedding at Second Empire!

Out of all the people in the world, Christine and Robert have found each other! Like many of us whose first marriages did not endure, we feel like we have been given a miraculous chance for happiness when we connect with our soul mates! I met them in early May and we started writing the ceremony for their wedding on June 27, 2014 at the historical Second Empire.

When Marty and I arrived, many of their guests had already taken their seats in the East Parlor where most of the small family ceremonies take place. They can seat about 30 to 35 in that area. The reception area is the Pine Room.

This lovely cake by Edible Art was in the Pine Room where the bride and groom were waiting for the ceremony to begin. All the pretty flowers and bouquets were by Embellished Blooms. Amy Allen and her husband Rob with Amy Allen Photography were shooting the wedding. 

When the last guest arrived, we got lined up to begin. Robert and I entered first followed by his daughters, Haley and Hannah.

Christine is awaiting her grand entrance!! She is such a gorgeous bride! 

Christine walked in and Robert met her about halfway and they came to me together to be wed. Love the symbolism!

 "We are gathered here today because of love........"

 A tribute to the parents of the couple........

 Special words for Hannah and Haley from Christine!

 "Will you, Robert.......?" "Will you, Christine.......?"

 "With this ring, I marry you and pledge my heart to you!"

 The girls loved being a part of the Family Unity Sand Ceremony!"

 Filled with love and unity, right to the top! 

 "Look at each other and feel the happiness that you are feeling in this place, in this moment...."

"It is my distinct pleasure to now declare that you are husband and wife. Robert, you may kiss your beautiful wife!"

 Yay! 

What a happy happy day! Congratulations, Robert and Christine! I am so happy you found each other and that your love brought us all together to celebrate your marriage. Best wishes always!

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To contact me:

revk@aweddingminister.com

919-345-4608

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Sarah and John's Fabulous Wedding at The Oaks at Salem!

Last August I met Sarah and John. They contacted me because I am a preferred officiant at their venue, The Oaks at Salem. Also turns out that John works at a state agency that I worked at for 15 years before retiring in 2008 and doing weddings full-time. Their DJ, Bill Smith, also works at the agency. So, really the whole team felt like family and John and Sarah and I had fun putting together their wonderful romantic ceremony. The wedding day was June 21, 2014--hot but not raining. Thankfully they both agreed that their ceremony should take place under the tent with the cooling fans, out of the heat, especially for their grandmothers, parents and guests, and ME! Thank you, Sarah and John!

Sarah is a Pinterest gal (and so am I)! So it was fun to see what they had created for their wedding. One thing is this sweet little table made of wood logs. I don't know if they personally made it or found it somewhere. It is perfect to hold flowers and other favors.

They had many framed sayings that they loved scattered about and the window pane table assignments. The bird cage is a sweet touch and birds occur throughout their theme.

The wedding colors were aqua and dusty pink. So pretty together. Their florist was Julie at The Blossom Shop who carried through an eclectic assortment of containers, flowers and candles for centerpieces. 

Inside the folks from Edible Art were putting out the cupcakes on an original design for a cupcake stand with wooden rounds cleverly attached. You can see them more clearly in the photo below.

 A sweet dish and more sayings.......

 Pretty cake stand and wedding cake cutter and server!

 The finished table.......

Remember the bird theme? Sweet cake for the bride and groom by Edible Art as well. 

 Guests were asked to sign the frame........

Bridesmaids and MaryAnn, Mother of the Bride, ready to line up to process in. The bride is hidden away although Sarah and John did do a First Look earlier in the day.

Bill Smith, our trusty DJ with The Magic of Music. I had the honor of officiating at his wedding to his lovely wife Sandra in 2008 before I started this blog. It is always a pleasure to work with Bill. In fact, we will be working together again in September at the wedding of another DJ pal, Brian McGuire!  

Joslin is the event manager for The Oaks and overall "go to person" for the wedding day. She does a wonderful job holding it all together and making sure things go smoothy behind the scenes. She has been on board at The Oaks just over a year now and you would think she has been doing this for years. Thanks, Joslin!

First to process in were grandparents, then parents, then the groomsmen and me and the bridesmaids. There were lots of children of relatives that were included too. Here are Dylan carrying the rings and Lily.

 Then Jacob and Olivia carrying a sign saying "Here comes the Bride!" 

 Lastly Makayla entered and sprinkled the petals. 

 Time for our gorgeous bride!

Mike kissed his daughter's hand then placed it into John's hand. She gave Daddy a farewell kiss and everyone was seated. 

 We began with a warm welcome and prayer, then remembered those who were no longer with us. 

Positioned at the end of the row of bridesmaids was our translator. John's parents are deaf and so are most of their friends who were there. They could watch the bride and groom and see the sign language at the same time.

 Then we honored the parents......

The story came next and theirs is a good one. 

 Everyone enjoyed hearing how they met and fell in love and got to this day. 

A view of the entire ceremony. The guests were seated in rows of chairs a step down from the tables and chairs. You can see our photographer, Cristobal Perez with Azul Photography, getting his amazing photos. He is so talented. I can't wait to see his pictures! Scott Logan, a videographer from Maine (Sarah's home state) came down just to video this wedding.

 After the story they said their vows as they exchanged their rings. 

 For our closing blessing, Wendy, John's sister, read the poignant words of Natalie White. 

 The declaration of marriage!

 Nice kiss! 

 Hooray! 

Marty snapped this photo from the deck above while waiting for all the guests to assemble for a group shot below. I believe with this photo, Marty could turn pro! Don't John and Sarah look like royalty waving to their subjects!!

 The wedding gang! 

Ahhhh! Another great wedding! Thank you Sarah and John for allowing me to be a special part of your day. Your hard work and attention to detail really culminated in a fabulous wedding day! I wish you the best of the best!

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To contact me:

revk@aweddingminister.com

919-345-4608

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Gayle and Mark Wed at Umstead Park!

Gayle and Mark live in Virginia but wanted to get married in Raleigh because it is a central location between their families and friends. They chose Umstead Park, Shelter 1, for their venue because they are nature lovers and wanted to get married surrounded by the majesty of nature in a casual setting where everyone could relax and have fun and where they could have their 3 beloved canine children in the wedding! The wedding date was May 27, 2012, Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend. We initially corresponded by email and then they traveled to the Triangle to view the park and I met them there one morning in February. All the other arrangements they made via email and phone. They chose some very high quality vendors like Irregardless Cafe to cater the reception, Jess Levin of Classical Photography to photograph the wedding, Edible Arts for the wedding cake and Pratie Heads to provide the music. Mark, Gayle and I worked together to create the perfect wedding ceremony for them and I loved their creativity and willingness to step out of the box and make their wedding ceremony uniquely theirs. We rehearsed the day before and then were all set for the wedding. The weather cooperated beautifully and everything came together. I was so impressed with the way their friends transformed the old stone shelter into a festive reception site so I am including some photos of it for you to see what is possible.

Normally rather dark under the shelter, the white table covers brightened the picnic tables up considerably then were set complete with runners, real silverware, wine glasses and flowers! I have never seen it so fancy!

For favors, they had little jars of honey that were labeled: "Life is the flower for which love is the honey," a saying by Victor Hugo!

They even thought to bring candles to put into the fireplace! 

 Irregardless was there setting up a buffet table of wonderful food. 

I was delighted to see Jess Levin at the rehearsal as well as at the wedding. It has been a while since I last saw him. Jess and I have done many weddings in the past 12 years and one of the first photographers I met when I started doing weddings. He is a musician at heart and plays violin with the NC Symphony, and being artistically creative, he is a great photographer too. His business is Classical Photography.

 Mark and Gayle brought this lovely framed photo for their guests to sign as a guest book.

The flowers arrived but I don't know who provided them. I have become quite experienced pinning boutonnieres on the guys.

The lovely wedding cake by Edible Arts.... 

Jane Peppler and Bob Vasile are the talented duo who call themselves the Pratie Heads who play Celtic and other eclectic music which was perfect for this wedding. They also have a website called Wedding Music in NC which includes more musicians. Jane arrived early and Bob later and for a while there we thought he might be lost in the woods! But Jane kept on walking around playing her violin so he could hear it and follow the music to where we were and he did!

The guys and I hid out behind the stone attachment to the patio while our director, Stephanie, shooed the guests into their seats so we could begin.

Mark and his best man, David, Groomsman, Greg, and ring bearer, John. 

Stephanie kept us all in order all while keeping an eye out for the bride who was being driven to the shelter. Their dogs, Nigel and Lance, wait with Margeaux and Nikka. Behind them are Hali and Ned that you can't see here.

 Here is Ned! He is an elder while the other two are rambunctious pups!  

 Debbie and Jeanne then enter followed by the flower girl, Hanna. 

 Gayle is escorted in by her father, Jim.

 What a beautiful setting! 

 Mark's brother, Jeff, read a tribute to those who have passed on before us. 

Of course Gayle and Mark, being dog lovers, chose to have the whimsical witty poem by Taylor Mali, "Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog," in their wedding and asked their friend Lisa to present it.

Their love story started out like this: "This love story we celebrate today began in early 2011 when Mark was ready to give up on ever finding someone with whom he wanted to share his life. Then he saw Gayle with her handsome pup, and his hope for a life-long partner was revived." They both waited a long time to find each other which makes their love even more precious to them.

 

 They read their beautiful vows to each other then sealed them with their rings. 

We had not planned on breaking the glass but since Mark is Jewish, I asked him about it. He said he would really like to do it and so we sacrificed a wine glass and napkin and made it happen. I had just done a Jewish wedding the day before so the words were fresh in my mind.

 They kissed....

 and kissed some more...! 

 

Mark and Gayle, it was so great working with you to make your vision of your wedding come true. You truly thought of every detail which is no small feat especially with your wedding out of town. I am so happy you finally found each other. Congratulations on your marriage. I feel very confident that you two, along with your menagerie of animal companions, will be very happy! May all your dreams come true!