Tatum and Shane's Wonderful Wedding at The Umstead!

Tatum, Shane and I made all the arrangements for me to officiate their wedding on May 29, 2011 in March but we did not meet until several weeks later when they were in town. They now both live in Ohio but chose The Umstead Hotel and Spa for their wedding site because during their courtship they often met halfway between Florida and Ohio at The Umstead.

 

Tatum and Shane wanted a small but elegant wedding surrounded by their dearest friends and their families. When Dave and I arrived for the wedding, the chairs were in place and the musicians had claimed their spot under the market umbrella. Ami Wheeler, Catering Manager with The Umstead, takes royal care of wedding couples and their guests, and she even had a rack of umbrellas on hand in case we had a quick afternoon shower which was in the forecast but never happened. As you can see, it was a sunny day! 

 

The musicians were contracted for the wedding by Bill Baucom of Daniel Entertainment Group who also provided the DJ for the reception.

Sweet Memories made this beautiful swirly cake. 

After I entered, Shane followed. He was so ready to get married! It was obvious how much he and Tatum loved each other!

This handsome young man who served as our ring bearer is Tatum's son, Grayer.

"Please stand in honor of our beautiful bride!"

Tatum's father, Loyd, was proud to escort his beautiful daughter to the "altar." The beautiful bouquet was provided by Tre Bella Flowers. Our photographer was Kevin Milz and  his second shooter, Sam.

 

A special friend of Tatum's could not attend at the last minute and wrote her a sweet note which Tatum's mother, Kimberly, shared with us.

 

 

 Our Maid of Honor, Kandice, looks on as I make the pronouncement of marriage!

 

 

Shane and Tatum, your love for each other touched us all. I know you will have a long and happy marriage! Congratulations and best wishes forever!

Rachael and Kevin Celebrate their Marriage at The Umstead!

Rachael and Kevin planned their small intimate wedding at The Umstead Hotel and Spa for Thursday November 4, 2010 surrounded by their parents, Kevin's grandmother, and Rachael's 4 year old daughter, Claire, who was our flower girl. I was thrilled that they chose me to officiate for them. They had wanted to have their wedding on the wedding lawn but the chilly, rainy weather dictated otherwise so Ami and her staff set up in front of the fireplace off the lobby area. When Marty and I arrived for the wedding Kevin Milz was busy taking photos of the couple before the wedding. When they were done, we were ready to begin the ceremony with the procession of the bride!

Rachael is such a strikingly beautiful bride in her gorgeous wedding gown! 

Her father, Dan, was delighted to escort her in. Claire wanted to look at her mother too and so she backed down the "aisle" tossing flower petals and then turned around and tossed some more. I think she tossed more flower petals than any other flower girl I have ever seen! She was so precious.

 

I don't know what florist did the flowers, probably A Watered Garden, but they were so pretty. I love lilies!

Sitting on the left is Kevin's grandmother, his father, Jerry, and his mother, Sharon. then on the right are Rachael's mother, Jennifer, and Rachael's father holding Claire.

 

I wrote a "proposed" ceremony for Rachael and Kevin and invited them to edit it to their liking. We recognized and thanked their parents and acknowledged how important Claire is in the new family they created today.

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations and best wishes are definitely in order for the newlyweds. They planned a sumptuous dinner at Heron's after the ceremony to celebrate.

Rachael and Kevin, I wish you much happiness and joy and prosperity! Blessings to you always!

Fabulous Wedding for Jessica and Rick at The Umstead!

(Yikes, I am so behind on my blogging. This is the last wedding for the weekend before last and I have seven more weddings to blog from this past weekend! October is such a popular wedding month.) The photo above was taken before Jessica and Rick's wonderful wedding at The Umstead on October 2, 2010. Notice the pink things hanging from the chairs...they are actually very nice wedding programs and this was a unique way of giving them to the guests. They were made by Paperwhites.

 Marty scoped out the reception area before the wedding ceremony started and got these photos of the lovely floral decorations by A Watered Garden.

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The color scheme was hot pink and you can see it reflected everywhere. Lovely cake by Sweet Memories.

 

Our string trio was provided by Mary Greiner, owner of Save the Date Music, formerly known as Musicians Booking Agency. 

And now we are ready to start the procession. Rick is escorting in his mother and grandmother then will come back and join me to process in. 

The groomsmen are in place and now the bridesmaids enter. What pretty dresses. Pink is such a happy color for a wedding. Standing with the girls is Ami Wheeler with The Umstead who is our director. 

Here comes our beautiful bride and her proud father! 

 

All the guests are standing for her entrance. 

This is a view from the terrace above. You can see Kevin Milz, our photographer, getting his shots. What a lovely wedding party and what a gorgeous setting for a wedding in the garden at The Umstead.

 

Jessica and Rick, what a great wedding you planned and made happen. I loved working with you to write your special ceremony with your story in it. Congratulations! Have a wonderful honeymoon!

Olga and William's Fabulous Weddng at The Umstead!

William and Olga planned such a beautiful and elegant wedding on Tuesday June 1, 2010 at the prestigious hotel and spa, The Umstead. Olga is from Russia and had a definite vision for her wedding day and she brought it to fruition. William wanted Olga to have whatever she wanted. These two are so in love it shows all the time! From what William told me, he was smitten with Olga and her incredible beauty from the moment he laid eyes on her. He pursued her and now they are married! Here is the story of their wonderful wedding!

This is the incredible altar that was constructed by Fresh Affairs and draped with the fluffy flowers and hanging leis of small orchids. It was simply breathtaking!

So, here is how it looked before the guests arrived. See the fountain in the lake showing through? The forecast was for rain but it was holding off for us.

The lighting was perfect for photography and this is Kevin Milz, our photographer, on the left, speaking to his assistant using the tripod. Kevin was just featured in the Southern Bride & Groom June Newsletter. He does a lot of weddings at The Umstead and it is always good to work with him again.

Our musicians, provided by Arioso Strings, are all set up and ready to go with a large market parasol behind them in case they need to duck under it for cover. No need, though. It stayed dry.

The reception room was all ready to go. Fresh Affairs continued the beautiful fluffy flowers here too. I wish I had asked what they were but they were really busy getting ready when Marty and I arrived so I did not want to interrupt.

Here is the gorgeous wedding cake by Sweet Memories, of course. The DJ for the reception was Randy Bennett with Joe Bunn DJ Company.

The Umstead staff is so professional and so efficient. Our wedding director and person in charge is Ami Wheeler, above, talking to Gary, the sound man. We work together all the time and so setting up has gotten into a familiar routine.

The guests have arrived and are seated. The musicians are playing and when Ami cues them to start the processional music, we will start up the stepping stones. Leading the procession are Olga's parents, Michael and Victoria. Michael will be coming back to escort in the bride. William and I are next, then the bridesmaids and groomsmen.

The best man is William's brother, Russell. He is escorting in Elena, the maid of honor.

All four of these lovely girls are William's daughters. Starting down the aisle with Keith is Kristen, followed by Emerson and Tony who is Olga's brother.

The flower girls are Katlyn and Camryn. They seemed to be as smitten with Olga as their father!

Here comes the bride! Her gown and bouquet of white orchids were exquisite! She was beaming!

William and Olga really loved the Wooden Wedding Box ceremony and wanted to include it so we did. They had ordered a beautiful wooden box engraved with their names and date on it. Here is a link to the site that sells them. These are the words "William and Olga, I have asked you as a couple, to find a strong wooden box that will hold two bottles of wine and two wine glasses. In addition, I have asked each of you to write a letter to one another, expressing your thoughts about all the qualities that you love in one another. A lovingly hand written letter is one of the most romantic and sentimental gestures possible, and this very personal form of communication will preserve all the thoughts and emotions that you are experiencing during a very exciting time in your relationship. I requested that under no condition were you to read each other’s letter, and that you were to seal them in individual envelopes and put them in the box with the wine and glasses. On your first wedding anniversary, I invite you to open the box, pour each other a glass of wine and read the other’s letter to you so you can remember how madly in love you are with each other; and pass this custom along in your family as an example of true eternal love! I now ask that you take a key, and lock the box."

Exchanging rings here. The pronouncement of marriage is coming up!

Need I say more?

 After the guests left the garden for the reception, we posed for some photos. We are so happy the rain held off and Olga and William are so delighted to finally be married. I wish you both a very happy and satisfying marriage and all the happiness in the world!