New Year's Eve Wedding for Lisa and Jason!

Lisa's friend, Jennifer, emailed me a few days before Christmas to see if I was available for and would be willing to do a wedding at midnight on New Year's Eve. Having done this in years past, I told her I was available and would be honored to. She then told Lisa and we began communicating about the wedding. Lisa told me that she and Jason originally planned to be married next October but they were blessed with expecting a little bundle of joy due this coming spring. They thought about just eloping but then came up with the fun idea of being pronounced married at midnight New Year's Eve because they wanted to bring in the new year with lots of love starting a whole new chapter in their lives with their unborn daughter, Brielle. She said that it was their way of being thankful and blessed for what they had been given.  I asked her if she wanted her wedding date to be 12/31/12 or 1/1/13. She chose the latter so it was decided that I would make the pronouncement of marriage one minute after midnight.

If you recall, New Year's Eve was a beautiful night, a bit chilly but not really cold. When I arrived at the house of their friend for the wedding, they had decorated the deck in the back of the house with a pretty trellis and white lights--plenty to read my book from! There were about 5 or 6 good friends gathered including Lisa's brother for the wedding.

Not having remembered to put my watch on, I borrowed Jason's so we could time the pronouncement and you can see it in my hand. I came to the wedding alone but brought my camera with me and Lisa's brother got some great shots of the wedding for me!

We included a blessing for their unborn baby. I asked them to place their hands over the baby then we blessed the precious little girl to be born to them.

After they made their vows to each other, they exchanged rings. Lisa's ring is really special because it belonged to her great great grandmother and some day she will pass it along to her daughter!

Then came the Family Unity Sand Ceremony. They poured in their sand in layers then the baby's sand and covered it with the remainder of their sand. You see the cell phone there? I am not sure but I think Lisa's parents were listening to the ceremony.

We could hear some fireworks going off in the background. I looked at Jason's watch and it was not yet midnight, or so I thought. So we waited a bit then I looked again and discovered that his watch had stopped!

 So, I made the pronouncement of marriage! 

And they are married! Happy New Year and Happy 2013 for Lisa and Jason. They had some sparkling juice we all toasted with to celebrate this very happy occasion. Lisa and Jason, keep in touch and send me a photo of Brielle when she makes her entrance into your happy family!

Meredith and Ryan's Amazing New Year's Eve Wedding at Haywood Hall!

Who would have ever thought December 31, 2011 would be a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the upper sixties?? Meredith and Ryan believed with all their hearts that it would be and their dream day came true! Meredith's father, Tom, was assigned the task of calling me to see if I was available to officiate their wedding at Haywood Hall. Fortunately I was and so Meredith, Ryan and I met in late October to plan their ceremony. It was then that I found out that she and Ryan had been at the wedding of Meghan and Mark I officiated at The Sutherland in 2009. Meghan was Meredith's Matron of Honor so that was how they knew about me.  Then, at the rehearsal I found out that I had married another bridesmaid, Jaime, Meredith's cousin, in 2002 at Millbrook Baptist Church. Another bridesmaid, Allison, piped up and told me that she tried to get me to do her wedding but I was already booked for her date. And to top that, a couple I am marrying in April of this year, Irene and Tyler, were wedding guests! Wow! My world is shrinking.

I loved working with Meredith and Ryan. They both have a delightful sense of humor and "go with the flow" attitude and that was reflected in the ceremony. We had a lot of fun making it exactly what they envisioned. Their story goes that they knew of each other in high school but had never connected. In fact, Ryan thought Meredith (now a hair stylist) was a "weirdo" because she sported funky hairstyles, even sometimes purple. Meredith was not interested in Ryan either, thinking they had nothing in common. But one magic May evening in 2009 they were at the same party and struck up a conversation that lasted into the wee hours of the morning and found out that indeed, they have a lot in common. Ryan told me that he has been unable to get Meredith off his mind ever since. Meredith told me that when Ryan kissed her that night, she knew he was the one!

The rehearsal the day before was quite the challenge with late arrivals, many sirens going off downtown, and a lot of grandparents and one great grandmother in the processional. But, our director, Winston, a beautiful blonde woman, whipped them all into shape on the wedding day and it turned out just fine.

The tent was all set up and decorated by the mother of the bride, Janet, and her friends. Cooper's Barbecue was catering the event.

Our DJ Heavy, yes, that is really what he is called although he does have a real name--Darrel Harris. He told me that he was nicknamed Heavy many years ago and it has stuck. He was so helpful and I appreciate that he was able to get the music and my voice heard although the DJ station had been pre-determined in the tent so that it was a challenge.

Terra is setting up the beautiful wedding cake inside the gazebo. Her business is called Cakes By Terra and it looks terrific!

Our photographer, Betsy Coley, was busy getting shots of the bridal party outside before the wedding. If you look closely, our beautiful bride is wearing red cowboy boots! Her dress is stunning! Her hair was by Jamie Sturdevant and makeup by Jill Carroll.

On the left is Jordan, our flower girl. She is the daughter of Jaime, the bride's cousin that I married to her husband John in 2002. Jaime is the third bridesmaid from the left next to Meredith. To the right of the bride is Meghan, the Matron of Honor, that I married in 2009. She and Mark have a 3 month old baby and are thinking about having me do a baby blessing ceremony for them. The second bridesmaid from the left is Allison who wanted me to officiate for her but I was already booked for her date.

Winston is getting Ryan's great grandmother, Eunice, and her escort, Jason, Ryan's brother, ready to be the first to process in.

After the family is escorted in, the groomsmen returned to process in with the bridesmaids.

Jordan, our flower girl, walks in with Mason, our ring bearer who is 4.

Tom, father of the bride, held her bouquet while she held up her dress to step up the steps. That dress is simply gorgeous!

Everyone is standing in honor of the bride as she and her father float down the aisle toward Ryan and the wedding party and me. They wanted me to stand at the top so that they could stand on the steps so that Meredith's wedding gown train would cascade down the steps.

"Who presents this woman to be married to this man?" "Her mother and I do."

 

 

It was amazing but not one siren, not one motorcycle, helicopter, train or other distraction happened during the ceremony! 

 

Ryan's father, Terry, was his best man and had the real rings. When I called for the rings, he handed them to me and then I was surprised by Mason coming forth and up the steps to hand me the pillow with the fake ring! He was so cute and diligently doing his duty! I took the pillow from him and he went back to his seat.

 

 I usually place my hand on the couple's joined hands to make the pronouncement but from the top of the steps, I could not reach unless I bent over so I chose not to put my hand on theirs.

 Great kiss, Ryan! 

 

 This is where the recessional fell apart! Not that it matters but it turned out to be comical. In the photo above, Meredith's grandmother recessed with Tom and Janet instead of waiting for her escort.

Then Terry, Father of the Groom, was to come back and get Kathy, Mother of the Groom, but instead one of the groomsmen took Eunice out next then Terry left Kathy behind as he took out his mother, Ryan's grandmother Alice.

So, since Kathy was left standing there all alone, I said to her, "you and I can recess together" and so we and the guests all laughed and walked down the aisle together. Reminded me of the wedding where the little ring bearer was forgotten and left behind so I took his hand and had him stand with me until we left together.

Congratulations, Meredith and Ryan! I know you are going to have a wonderful marriage with lots of fun and laughs. You seem very good together and I hope as I post your wedding you are far away on a fabulous honeymoon! See you in April at the wedding of Irene and Tyler!