Murat and Kirsten Have An International Wedding

Murat and Kirsten got married in The Cotton Room.  Praise be because it was a hot summer day and we were all inside thoroughly enjoying ourselves.  First, thanks to Courtney Gray of Courtney Gray Photography for these wonderful pictures!

Kirsten's and Murat's wedding was a wedding of 2 cultures and they joyfully expressed both in the ceremony.  Murat is from Turkey but his family was coming from the West Coast and Texas as well as Turkey.   Kirsten family is from Georgia.  Yet they met in Chapel Hill three years ago at Murat's friend's birthday party.  And now they live in Boston.


We wanted to especially honor Murat's Turkish heritage because his mother and his aunt don't speak English.  Murat and Kirsten decided on a Quaker like ceremony in which certain friends would speak during the ceremony of Murat and Kirsten's love for each other.  And that we would Murat's and Kirsten's vows would be said in both Turkish and English.  

We also chose eclectic poetry which spoke of their larger world view.  The first reading was from Joseph Campbell's 'The Power of Myth,' and the second was by a Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet Ran.  It's lovely and I repeat it here:

The most beautiful sea:

hasn't been crossed yet.

The most beautiful child:

hasn't grown up yet.

Our most beautiful days:

we haven't seen yet.

And the most beautiful words I wanted to tell you

I haven't said yet....

Their florist was North Raleigh Florist creating these bouquets that looked so natural.

Cinda of Cinda's Creative Cakes made this beauty which honored both their cultures and their colors.!

Thanks, too, to their wonderful guitarist Chris Bennett.  

Kirsten entered with her father to a Bach fugue for the processional whose delicate sounds played on the guitar echoed richly in this open resonant space.

After the wedding Courtney took photos of Kirsten, Murat and their wedding party and families in front of this restored old Durham building.  It makes a great urban backdrop.  

I love the Cotton Room because there are so many ways to use it.  Kirsten and Murat chose to have their ceremony at the corner of the building.  This feels like the most intimate way to shape the space.  Then cocktails and the reception would be behind them.  This makes wonderful seating of all types for people to visit with each other.  From this vantage point, the ceremony it to the front right.  That's  DJ Jason Lenhardt at the very back of the room in the white shirt.  Triangle Catering also catered their event.  It's always great!

I loved that Murat's and Kirsten's mothers, Tanzer and Debra, both brought gifts for the guests - chocolate and 'evil eye' key rings that bestow protection on your travels.

I believe in world community and that love is the best way to bring it around.  I had the joy many years ago of spending a month in Turkey and everyone there treated with with great hospitality and warmth.  I was traveling with a woman friend so we stayed in small inns all over the western side of the country.  I was happy to celebrate the richness that Murat's and Kirsten's life experience would bring to their marriage.

After they returned to Boston I got this wonderful note:

'Thank you so much for the attentiveness, professionalism and guidance. I cannot say enough how comfortable and at ease you made us feel especially with something that was foreign and very personal for both of us. You had so many options to choose from that we could flush out what we felt in a manner that would be appealing for all as well as ourselves. I've heard MANY comments about how personal and touching the ceremony & wedding was so I'm glad my goal was achieved. Thank you very much for your assistance in this with the ceremony.'

As they create their married life in Boston I wish them all happiness!  They were a joy and a delight in my life!