Anthony and Jessi at the Franklin Hotel in Chapel Hill

Jessi and Tony were such an easy couple to plan with.  They were playful and easygoing in all of their planning.  I knew they'd have a good time at their wedding and they did!  Their neutral colors were elegant at their reception at The Franklin Hotel in downtown Chapel Hill.

Most of these photographs were provided by Mike Phongsa of MP Photography, a fabulous photographer who's relocating to San Francisco in just a few months.  Thanks, Mike!  We'll miss him here but I sure do understand the call there. 

The other amazing thing about Anthony and Jessi's wedding, besides them, was the flowers!

The atrium at The Franklin is a neutral space and this really created a lush resplendent atmosphere.  On my form they put Richard Grille as the florist but not who he's with.  I just have to laud him for an amazing piece of artistry.

Before the ceremony.... looking out from where the DJ, Eric Hodgden, of All Around Raleigh DJ had his equipment. 

And here's Eric.

Jessi was so casual about the music that Eric, Katie and I were deciding on what we thought would be best a half hour before the ceremony.  Thanks to them both, it turned out wonderfully!

These flowers were on the end of each row....

I loved marrying these two.  Jessi has a bubbly high energy personality that infuses everything, and also has the generosity of spirit that makes it infectious.  Anthony is low key in balancing Jessi's ebullience.  

Katie at The Franklin Hotel was the perfect staff member to make sure all went as planned.

The only oddness that happens with weddings in the atrium at The Franklin is that other non-wedding guests may have their hotel room off this space.  That means the during the ceremony someone may be coming back to their hotel room and if they're not really all that thoughtful or set to patiently wait, they will be unlocking and entering their room as the ceremony is happening.  Luckily they rooms are at the back wall so the distraction can be minimal.  It's just an odd feeling.  This happens at The Embassy Suites near Crabtree Valley Mall, too.


This was taken while pictures were being organized.  It was one I took.

And then their reception was elegant in one of the ballrooms on the second floor.

Bonnie with Miel Bon Bons made their cake and their food was catered by Catering Works.  

I love doing ceremonies at The Franklin.  Their staff does a great job and they're right in my neighborhood,.  Just be aware that if it's a football weekend in the fall with a home game, that you have to let your guests know beforehand.  Luckily it wasn't!  I'd just been caught up in that confusion the Fall of 2009.


Mike captured this wonderful photo of Anthony and Jessi after the ceremony.  It fits them to a 'T.'
I wish them all the best for a wonderful life.  I don't doubt they'll have one.

Matt and Megan's Cake Story and More

 

 Over my almost 17 years of officiating wedding ceremonies I’ve been part of a surprisingly small number of wedding day problems.  Even the worst disasters have been ones that we could remedy ourselves with a little ingenuity and on site help, or just laugh about.  I've helped create two bouquets from one when one was missing, done weddings barefoot in ankle deep water, worked around a fainting best man, and officiated a wedding where the wrong flowers had been delivered.  We just used the ones we had.  But the problem I describe below required expert assistance and fast.

Above you see the picture of the wedding cake delivered to Megan and Matt on their wedding day at Chateau Belle Vie just two weeks ago.  Their wedding colors were chocolate brown and apple green.  Megan and Matt had offered their wedding invitation as an indication of the style they wanted to copy for the design on their cake.  Their very prominent local baker told them when she delivered the cake below that she had ‘designed’ their cake to match their invitations.  Hmmmmm.  Here's the invitation.

This is Megan in amazement.  Do you see a design here? 

First let me say that Chateau Belle Vie had no role at all in this cake near disaster.  They went well out of their way to save the day.  I love working with them.  Their staff is fabulous and they care so much for each couple they marry, and it shows.

It was the baker who somehow lost their vision of what makes a wedding cake special and lovely. Just in case you can't believe it either, here's a closer view.

 

 Seeing this sturdy, upright, but slightly leaning mountain of brown, Megan, Matt, and Roxana, the staff member at Chateau Belle Vie, had the wise sense to call in the cavalry in the person of Jennifer Stevens of Ambrosia Cake Creations who had masterfully done Roxana’s cake for Roxana's wedding in October 2010.

Now, this is all beginning to unfold at 3PM on Matt and Megan's wedding day with their wedding taking place at 6:30 that evening!

When I arrived at 5:30 in preparation of officiating their ceremony, Megan and Matt had found some humor in the situation and were trusting in Jennifer's good hands to manage it somehow.  They knew it would be better than what they had.  The original 'prominent local' baker had accepted no responsibility for this creative disaster and had simply left right after she delivered the cake you see above.

Jennifer had delivered a 'faux cake' to have in place if needed - not edible but pretty.  The faux cake would at least represent a cake if anything worse happened.

Jennifer, who just happened to have had the day off, and who luckily lived in Fuquay Varina, had rushed to Chateau Belle Vie after she was called late that afternoon.  She picked up the tipping tower of taupe, and did magic on it for the next 3 hours, chilling it so that it could be straightened (it's hard to tell its 'Pisa tendency' from the picture you see), hand decorating it with scroll work and changing the muddy brown slurry to a swirling chocolate brown dusted with gold glitter.  And voila!

Jennifer quietly delivered the redone wonder at 7 pm, during the cocktail hour after the ceremony.  Guests were out on the patio so not one guest saw the disaster unfold.  They were none the wiser about  the whole situation.  But I bet it made a good story.

In defense of baker one, who shall remain nameless, I understand that the cake was very tasty.

I bring you this blog to highlight that miracles can and do happen all the time, and that for every wedding professional who falls short there is another who will go way out of their way to make sure your day lives up to your needs and your dreams. 

I’ll always remember Matt and Megan for their humor and good grace while wondering what they would feed their guests, and Jennifer Stevens, of Ambrosia Cake Creations, who I will recommend to all my couples as someone who has professional heart to go along with her excellent skills.  By the way, I saw on her web site that she provides, gratis, an anniversary cake to couples whose wedding cake she makes.  What a thoughtful gesture.

Thanks to Mike Phongas of MP Photography for the 'before' shot.  I took the after with my Droid.  I'll have more pictures of Megan and Matt's wedding soon.  It was really wonderful.  They didn't let any sugar blues dampen their day at all.  Kudos to them.  They were a joy to marry!

So let me tell you more about that!
The back patio of the chateau is a perfect place for a small ceremony.
To show off Megan's playful side, she had lime green shoes that matched my stole exactly.





For those of you who have never seen the chateau, it was built and designed with just this purpose in mind.  It's European decorations are gracious and lovely from every aspect.

Matt and Megan did not know their cake would be so beautifully redeemed at this moment.  Yet it was.



And they went on to have a very joyful reception.
I hope our paths cross in future.  They're a couple who are grounded in the important ways that life moves: in love, in family and in friendship.  And they also got to eat cake.