Ian and Alex Marry on a Gorgeous Day at The Raleigh Rose Garden

 It was a treat to meet and marry Alex and Ian.  We met over email and since I was in Spain we began planning long distance.  And, since they were going to Spain on their honeymoon, to Barcelona, in fact where we were, I could get a map of the city for them.  They're a delightful couple who love traveling and so we have even more in common.    Thanks to photographer Michael Moss for these fabulous pictures, Sally Oakley for all her planning expertise, which was key since their venue closed on them almost at the last minute and they had to find somewhere else.  Sally ensured that all went well!  Thanks to musicians Autumn Brand & Kaitlin Grady for their beautiful string accompaniment for the ceremony, and thanks to The English Garden for their stunning floral arrangements.

Ian and Alex bonded first over food, especially Ian cooking a wonderful vegetarian meal for Alex on their second date.  They quickly became best friends who cherish each day together, traveling around the world, and sharing their time together. They are grateful to have found one another and are able to be themselves and dream of another day together. They look forward to the days ahead of growing closer to one another and going on any adventure that may come their way. 

 The lyrics to Dave Matthew's song, 'Loving Wings' had special meaning for them so their friend, Lindsey, read them as part of the ceremony. 

So I give to you my everything 

You've given me these loving wings 

Angels have all gathered 'round 

To hear me sing my love out loud. 

Your lightly love lifted me away 

Out of a darkness cold and gray 

Now I work beneath the midday sun 

My cool blue water you have come. 

So I give to you my everything 

You've given me these loving wings 

Angels have all gathered 'round 

To hear me sing my love out loud. 

So take your place here next to me 

And I'll take my place there next to thee 

And no matter how far we may roam 

It's by your side I'll make my home. 

So I give to you my everything 

You've given me these loving wings 

Angels have all gathered 'round 

To hear me sing my love out loud.

The garden was in full bloom.  This fit the fullness in everyone's hearts.  They're a dedicated, fun and well matched couple who will have lots of shared adventures, perhaps the best of all will be their marriage.  I wish them both a lifetime of joyful years together.

Greg and Donna Light Up The Stone Chapel

Greg and Donna were a delight.  We celebrated the joy that they have found together.  Each has had some sorrow in their lives and they now are ready to have fun.  And they have found it with each other.  They laugh a lot, love nesting in their home, and they appreciate each other. They know that everything in their past has made then who they are: loving, kind, compassionate people.

I loved working with them to create their ceremony - Donna so bubbly and free spirited, and Greg with his quiet grins and twinkling eyes.  They are so well matched, they light up a room.  And this is exactly what they did on their wedding day.  Thank you to Amy Allen at Amy Allen Photography for her wonderful photographs.

Greg and Donna wanted a Christian ceremony that was simple.  No sermonizing.  Just God blessing their marriage.  They truly appreciate the meaning and mystery of loving another person and the amazing grace that you feel when you find the right person.  The Stone Chapel in Wake Forest was perfect for their intimate romantic and God embracing ceremony.

Greg's daughters and his brother were his attendants.  Donna's son walked her down the aisle to the strains of 'I Believe in You and Me' by The Four Tops.    Thanks to Stephen Scott, their DJ for their ceremony.  He was very professional and made coordination easy. 

They met without romance in mind.  Simply to have a buddy to hang out with and they found when they talked on the phone that their feelings and philosophy and interested and values were the same. 

They went to the same high school but didn't know each other at the time.  In fact, Greg went to school with Donna's brother.  Now they are building a shared future together.

As part of their wedding we did a Celtic Handfasting Ceremony binding their hands together as their hearts are bound.  It's a lovely ceremony that is the origin of the terms 'tying the knot' and giving one's hand in marriage.'

Then as their first gift to others as a married couple they gave a rose to each of their mothers.  It was a gracious and moving touch to a sweet and tender ceremony.

The English Garden provided the beautiful flowers, too.

I wish them so much happiness.  They are very special people and who bring joy to so many others with their generous loving manner.  They bring a smile to my heart.

 And it's always fun to see couples who really enjoy their wedding day kisses!

Robert and Kira Marry at The Carolina Inn Amid Much Joy

Robert and Kira had been dating for over 6 years, almost 7, when they married at The Carolina Inn on a lovely Saturday in early September of this year.  They are both scientists ('Chemistry' is the key word here.  You'll see a fun theme emerge at their reception.) and wanted an intimate and meaningful ceremony and I was delighted to help them create just that.

They had a large contingent of their family arrive from Oklahoma to experience our southern charm done so well by The Carolina Inn.

Thank you to Carrie Richardson Fry of Richardson Fry Photography for capturing the beauty of their wedding and their joy so thoroughly.  I suggest you visit her website to see larger versions of these images.  They're just wonderful.    Thanks to Sugarland for their sweets.

 This is their seating chart for their tables.  I loved it.

Robert proposed to Kira right after her PhD orals when they were celebrating them being completed.  She was really surprised.

 Their reception in the Old Well room.  Thanks too to Kailey Branham at A Southern Soiree!  She was so helpful in helping manage all the details of their wedding.  We were all grateful.

 Thanks to English Garden for their florals.

 Theirs was a fun, warm, loving, intimate ceremony.  They wrote their own vows and everyone was touched by their tenderness, warmth, and playful loving intention.

 Thanks, too, to Brian McGuire of McSound Productions for fabulous DJ work.

 They have a caring tender love and it shows.  And they will have a wonderful marriage.  That shows, too.   I wish them man years of loving and much love.

Carol and Erik Marry at Brier Creek Country Club With Love All Around Them

Erik and Carol were disappointed at first that they had to move their wedding indoors because of rainy cold weather this October.  But their ceremony was elegant and comfortable in this room at Brier Creek Country Club. As soon as they saw the room they knew that everything would be fine.   Riley MacLean was their wonderful photographer.  I've worked with Riley before and he and his assistant have a wonderful eye for what is just the right photograph.  I was so glad he was here because this room presented some lighting challenges that he was able to overcome.

Carol and Erik experience the divine through their relationships with the people in their lives who are close to them, and the room was full of friends and family there to wish them well, and to bless and support their marriage.

Their friend, Erika, gave the funniest liveliest rendition of Taylor Mali's 'Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog' that I have ever heard.  Everyone loved it.

Over the five years they've known one another they have spent more time together in those years than many couples spend together in a lifetime.  They work together and live together and yet this has brought them closer together than they ever thought possible.  

They've created a strong loyal partnership and a deep and abiding friendship.  We celebrate that, too, in their wedding.

A special part of Erik and Carol's exchange of vows was the Celtic Handfasting ceremony.  Carol had beaded their handfasting cord in the mauve and green colors of their ceremony and it was gorgeous.  I forget how many thousands of beads Carol told me was in it.

With each 'I will' response to the questions I ask them in the ceremony, I tie another knot in the cord, in essence 'tying the knot of their marriage' or 'binding their hands together in marriage.'

Here's a picture of their cord next to the vase that held Carol's bridal bouquet.

When Erik and Carol exchanged rings as a token and symbol of their vows, they said to one another, 'I give you this ring as a pledge of my love and as a symbol of our unity.'

After I pronounced the married with the words, 'You have formed your own union, in friendship, in respect for one another, and in love, and is it therefore my joyful task to pronounce that you are married,'  they shared a wonderful kiss.  My photographer friends ask me to tell the couple that a 3 second kiss is just about right if they want to get a good picture.  And they got a great one.

They're a dear couple and it was a joy to watch them celebrate their marriage in even those very first moments.  As a happily married woman myself who is still celebrating after thirteen years I relish the joy other couples find with each other.

Their mothers signed the marriage license.  Both lovely ladies.  Carol's mother also created her wedding program to look just like a Broadway playbill.  It was very creative and lots of fun.

My favorite picture of them is the first one on this blog, but I love the one below, too. Thank you again, Riley for finding just that calm after the rain to capture some lovely outdoor pictures, too.  Carol and Erik are special people, openhearted and kind.  I'm so glad their wedding was just what they wanted.  And I send them much love for many years of happiness.

To give credit to some other wonderful wedding professionals at their wedding:  The English Garden was their florist, and Eric Hodgden of All Around Raleigh DJ was their DJ for the reception and the ceremony music.  I've worked with Eric a lot, too, in one case where the bride hadn't chosen the music but left it up to him at the last moment and he was wonderful.  It's also a joy to work with him.  Their Maid of Honor, Beckie, made their cupcakes.  Wow!  What a huge and lovely gift for them.

Chandler and Heather Marry in Burlington With A Sweet Declaration of Love

 I met Chandler and Heather through their wedding planner, Chelsey Morrison of Gather Together Events.  I'm so glad she contacted me.  She was wonderful to work with and Heather and Chandler are a delight.  They married on December 31st of 2011 at a small intimate ceremony at the restaurant '121 W Front St', in Burlington, NC.  I loved the venue because it was transformed into a really warm intimate celebration space.  And the side room was excellent for a small but separate ceremony site.  


Heather and Chelsey are expecting.  Perhaps little Langston Everette is already here!  So we were celebrating both in their ceremony.  And it was hard for all of us not to tear up a little.  Chandler and Heather feel so blessed in their love, the love of their families and friends, and in the new life they are creating together.


Big thanks to Big Star Studios for their photographs of Heather, Chandler and me. 


Their cake made by Buy Me Cake, says it all.  You have to notice Heather's bouquet, in the photo above, too.  It was created by English Garden Florist.  It was so lovely and unique.

 I took the shots of the restaurant.  I was just so impressed by how they created such a warm space.

It was no surprise to any of us that Chandler teared up a little with his vows.  He's a man with a big heart who shows it easily.  I so appreciate that.  And then their vows were so lovely.  

Here is what they each said to each other:

           In reaffirming the relationship we have been building together

And in the presence of our family and friends,

These things I promise to you on our wedding day.

I promise you above all, my love!

My unending trust and respect,

And gentle understanding and support.

I promise to strive for balance in our life and relationship,

And to place you above all others.

I promise to keep an open heart and mind in times of change and growth,

And to find compromise when we face conflict.

I take you to be my wife (of course she said, 'husband'),

The companion of my days,

From this day forward

For the rest of our years.

Heather put Chandler's ring on his finger with these words, 'Chandler, with this ring, I thee wed and join my life to yours.  May it remind you that I am with you in spirit wherever you may go.'

After their ceremony I got this delightful note from Heather, '....and of course we gave you a great review because you did, well, great!  We loved the ceremony & loved working with you! Thank you so much for everything!'  They also promised that I would be in the loop for pictures of Langston Everette.  I can't wait.

Thomas and Jessica, best friends for ten years

November 14th is the day Jessica and Thomas got married. From the time they were fourteen, they had known that theirs would be a forever friendship. At that time they'd gone to two different schools, but even then they'd had known that what they had was special. Everyone thought they were too young and a little crazy. But over the last ten years they've grown up, and grown their love, even through the difficulties of a long distance relationship while she was in college and he learned the family business.

To their friends they're an inspiring example of a good relationship. And while their friends said, 'It's about time!' when they announced their engagement, to Jessica and Thomas, it was just the right time. On November 14th, with all their friends and family gathered at Bay 7 of the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham, they honored their special love.

Jessica's friend, Angela, was the honorary wedding director. She was fabulous and essential to the day. She kidded that she could apply her skills as a medical student to this occasion. But kidding aside, she gave a special gift to her friend in the grace and attention she brought to coordinating the many logistics of the day.

Thomas and Jessica come from two different faiths, and in their ceremony we honored both traditions. Melissa Cherry, a photo journalist from Greensboro took all the wonderful pictures you see here catching the occasion beautifully. Many thanks to her!

After Thomas and I entered the ceremonial space,
four attendants carried at huppah created just for the occasion. (These four friends remarked to me after the ceremony that they had loved being able to see Thomas and Jessica's faces so clearly during the ceremony.) The huppah, in Jewish faith, represents the promise of the home they'll create together. Its sides are open, symbolizing the importance of community, participation in each others lives and what is beyond ourselves.

Jessica entered with both her parents to the Canon in D by Pachelbel played on a great sound system by Jill Phillips of All The Right Grooves. She was fabulous. This is a large, wide-open and difficult place to get the sound just right, but she managed it.

Thomas and Jessica used the architecture of the setting well, too, holding the ceremony on a landing of the stairs with a backdrop of silver tile, which created a wonderful platform and effect by which everyone could see more easily.


Thomas and Jessica's exchange of rings had special meaning. Thomas proposed on New Year's Eve at mid-night in Asheville, NC on the grounds of the Grove Park Inn. It was a symbol of the forever commitment they'd both grown toward all these years. Now they were formally declaring this commitment in the eyes of all who love them.




During the ceremony they shared a glass of wine as part of the 7 Jewish Wedding Blessings Jessica's brother Jacob recited for them. The first is 'We praise you God, ruler of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.' The next six are just as lovely.

They also thoroughly enjoyed their kiss, taking the time to savor the moment. Yay!



Thomas broke the glass and everyone yelled 'Mazel Tov' at the end of the ceremony to wish them congratulations and good luck. It's not really hard to break the glass if you step on it right and then of course you have to remember to have it in a white cloth napkin so that shards don't go flying. It's a wonderful way to signify with a good shout that everyone is with them in spirit and that the ceremony is completed. Traditionally this ritual holds the prayer that says 'may your bond of love be as difficult to break as it would be to put together the pieces of this glass together again.'

I call the final moment before the Recessional the Basking Moment. It's the time when a couple is reentering their community for the first time as a married couple, seeing everyone who is there because they love them and wish them all the happiness in the world. It's a time to relish and drink in all this love and support.

So often couples seem to run out down the aisle. I say, 'Relax and enjoy all those faces turned to you in love.'


Jessica and Thomas had a special tradition for their wedding cake. Jessica's grandmother and mother had both had these same Kewpie doll's on top of their wedding cakes. And now so did Thomas and Jessica. The picture on the table is Jessica's parents cutting their wedding cake almost thirty years ago with the same small dolls on top of it. This beautiful cake was made by Ashely Lattier of Ashley Cakes.



Cydney Davis-English from The English Garden in Raleigh was responsible for Jessica's beautiful bouquet and the Cala lilies for her bride's maids.















I didn't stay but Jessica reports that they had to kick people out at eleven because they were still going strong on the dance floor. Durham Catering Company must have been a hit with the dinner, too. Thanks to Tom Ferguson.

I appreciate it so much when a couple lets me know that their ceremony has been what they wanted. Jessica send me the following note, which I'll treasure: "We are back home from our honeymoon now and starting to settle into our life as a married couple. We wanted to write and thank you for doing such an amazing job at our wedding last week. The ceremony was so heartfelt and honest - it touched both of our hearts and was able to transcend to reach all of our friends and family in attendance as well. Standing on that stage, listening to you deliver the words we worked so hard to choose, everything else truly faded away.

We really appreciate everything you did to make our wedding day so wonderful. You took so much care to craft the exact ceremony we wanted and we could never thank you enough for being part of the most important day of our lives. ... Thank you again! We are so glad we were able to share the day with you. Meeting you and having you officiate our ceremony was truly a blessing for both of us.'

It's a blessing for me, too. Jessica and Thomas were very clear in their appreciation and affection for each other and their family and friends. I felt privileged to be a part of it with the special role I had in their wedding.

Jessica and Thomas story was written up in the Harold Sun. It's wonderful. Click here to go the the Herald Sun site and the story.

Helping them honor a generous and inclusive love such as theirs is why I love what I do.