Grisha and Abby at Top of the Hill Back Bar

Grisha is really Greg, but Grisha is such a wonderful nickname and this is what Abby calls Greg so it kind of sticks.  They met in a camp for learning Russian language and this is the name Greg was given in camp.  Theirs was a delightful wedding in the area called the Back Bar at the Top of The Hill restaurant in Chapel Hill.  I love it when couples tell me what they want so that they are celebrating who they are and so they and their love shines through.  I had no worries about Greg and Abby - they had their own ideas.  Yay!

They had grown their love long distance that first year.  Now 3 years later they were marrying in a ceremony that honored some Jewish customs that were dear to them.  The colorful huppah they're standing under was pieced by Grisha's mother.  Abby's father offered the blessing of the wine, and immediately after the breaking of the glass, everyone began dancing the Hora.  It was great fun.

Grisha and Abby invited guests for drinks then when the moment was ripe, we all walked into the big reception room, Greg and Abby greeting guests then.  It was a great size for their around 70 guests.  I tucked in some pictures of the Back Bar to show you how well it served for their wedding and how creative their decorations were.  This first picture is the front of the room.  We gathered here in front of the huppah.

This is looking back toward the back of the room.  The back right is the entrance into the room.

Carolyn Scott of Carolyn Scott Photography took these wonderful photographs.  I love working with her.  She's fun as well as professional.  I think that's how she can get such amazing shots.  Thank you Thank you Thank you, Carolyn.  I don't know that people realize how important it is that the photographer be someone the couple can relax with.  They spend most of the hour before the wedding with them and then need to be in a good mood and not stressed.  Not easy.  Crissy Brady, of Not Your Grandmother's Wedding, was our coordinator extraordinaire.  Thank you, Crissy!

Thanks, Carolyn of taking a fun picture of me as I wait for Abby, Grisha, and guests to gather. 

Greg and Abby created just the ceremony they wanted.  One touch they chose was to combine the section of the vows and rings into one section where at the completion of their vows they slipped the ring onto the other's finger.  With the pronouncement, the kiss, the breaking of the glass and turning around to guests they were married, and the Klezmer band started the music to dance.  Later pie was served baked by the Top of The Hill.  I can attest to their desserts.  They are wonderfully decadent.  

Greg and Abby's wedding feels like a small town wedding to me.  My husband, Ruben, was Abby's Middle School Science teacher, and some of this other former students are employees at Top of The Hill.  For me it had the feeling of coming home.  How much more must it have felt that way for them.  It was a gathering of close friends and family who love and support them, and celebrate their love. It doesn't get any better than that! 

I wish them every blessing and Mazel Tov!

Richard and Caroline at The Old Well at UNC

At 7:45 am on the drizzly Tuesday morning of September 22nd, Richard, and their friends and I gathered at the Old Well on UNC campus to await Caroline's arrival at 8 am when we would begin their wedding ceremony. The sun kept moving in and out of the clouds so we were hoping hard for no rain. Everyone was generous of spirit as we waited and I felt lucky to be their officiant.

Caroline is studying at the School of Pharmacy at UNC, having just arrived a few months before from Singapore. With her came Richard, her fiancé, a chef hoping to find a position in one of the wonderful restaurants in Chapel Hill. Our timing was critical. The next day Richard would be flying back to Singapore to get his visa renewed.

At this gathering were their friends from the School of Pharmacy and from the small UNC contingent of Singaporeans. It was a small and very close group. This was to be their American wedding and when they return home to Singapore, they would have another wedding with their families and friends there.




They wrote their own vows and exchanged rings with the words, 'I give you this ring as a token of the loving covenant made this day between us." They had memorized their vows and the words of the exchange of rings. I was simply holding my book up in case they needed it. And they didn't!

Their local reception would be held that night at the Top of the Hill restaurant in Chapel Hill so we wanted their ceremony and short time after the ceremony (folks had to get to class by 9:30) to include their wedding cake and a toast. To accomplish this I created a special symbolic ceremony within the wedding ceremony to include the cutting of the cake, and them feeding each other cake, with these words:

"A tradition in this country is for the couple to share wedding cake at their wedding celebration. We bring that tradition into the ceremony today. The cake represents the sweetness of your days together. It represents that from this moment on you will be called to nurture each other, in body and spirit, often in unexpected and spontaneous ways. You will sit at the same table and eat and drink together. So eat now. And may your lives be sweet with love, romance, and adventure. And from this time forward may you find life's joys doubly gladdening, its bitterness sweetened, and all things made more delightful by the sweetness of your love for each other."

After the ceremony, the signing of the license, and many pictures, .....


The whole group accompanied Caroline and Richard to the car their friends were lending them for the day. It was decorated Singapore style. I congratulated them that this custom was more attractive that most of the ways we decorate cars in this country.















We were all hoping that Richard could get back to NC and his new wife quickly. And he's on his way as I write this blog. Welcome back, Richard. And Congratulations again to you both!

And may your first autumn in NC bring wonderful new experiences for you to relish and share!