Small At Home Weddings for Erin and John, and Ryan and Barbara

I love doing small family weddings at a home, too. So many times you get to know the couple and the family a little more intimately as people are moving in and out of the kitchen finding things, preparing food, or ensuring that little ones are ready.

You don't get to hear about a lot of these smaller weddings because I seldom get pictures from them. Often there isn't a professional photographer, things are hectic, and of course, it's almost impossible to get a picture of the couple together until after the ceremony, and then couples forget to send me a picture. But that's okay because I know their lives have moved beyond the wedding into the marriage. And that's a good thing.

But I was handy with my camera for both Erin and John's wedding on August 7 in Apex, and Barbara and Ryan's wedding on October 29th in Graham. They both had a sweetness that other couples who are planning family weddings can appreciate.

In Erin and John's wedding we included Erin's young son Hunter into the ceremony in just a little way so he wouldn't get too nervous. He held the rings. I think it was the only time he was still the whole time I was there, his having a normal abundance of little boy energy. There were lots of other children under the age of ten at the ceremony, too so we included everyone into the action by bubbling John and Erin thoroughly after the ceremony.

Here you see Erin's grandmothers who could stay on the porch in rocking chairs in the shade during the ceremony and still see everything. And they didn't have to go up or down any steps.

Erin and John didn't have any attendants, and everyone stood during the ceremony. It was, as they wanted it, short and sweet. Erin met John when she was 14 and these ten years and many independent life experiences later, they were marrying. They were best friends and we celebrated how blessed they feel to have found each other.

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Friday, October 29th Ryan and Barbara wed at her parent's home in Graham.

They planned for the possible cold with a tent but almost everything else was accomplished by Barbara's amazing mother, Carolla. She was a whirlwind organizing the music and the seating and the food. I hadn't met Barbara and Ryan before but had talked many times to Barbara on the phone. And since she arrived my limousine just before the service, the first time I met her was at the ceremony. But all it took was a glance to know that everything was just wonderful for them both.

I was genuinely delighted for them and you could see that all their friends and family were, too. Barbara and her family are Chilean and Ryan is from North Carolina. In their wedding and the joy that surrounded them, I felt privileged to see world community happening around me. Since my Sweetheart was born in Cuba, I was especially aware of the spice that adds to a relationship.

They chose one of my favorite readings said by Citizen G'Kar on Battlestar Gallactica many years ago and introduced to me by another couple, also years ago. I offer the first two sentences and the last sentence for you: 'The universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not English or Spanish or Greek or Japanese or Hebrew. It speaks in the language of hope...We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light our way to a better future. We are one.' For a marriage that joins two people from two different cultures, it's a perfect reading.

I wish both these couples much joy and was glad they let me into their lives and their homes during this special time in their lives. It was a treat for me.