Ricky and Kelly Marry at The Washington Duke

I've been taking a break from blogging.  A winter hibernation, you could say.  But Ricky and Kelly's New Year's Wedding at The Washington Duke Inn in Durham was too beautiful to not tell you about.  Amanda Krantz from C2 Photo Concepts took these lovely pictures.


The wedding was in the small rotunda room at the inn, just perfect for their small wedding.  Thanks to Beth Pendergrast, too, for her great coordination efforts that day on behalf of the inn.

Kelly's mother escorted her into the ceremony 

It was a small intimate ceremony for close family and friends, the room just large enough for the about people who attended.  Kelly's sister and Ricky's stepfather were the Matron of Honor and Best Man.  A friend even operated the IPOD for their ceremony music.

It was also a joy to celebrate their daughter, Ella, who was really patient with all the festivities happening around her.

The Christmas decorations with their theme of red and black was perfect for pictures.

After the ceremony, the Ricky, Kelly and their guests simply walked down the hall for their lunch reception.

Veronica Yoshida, of Southern Gold Leaf Cakes made their wonderful cake. 















I wish them so much happiness.  Even these few months later, they still bring a smile to my heart.

Shawn and Jenna Wed In An Elegant Affair at Bay 7 in Durham

I had the pleasure of marrying Shawn and Jenna with lots of love and lots of style in April of last year!  Thank you to Dara Blakeley Photography for these wonderful photos, and kudso to Dara, Jenna, and Donna on the wonderful article called 'An Elegant Affair' in Southern Bride and Groom Magazine. 

Jenna is a staff member at Southern Bride and Groom, the magazine that her mother, Donna Parks, publishes, and both these wonderful women have wedding savvy and a beautiful sense of style.

Add to that the help of wonderful local professionals, and love from family, friends, and especially a delightful couple, and it was a truly wonderful celebration.

We're only seeing the pictures now so that they could be first shown in this the 25th edition of Southern Bride and Groom Magazine.

This of course if just a small part of all that is lovely in the magazine.

Shawn and Jenna's wedding was so full of lovely personal touches, highlighted by their talented friends' lovely musical rendition of 'Down by the River to Pray.'


It's fun to know that Jenna is now helping other lovely couples with their weddings with first hand experience of how wonderful it can be.  I wish them lifetimes of love.

Leslie and Craig Marry at The Umstead Hotel and Spa

Craig and Leslie were blessed with a beautiful day for their ceremony, which is a special blessing since most of Craig's family traveled from Nova Scotia, Canada and California to be with them.   And a beautiful location, the lawn at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary.   In their ceremony they simply wanted everyone to know how happy they are with each other.  They're each independent people with their own lives and yet their love has evolved naturally to include and embrace them both.  They both feel loved and accepted for the whole of who they are.  This is a wonderful foundation on which to build a marriage!

Their ceremony music was provided by Arioso Strings and I have Mary Page Block of Arioso Strings to thank for this wonderful photograph.  She's a great amateur photographer and I have the benefit of her skill and her generosity in this photograph.  The wedding also had the pleasure of their wonderful music.  It's always great to work with Arioso Strings.  They're always professional and excellent.  This day they played = 'Air' from 'Water Music' by Handel, 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring,' and 'Purcell's Trumpet Voluntary.'  And finally, 'Rejouissance' by Handel for their recessional.  

Thanks too to Barbara Clark of An Elegant Affair for her great planning and coordination of this wonderful event.  There were about 70 guests.


They wedding party was piped in and the guests piped out by a bag piper.  It was a beautiful touch with all the guests following the bagpiper Paul Davis to the location for the cocktail hour while Leslie and Craig and their wedding party had pictures taken elsewhere.  


This is such a wonderful open venue that I wanted you to see the expanse of lawn.  Here is the view of the ceremony site with the lake in the background.

Here is the ceremony site looking back toward the hotel.

Thanks too to the Umstead staff for always doing a fabulous job of supporting the other wedding professionals.

Since Craig and Leslie's ceremony was planned primarily through their wedding planner I had less to do with the planning.  Kristen of KPO photographs was their official photographer but the ones you see are ones I took, other than the one by Mary Page Block.   Tre Bella was their florist.

Mark and Kate Marry at The Horace Williams House in Chapel Hill

I had the pleasure of talking with Mark and Kate via email and the phone in March of this year so that they could decide that I was the right person to be marrying them.  You see, they live in Ann Arbor, MI where Kate is getting her Masters Degree in Public Health.   They would be coming down to NC about a month before their wedding and we would meet then.  That worked well for all of us and we had fun planning online.  They wanted a relaxed simple ceremony in the side yard of the Horace Williams House, in downtown Chapel Hill.  That picturesque historic home in Chapel Hill has several wonderful areas on their lawn to have ceremonies.  

Thank you to Kate's Uncle Stewart Nowlin of Stu Nowlin Imaging for these wonderful pictures.  He is based in Kansas but his card says that he will go on location anywhere.  I imagine he's photographed some interesting weddings.


It was important that their ceremony be inclusive and honoring of their families and they brought to me an expression from Mark's grandmother that I had never heard before:, 'Cut the apron strings but leave the kitchen door open.'


On the side of the Horace Williams House is a lovely huge old bell.  At the end of the ceremony they recessed to the bell and rang in their marriage there.

They're a playful couple with delightful senses of humor.  On the wedding day, they were transmitting it live to Australia and California via MarryMeLive.com.  While all the connections were being set up they had lots of on camera fun moments.  It was a great way for everyone to enjoy their spirit and their day.


Guglhopf Bakery, that wonderful German bakery in Durham, baked their beautiful cake and they decorated it themselves with seasonal flowers.

Kate also made her own bouquet.  

They love to cook together so we had a Salt Covenant in their ceremony.  It was a wonderful way of personally honoring their commitment in a way that brought them joy every day.

Then Mark's father read the lyrics by Roger Glover from the CD 'The Butterfly Ball' called 'Love is All.    They were wonderful and just like Mark and Kate's generous and joyful spirits.

I wish them much much happiness and joy!

Steve and Teri

At their wedding rehearsal, I hadn't seen Steve and Teri since we had met in late January, but our email conversations had been great, back and forth volleys sharing ideas and questions.   In that slightly unusual email way, I felt like I'd gotten to know a them well through a unique aspect of who they are together.  It was fun to see that blossom in our correspondence and then in person at their rehearsal.


I always love officiating weddings at The Cotton Room.  Michelle Allred is a fabulous coordinator and we've been working together so often and so well that we can trust that everything will flow flawlessly.    Also, the architectural elements make this space both elegant and warm as you can see below.  (The DJ was behind the curtain but with Michelle's 'walkie talkie' system, cue-ing the music was fine.)

Thanks to consummate pro, our photographer Diane McKinney of Diane McKinney Photography for these wonderful pictures, too.   She is a joy to work with as well, easy and personable.  Aaron was their wonderful DJ, Cinda of Cinda's Creative Cakes provided their cake and Tre Bella Florist created their flowers.  These are all local professionals who love their profession so create great work.  For all of us there that day,  Steve and Teri's wedding was a labor of love.

In their ceremony we celebrated that this was the anniversary to the day from when Steve proposed to Teri.  Their journey to this day began over 7 years ago at their first meeting.  They love the life they've built together, laughing at almost everything, except Patriot games of course.

In their vows they told each other, 'I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together.'

After Teri and Steve exchanged their vows, took part in the Hand Ceremony, noticing the hands of their beloved as we described how these hands would hold them through difficult times, lovingly hold their children, work together to build their future, and lastly, even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for theirs.

Their recessional was 'Here Comes The Sun' by the Beatles.  To me there is no more fitting music for a wedding.  But then I'm a Beatles fan ever since they were on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1963, listening as they grew and matured, creating timeless music.  BTW - their processional music was 'Come Away With Me' by Nora Jones, and 'Forever' by Ben Harper, and Dave Barnes, 'I have and I Always Will.'  They were all beautiful.




Another thing The Cotton Room is good for is a big open space to dance.  I'm glad they had such a good time.

The wedding was full of their friends and family - another good reason for a large welcoming space.  

And here is the way that they remembered all their guests and their guests remembered them.  On this tree of life, each guest puts their finger print on the tree and write their name beneath it.

They were off to somewhere warm and exotic for their honeymoon- Mexico or a cruise to the Bahamas - I just remember thinking, 'Ooooh.   That sounds delicious.'  What a culmination of a great time with family and friends, and, of course, getting married!  I wish them many many years of delight.

Rob and Jen Marry With Much Love and With Their New Son at the Caffé Luna in Downtown Raleigh

Jen and Rob's beautiful wedding at the Caffé Luna was the culmination of a lot of planning and effort on Jen and Rob's part.  Effort that took place while they were pregnant with their son, Robert Douglas.  It was a delight to celebrate his entry onto the planet at their ceremony, too.

Their professional photographer was Carolyn Scott, of Carolyn Scott Photography, who got some absolutely fabulous shots (as did her partner Goeff).  Make sure you read to the bottom of the blog to see all her pictures!  They're wonderful.  I've gotten to work with them three times this year and it's always a delight.  I've included some 'friend's shots'  in the blog, too, because they were shot at a sweet angle during the ceremony that the professionals couldn't get.

Jen, Rob and I met in March when they anticipated an October wedding.  But then when she found out she was pregnant the wedding was moved to November.  It's a good thing and a great change since we all got to celebrate Robert Douglas, too.

These pictures are only of the ceremony.  My favorite part!  :-)  Their wedding was held at the Cafe Lunna in downtown Raleigh.  

Their florist - check out that lush arch - was Lyn Graves of Fresh Affairs, and their DJ for the reception was Mike Morse of Mike Morse Entertainment.  I've worked with Mike many times too and I knew he would be great.

Sisters on the Harp -  Harp and Flute - the music for the ceremony was played by Brittany and Marissa Farrell.  They played beautiful Irish selections for the prelude, then a Sonata in A by Mozart, Edelweiss, and the Bridal March from Lohrengrin for the bridal processional.    They 

were flawless!

It was a joy for me to be there.  Here I'm entering from the front of Caffé Luna with Rob entering just behind me.

Rob's attendants

Jen's attendants.  There wasn't a big space but they made it work!

Jen's mother held Robert Douglas while we talked about what a blessing he was in their lives.  He was such a sweetie.

Here he is later in his mother's arms.

Their ceremony was rich in feeling and symbolism.  They were so clear and present.  That says a lot about their love.

The kiss, of course!

I kept some of the friend's shots in because they have a unique angle on the ceremony.  But they definitely speak to why it's important to hire a professional photographer.

The Presentation!  I love this part.  I call it the basking moment, because it's the moment where a couple is reentering your community as a married couple and everyone there is offering their love and support.  I tell all my couples, 'Drink it in.  This moment comes only once.  Don't rush out the door.  There will be hours to party.'

Even the recessional has a lovely peacefulness and grace to it.  I'm always glad when people honor that part of the ceremony with their attention, too.  Another friend shot photograph.

Here is Geoff getting a picture before the ceremony.  I love these architectural backdrops.

Their cakes were by Cinda of Cinda's Cake Creations.  R2D2 has special meaning for them since Rob's initials and their son's initials are both RD.
















Carolyn took some  photos before the ceremony to get the daylight shots.  These showcase the amazing rich color of their autumn wedding.

 The Caffé Luna has a wonderful reception room that amazingly is big enough for dancing.

What a joyful couple so in love with each other and with their baby.  Life will only deepen as they grow together.  I wish them so many blessings.  My daughter turns 40 this year.  I can hardly believe it.  The years speed by.  May they cherish each moment!