Linda and Marshall exchange vows amid autumn color, October 11, 2009

Autumn has always been my favorite time of year, when the brilliant color play of nature catches my heart with its beauty every time. Apparently Linda and Marshall feel the same because they had autumn colors in abundance everywhere you looked - and it was stunning. From the bouquets to the table and wall decorations, it was a feast for the eyes. Linda is an event planner and you could see her hand in all the details of the ceremony and reception.

Linda and Marshall live in Maryland but have family here, so they decided to have a NC wedding and chose the rustically modern Rigmor House in Chapel Hill. Although only a few miles from my home, I had never done a wedding there before and I fell in love with it immediately.

When you first drive up, you are greeted with a rather plain exterior that belies the airy expanse you find when you walk inside past the porch - which is huge and perfect, complete with rocking chairs.

On all the tables on the porch and the centerpieces of the tables inside, were these beautiful autumn arrangements made by Linda. She said she had been working on them for a year and how fun for her to be able to keep some for use through the years at their homes.

When you enter the house from the porch, there is a welcoming foyer they had set up with the table cards on one side...

And the guest book table straight ahead.

These incredible floral arrangements on the guest book table were done by Jeff Pipkin of A Floral Event.

And I love the simple bowl of flowers and stones.

This beautiful cake was provided by Sweet Memories. I have been seeing a lot of their cakes recently and they are all just exquisite.

Others on hand to make the event a success were;

Photographers - Mike Strauss of Strauss Studios, who was also the Best Man and Linda’s Uncle John, who is a photo hobbyist

Caterer - Deb McCartney (has no website, but she can be reached by phone, 919-247-6536). I don’t know what Deb was cooking in that kitchen, but it was making my mouth water!

Linda and Marshall found me through their friends, Kim and Travis, whose wedding I had done 5 years earlier. Happily, Kim and Travis were able to be at the wedding and we got to reminisce for a while. It was great to see them again and catch up on their lives. It’s always nice to run into old friends.

This wedding was about family, friends and loved ones here and departed and it was heartfelt all the way through. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Linda and Marshall to create their special ceremony and will miss not seeing them anymore. I hope we run into each other some of these days.

On the table by the cake was this great photo collection that says, “Live well, laugh often, love much, dream always.” I’d say that pretty much sums up everything about Linda and Marshall’s relationship. With this as their game plan they should sail through life having a grand time all the way.

the Knot serves up a fun buffet for local wedding vendors, June 11, 2009

If you have been planning a wedding, you probably already know about the knot and their highly successful wedding magazines. They have become the go-to website for all things wedding and are always being quoted and interviewed in the media. Not only do they provide useful information, but they have also grown into a community of couples planning their weddings and much more. The knot has now added a website for the newly married (the nest) and for those expecting a baby (the bump), so the knot family continues to grow.

Last week (6/11/09) the knot came to Raleigh to host an appreciation dinner for their local wedding vendors and it was a great evening. Samantha Dockery of Bliss by Sam, is one of our Raleigh wedding planners and she handled all the local details for the knot. Wakefield Plantation, a beautiful golf community clubhouse with a great lay-out and perfect for weddings, provided the location. And the food they provided was delicious! To add to the fun, a couple of local vendors added some unique additions of their own.

One was Sugarland, a shop in Chapel Hill that makes wedding cakes and other confections. But for this evening they brought along their Italian gelato bar. I had never tasted gelato before but it was exquisite. No wonder so many of us kept going back for more! They had tiny sugar cones they served the gelato in and of course we all had to try the different flavors they brought - each one better than the last. Although they only brought four flavors in their smallest gelato bar, their website shows many, many other flavors as well. I can certainly see how this would be a huge hit at a reception or a rehearsal dinner and I can’t wait for my first excuse to visit their shop in Chapel Hill!

The other fun thing going on that evening was the photo booth, provided by Shutter Booth. Remember when you were a kid at a fair or some arcade and they had those photo booths you’d go into with friends (or your siblings if your parents made you) and you mugged into the camera? Well, this is the same thing - only nicer. And if you want to revert to a kid again immediately, go into one of these! I have been hearing that this is becoming popular at weddings and I can certainly see why. Shutter Booth provided some fun dress-up paraphernalia for the photos and everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves! I have included some photos from the booth with my good friend and colleague, Rev. Kayelily Middleton, and our willing husbands - all of us hamming it up like a bunch of kids. Because this was a knot event, the knot logo was on the bottom of each set of four photos printed, but for your event the text on the bottom will have your name and information, based on the specs you provide. Very clever. And waaaay too much fun. Within a few days they post all the photos taken at each event on their website (in case you lose the ones you got at your event).

One of the favors the knot gave out that night was delicious cookies with the knot logo as the icing on the cookies. The cookies were great and the reproduction in the icing was superb. This is not your mother’s icing decorations. Their brochure says, “full color images on cookies, chocolates and sugar lays” (yum!) and it appears they can do any text or photo in any color. This would be a great wedding favor or gift to be sure. The name of the company is FB&C (Freedom Bakery & Confections) and you might want to check out their website for the full range of what they can provide.

If you are looking for something really fun and/or different for your wedding or event, you can’t go wrong with any of these companies!

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Also on hand to help make the event a success were the following;

Photography - Emory Lane Photography

Rentals - Classic Party Rentals

Programs and Invitations - Twin Dogs Stationery

Floral Arrangements - Queen Ann’s Florist - 919-360-8383

Audio Visual Equipment - Total Production Services

Entertainment - DJ 360

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Here’s a crop of one of the photos in a set of four, (taken of my husband Bill and I) so you can see the quality of the photos Shutter Booth takes. Bill is such a sweetie and looked too cute here when he stepped out of his normal quiet-self mode, so I couldn’t resist adding one more photo of us together...

Beth and Jason set sail on the USS Happily Ever After - May 24, 2009

Beth and Jason, being unique and adventurous, decided that the perfect place for them to go after they recessed out the aisle was to get into a rowboat for their own champagne toast and some private time together. Now, as the ceremony was to be held on a raised platform over a lake, a rowboat was not a problem. But a wedding dress in a rowboat?! And heels?!! Yikes! But Jason’s eyes were sparkling when he said it so I knew it was going to happen - and happen with style. And that it did, as the guests watched from the railing above.

For their celebration, Beth and Jason wanted the framework of the wedding traditions - but with some fun and unexpected twists. My first inkling of how things were going to be different was when I first met with them and Beth told me her bridal attendants were all going to have titles. But there wouldn’t be a Maid of Honor or a Flower Girl and in fact the Ring Bearer was actually going to be a teenage girl. Her title was going to be “Little Miss Bling.” (I was hooked right then and there!) The Flower Girl was going to be the “Princess of Petals” and another little girl who was carrying in the vows to be read during the ceremony was to be “The Keeper of the Vows.” (Wow- this was going to be TONS of fun!)

Beth then explained that the Bridesmaids were all the “girls that give me strength” and their titles were going to describe what they were “made” of instead of them just being a “maid.” (Clever.) So here’s her list;

Made of Awesome (her sister in the Maid of Honor role)

Made of Friendship

Made of Music

Made of Sweetness

Made of Courage (this Brides-made is a police woman)

Jason told me that while he did not have individual titles for his Groomsmen, they were in fact the “guys that got my back” and for that reason they were all equally important to him. And I could definitely see this was true at the rehearsal and on the wedding day. Strong friendships all around.

And check out the shoe attire for after the wedding;

On hand to make the music jump and keep the soundtrack for the event going strong was the ever fun and efficient DJ Richie of RJ Entertainment. Richie and I have worked together only a few times, but I can tell you he is a consummate professional. He encourages his clients to choose music that reflects them and their style and Beth and Jason did exactly that. Listening to all the tunes they had chosen I couldn’t believe my ears. Even Bob Dylan?! Yeah! It was an eclectic mix - but then I should have expected that with Beth and Jason. Here’s a photo of DJ Richie, and the shadow in the foreground is me taking his picture. Yes, I know. Pretty klutzy. But luckily they didn’t hire me as their photographer.

Who they did hire for their photographer, though, was the husband and wife team of Erin and Joshua DeFisher. I had not met them before but they obviously work well together and from the shots I saw them taking, I can’t wait to see the rehearsal and wedding photos! Their company is J & E Photography and I went to look at their website after I got home from the rehearsal. Nice work. Based on what I saw, Beth and Jason are sure to be very pleased with the results and hopefully Erin and Josh will remember to send me some photos to post here.

The videographer, Rob Johnson of R E Johnson Productions, was an active man with a clever and practical front harness that kept his camera steady and ready - and he was fun to watch in action. He was so agile he could dart and sprint like a cat to catch the action and the videos he and his assistant, Mary Lou Bell, (who had her camera stationary on a tripod) put together are sure to be lots of fun. Wish I could be a fly on the wall while they are being watched.

The wedding and reception were held at Bass Lake Retreat in Holly Springs. This is a wonderful location for a wedding as it sits at the edge of - and extends a bit above - the water of Bass Lake. It also has a nice room for a reception, can hold a fairly good sized group inside and out, and as the day retreats and the water gets still, it takes on a serenity that just can’t be beat.

Serving up the food for the evening was the catering company, Lip Service, owned by Chef John Gilreath. Beth and the chef are long-time friends and she and her sister often help out when needed, so you can be sure that Chef John was going all out for Beth and Jason‘s wedding feast. Lip Service can be reached by phone at 919-859-8100.

Another chef in her own right was Granny Kay and she provided

all the sweet goodies. No small feat, that. I had more than one person tell me I hadn’t lived until I had tasted Granny Kay’s this or that item so I’m sure there was nothing left by the time everyone went home.

Beth and Jason did so many fun and unique things for their wedding and as I write this post, they are honeymooning in Greece. Sounds like a perfect place for a couple with such a strong zest for life!

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