Danielle and Adam - The Fairy Tale Love Comes True at Last

...and the Prince and Princess were married at last (after 18 years!) to live happily ever after. The Prince was so happy that he kissed his Bride for a long, long, long time.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a beautiful young girl named Danielle and a handsome young boy named Adam. Danielle and Adam met and fell in love in high school and Adam even told Danielle he would marry her someday. But, alas, it seemed that was not to be. A magic spell called Danielle and Adam to different quests in life and their paths took them away from each other. Occasionally over the years they would see each other again but they were each on their own path and were not to be deterred. Eventually Danielle had a bright and charming little son.

Then one day the spell was broken. A way to stay in contact was found and their old bond became a kind and helpful friendship - albeit in different kingdoms. As good friend do, they helped each other through tough times and one day Adam’s path was pointing to a move to Danielle’s kingdom. The ladylove that he had never stopped loving was now on his horizon at last.

As their friendship grew and deepened through the next year, they began to think of themselves as a little family and with delighted happiness their own families cheered when they one day told them they were planning to marry.

So here we are, back to where this post began - Danielle and Adam beginning their happily ever after.
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They chose for the setting of this magical celebration The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary. Ami Wheeler, the Social Catering Manager, was on hand to make sure this wonderful fairy tale had a splendiferous castle for a backdrop. She is a real delight to work with - very caring, efficient and knowledgeable and one of the best in her field. Great job as always, Ami.

Because family is THE most important thing to this couple, Danielle was escorted down the aisle by both her father and her son.

Danielle and Adam wrote a letter to their mothers that was touching beyond words and then gave them each a book and roses. Adam’s father did a reading about love and Danielle’s father wrote his reading about bringing family together.

 Both were very touching.

After her father’s reading, Danielle, Adam and Joshua then braided a rope as a wonderful symbol of family unity and that rope will be proudly displayed in their home. This will be a very sweet memento.

Danielle and Adam each wrote something special to the other that they read during the ceremony. Eighteen years of life and emotion were encapsulated in those words and it was very moving.

At the end of the ceremony came the breaking of the glass - but with a twist. There were three glasses tied together (as you saw in one of the photos above) and Adam, Danielle and Joshua all stepped on them at the same time, breaking three individual glasses. This was followed by my introducing them as husband, wife and family and an immediate giant cheer from all the guests.

So the fairy tale had come true at last. Love triumphs over all. 

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Other wedding professionals on hand to celebrate this love story;

Music for the ceremony - an Arioso Strings duet with Ed on guitar and Craig on violin - superb as ever

Music for the reception - Joe Bunn - Joe Bunn DJ Company - first class style all the way

 

Photographer - Shane Snider and his assistant, Lindsey Wachter - Shane Snider Photography - I love his work and his happy smile! (Many thanks to Shane for the use of his photos in this post.)

Videographer - Joshua on his Flip video camera

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Danielle and Adam, since I was a little girl I have always loved fairy tales. Thank you for allowing me to participate in one as beautiful as yours.










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Renee and Jon Celebrate Their Love and Their World Travels with a Wedding at The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill

Renee and Jon are natural givers - she is a pediatric nurse at UNC and Jon is a policeman. You can tell when you meet them that they are warm and caring people and their choice of careers bears this out as well. They are also world travelers and adventurers and their love of travel has taken them all over the globe. For their honeymoon they planned a trip to Tahiti, where they had never yet been, and it was sure to be a trip of a lifetime, even for these intrepid travelers.

They are so in tune with each other that unbeknownst to the other, each had chosen the same vow from the list of vow ideas I provide. Because they wanted their vows to be secret from each other, neither knew of the other’s choice and I just couldn’t wait for the look of surprise on their faces when it came time for their vows during the ceremony. It was priceless! I have only had one other couple do that in all the years I have been doing weddings.

They chose as their wedding location the historic Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill. The wedding was held in the intimate Bryan Courtyard and the reception took place in the wonderful Old Well Room that has also entertained the likes of the young Queen Elizabeth of England. Perfect company for this globe-trotting couple, I’d say.

For their decorations, they had petals lining the aisle in the thickest edging I have ever seen and it was beautiful. The colors for the wedding were shades of purple and lavender and the petals picked this up perfectly, as did the bouquets, boutonnieres and table florals, all created by Watered Garden Florist.

photo by DJ - Randy Bennett

The ceremony took place under the large tree that is a focal point of the courtyard and the tree was strewn with lavender paper lanterns.

The Bridesmaid dresses were a lovely shade of lavender. The dresses were stunning and you can see they looked great on each of the Bridesmaids. Here is a photo that includes me, taken after the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Renee and Jon wanted to add a symbolic touch about joining their lives together and they chose a Blending of the Waters ceremony to symbolize this. They had purchased an engraved glass vial to pour the waters into and when they poured their red and blue waters together they created purple. This is a special ceremony that is not often done, unfortunately, but as the new color is created from two others, it makes for a very dramatic moment. Guests always love it, especially since so few have ever seen this before.

Their wedding planner was the very capable Rebecca Dunn of laFete, shown here with her assistant, Carly Abernathy. They were quite the dynamic duo and things went off perfectly for this very special wedding. Rebecca’s the lady on the left. Don’t they look like sisters!

The DJ for the wedding and reception was the wonderful Randy Bennett of Joe Bunn DJ Company and he was his usual friendly, kind and professional self. He is a superb DJ and I always look forward to working with him at weddings.

Their wedding cake was a fun decoration by Simply Cakes, complete with a sparkly monogram topper. Sorry my photos don’t do it the justice it deserves. It had such a happy feel to it.

As I mentioned earlier, Renee and Jon are great travelers so they naturally used that as the theme for their reception. Look at the cute suitcase box they created for the gift cards from the guests. Placed on the gift table by the photographic guest book, it made a very clever presentation and suited these world travelers perfectly.

The table names were the most fun of all. Each table was the name of one of their trip locations, with a photo of them taken at each locale. So far they have traveled to Grand Cayman, Honduras, Belize, Italy, Curacao, Greece, Mexico and Malta (whew!) and they were planning to honeymoon in Tahiti, which was the table name on the Bride and Groom’s table.

It was a beautiful wedding day, a fun celebration of their love and a great start to what is sure to be a grand adventure for the rest of their lives. What a treat to get to know a couple so full of life and love. My best to both of you, Renee and Jon. I hope you keep posting your travel photos so we can all continue to see the world through your adventurous eyes.

Marta and Greg’s Romantic Love Story, Chapter 2 - A Fairy Tale Wedding at 1705 Prime in Raleigh, March 19, 2011

Marta and Greg met through eHarmony.com and the chemistry was there immediately. Had they been in a Disney movie, stars would have been coming out of their eyes on their very first date!

This is quite the romantic couple and Greg had always wanted to see Rome with the woman of his dreams so they planned a romantic get-away to the fabled city last October, to coincide with Marta’s birthday. What a great birthday present! But little did Marta know that Mr. Romantic had something else in mind as well - a proposal of marriage. When the time came for him to ask her... I’ll  tell this part of the story in Marta’s words; “Greg said he wanted to give me my birthday present and told me to close my eyes. When I opened them, he was holding a white gold engagement ring; he smiled in a way that was equal parts nervousness, relief, and confidence. “Marry me?” he asked. “Hell yes!” was my response. I kissed him and tried on the ring. It was several sizes too big and I ended up wearing it on a chain around my neck for the rest of the trip. He confessed shortly after that he had been planning the events for some time and had sneakily purchased the ring at Zales the day before we left.”

I can just imagine the two of them walking around Rome for days with their feet never even touching the ground.

For their wedding they naturally wanted to continue this romantic theme and used it in their vows that they wrote to each other, the decorations, the readings for the ceremony, the music, and most especially in the wedding cake. Created by Ashley Lattier of Ashley Cakes, it was a marvel of all things fairy tale.

Here are Ashley and her husband standing proudly beside the cake. And well they should be proud; it was one amazing cake!

The cake is designed to look like a cake is sitting on top of an open book of fairy tales, but that book is actually the bottom layer of the cake. Each successive layer tells of their romance and the elements they want to incorporate into their marriage. And the topper is a Cinderella slipper in red - Marta’s favorite color.

And here are the “sugar photos,” reproductions in sugar of photos from their relationship. The top one was taken by a local citizen on The Spanish Steps in Rome the day they became engaged. The ones on the other three sides (only 2 are shown here) were photos from their relationship through the years. 

They chose as the setting for their special wedding the very adaptable restaurant, 1705 Prime. Located in Raleigh, it sits off the main road and is a special little spot of tranquility in the city. Alison Purdee, the Catering Sales Manager, was in charge of making sure everything went off perfectly for Marta and Greg. With so many of us going all over the place, she did an impressive job of keeping us all on track and on time. Thanks, Alison!

Here is a photo of the lobby of 1705 Prime and one taken standing in the lobby looking up into the interesting chandelier-as-art hanging in the 2-story entryway.

Before the wedding began, I was lucky to get to watch Marta giving all the Bridesmaids their gifts of unique jewelry she had chosen to suit each one. They loved them! 

While this was going on, the photographer, Heather Swanner of Heather Swanner Photography, was taking some cool shots of the guys in the bar. Quite a handsome bunch.

Incidentally, Greg and Marta’s proposal story was so special that they won a free engagement photo session with Heather because of it.

The DJ on hand that day, creating the musical backdrop for this romantic wedding day, was Randy Bennett of Joe Bunn DJ Company. I love working with Randy... he knows how to do everything exactly right without being the center of attention. Great job as always, Randy. (Update 4/14/11 - Just learned that Randy has been chosen as the DJ of the Month with Joe Bunn DJ Company because of all the great feedback the company got from Randy’s happy clients. Congratulations, Randy!)

For their honeymoon, Greg and Marta went to Orlando to immerse themselves in Harry Potter World (they do have cats named Ginny and Weasley, after-all) and Disneyworld. What a fun time they are going to have. Greg’s niece gave them this little statue of Mickey and Minnie as a bride and groom and it was proudly displayed on the gift table.

The last reading in their ceremony was a fun rendition of “Oh the Places You’ll Go,” written by Dr. Seuss. It suits Greg and Marta’s approach to life perfectly so I’d like to end with a little excerpt from the poem;

Step with great care and great tact and remember
that Life is a great big balancing act.

Just never forget to be dextrous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed!

(98 and three quarters percent guaranteed.)

Kids you’ll move mountains!

So... get on your way!

Monica and Joe Exchange Vows at Treyburn Country Club in Durham, Nov. 20, 2010

Monica and Joe are a handsome couple, as you can see here, and they are every bit as nice as they look. It was so much fun being a part of their wedding; everything was beautiful and elegant and they were warm and easy-going through the whole process. That is always a good combination for a happy wedding.

Their romance began many years ago, when they were in the 8th grade. They went to a Valentine’s Dance together and, although life eventually parted them, they met again in 2006 and have been inseparable ever since. Someone had framed this great write-up and photo of that first date. Such a sweet way to begin a romance.

They chose as their wedding location the beautiful Treyburn Country Club in Durham. Weddings are always special there because the setting is so amazing and this particular day, with all the trees glowing in their autumn splendor, it was even more gorgeous than usual.

The day couldn’t have been more beautiful for Monica and Joe. Here are the arbor where we stood for the wedding, the sun glowing on the back of the clubhouse and the sun shining on the walkway where we all entered for the ceremony. Everything was glowing that day, including Monica and Joe.

The Special Events Coordinator at Treyburn is Lauren Barry, who was so very kind, patient and friendly. She was a joy to work with and Monica and Joe both commented to me about how great she was for them.

The flowers for the whole event were provided by Flowers by Gary and they were just perfect for the day.

 Monica added a special touch to her bouquet by attaching her grandmother’s brooch.

While we waited for the wedding to begin, Joe was chatting with the ladies of the Bridal Party and I couldn’t resist getting a cute photo.

The simple, elegant cake was provided by Cinda Putnam of Cinda’s Creative Cakes. Everything she creates is beautiful.

The wonderful DJ for the day was Randy Bennett of Joe Bunn DJ Company. I always love working with Randy. He is quiet and unassuming, has the couple’s best interests at heart and always knows how to keep things moving along with just the right style. First class all the way.

Monica and Joe, may you have many happy Valentine dances together and may those beaming smiles on your wedding day remain forever on your faces and in your hearts.