Amy and Michelle Celebrate Becoming Committed Life Partners at The Barn at Valhalla in Chapel Hill

Amy and Michelle have been together over 20 years, starting as best friends back in junior high in Michigan. They share so many mutual enjoyments, but chief among them is a love of travel, particularly out in nature. Their careers have brought them south to our area and I was so pleased when they told me they would like to work with me to create a very special commitment ceremony. They wanted their celebration to be about their love for each other, for their very supportive family and friends, and their love of Nature. With a love as special as this one, you can bet they had some beautiful ideas to incorporate. This was to be a romantic, casual affair and that approach fit both of them perfectly.

They chose The Barn at Valhalla as their wedding location because it is so beautifully placed in nature. Rustic and easily accessible out Hwy 54 past Chapel Hill, it is a wonderfully serene location for a wedding. Quiet woods surround the barn and its adjacent pond, with all sorts of nature’s creatures scampering about. The Barn itself has a large deck that wraps around it and includes a long, wooden walkway through the woods out to another large deck with a great stone fireplace.

When the ceremony began, we all entered down the long walkway and took our places in front of the fireplace, followed by Amy and Michelle entering together.

There were some special moments during the ceremony and lots of happy, emotional tears were shed.

Amy’s sister was her Maid of Honor and Michelle’s brother was her Best Man. Our reader was Aeryc (“Eric”), the Best Man’s Life Partner. Aeryc offered a beautiful Apache Blessing.

Amy and Michelle each chose their own vows to read to each other before putting on their rings. The rings were engraved inside with the simple words, “Soul Mates.”

After the vows and the ring exchange came the Handfasting Ceremony, with a beautiful cord of symbols made by Amy and Michelle. They had placed all their hopes and dreams for their future into the cord before the ceremony. During the ring exchange we had a silent prayer and asked all the guests to send out their best wishes and prayers to Amy and Michelle. The loving energies of those prayers also went into the handfasting cord, making it an even more powerful symbol of love.

You can see in the photos above that the cord is hanging from my ceremony notebook. What you cannot see well is from what the cord was made;

blue ribbon for water

brown ribbon for earth

white ribbon for air

a tree for nature

a leaf for the changing seasons

a sea turtle for the ocean

2 petosky stones, the state stone of Michigan

a car for their love of travel

It was one of the loveliest handfasting cords I have ever seen. (If you enlarge this photo you can see the cord around their hands and hanging down.)

Right after the Handfasting, Amy and Michelle were pronounced officially committed Life Partners and someone got this shot right as they turned toward their guests. Look at that look on Michelle’s face!

Before the ceremony began, we noticed the sun was getting low but luckily we were able to get everything finished before it got dark. The Sun gifted us with a beautiful sunset that became part of the ceremony.

Back inside the Barn for refreshments, everyone was gearing up for one heck of a good party. This was a relationship whose wedding was a long time coming and all assembled were so happy to be there and sharing in such a special celebration.

Durham Catering provided the buffet and the food was just delicious. Here is the dessert table all set up.

A Family Tree done with fingerprints has become quite popular lately and this one was especially nice. With Amy and Michelle’s love of Nature and its spiritual side, it was a most fitting choice. Here are photos of the tree;

The Handfasting Cord is wrapped around the branches of the tree. You can now see all the elements Amy and Michelle wove into it that made it so special.

Here someone is adding their fingerprint (after dipping their finger into a paint pot). Other fingerprints have already been added.

And finally, after all the fingerprints have been added, Amy and Michelle’s wedding-ringed  hands are wrapped with their Handfasting Cord and placed on the tree. (I love this shot. It speaks volumes about who they are. Kudos to the photographer.)

Amy and Michelle, I wish you grand adventures roaming the world, walking and hiking through Nature, hand in hand, laughing all the way, enjoying life for all the joys it brings to those who love. May all your dreams come true for you in amazing, remarkable ways. Your rings say you are Soul Mates.

So Mote It Be.
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Liz and John marry in Chapel Hill at the Barn at Valhalla, October 17, 2009

Liz and John live in New York but met each other 10 years ago in Chapel Hill, when they were both students. Her parents still live in the area so it seemed the perfect place to come back to marry and invite their dearest friends and family. It was a small, intimate wedding and so much love was in evidence both to and from the couple. Liz’s Uncle Tim even played electric guitar for the wedding! It turns out that October 17 is John’s brother’s wedding anniversary as well, so they were having a fun celebration on many levels.

They chose as their ceremony location The Barn at Valhalla, a great location for events of all types - especially weddings that want to be out in Nature. The Barn has rooms for sleeping upstairs, a huge reception room and a wrap around deck that overlooks a pond where ducks and geese were swimming the day of the wedding. Canadian geese mate for life so that seemed a particularly appropriate omen for Liz and John.

Because autumn was in the air and the trees were beginning to turn, the decorations were a riot of oranges, browns and greens, so appropriate for the day. Here is the interior of The Barn all set up for the dinner.

And this is the long walkway through the woods, out to the fireplace where the ceremony was held.

University Florist in Chapel Hill provided all the beautiful florals for the day and did a particularly exquisite job with the fireplace. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it looking lovelier.

On the deck of The Barn was the seating chart, cleverly made of a cloth-covered board set up on an easel...

and beside it was a table set up for the guests to leave a special note to the couple.

There was a bar set up at one end of the deck...

and chatting tables were set up along the rest of the deck. Heaters were thoughtfully provided and they were sure to be very welcome on such a brisk autumn day and night.

The beautiful cake was provided by a Chapel Hill baker, Sugarland, who does some amazing work. It was also festooned with glorious autumn colors.

Others on hand to make the day a success for Liz and John were;

Photographer - Johnny Wells of Johnny Wells Photography

Caterer - Durham Catering

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This interesting pair is the set of fire irons at the fireplace. I just love their cheery feel and they always look to me like they are waving at you. So I join in their wave and wish Liz and John all the best that Life has in store. Have a great time you guys!

Meagan and Jeremy get a surprise with the wedding rings, September 6, 2009 at Doubletree Guest Suites in Durham

It was a beautiful day, the bride and groom were both glowing and the ceremony was progressing as planned. When it came time for the rings to be exchanged with the beautiful secret vows they had written, just as Jeremy was putting the ring on Meagan, a bee dive-bombed into Meagan’s ring finger, leaving a sharp sting! Once we all recovered from the shock we had a great laugh about it and after I had made sure Meagan was not allergic to bee stings, we resumed the ceremony. It will be a moment none of us will ever forget and they are sure to laugh about it for the rest of their lives.

The ceremony was held at the beautiful pond behind the Doubletree Guest Suites, which is a lovely, intimate setting for a wedding. Amy Acosta, the Director of Catering, was on hand to make sure all went well for the event - and also helped Meagan deal with her bee-stung finger after the ceremony.

As the guests entered for the wedding, they were greeted by a very clever and beautiful decoration where they were asked to make a wish for the wedding couple and place it in the jar provided.

And then they came to their place cards, which were crystal stones with their names hand-painted on them. Meagan and Jeremy went to Jamaica for their honeymoon so all the decorations reflected the colors and feel of the sand and sea.

Beside the stones were the guests’ cookie favors...

And it all came together beautifully at the tables...

The cupcake wedding cake was provided by Becca Lipscomb of Cakes for a Cause, who donates to research for children’s cancers. It’s a great cause and her work is lovely.

Meagan and Jeremy, with your stinging intruder as an omen, it looks like you are going to have a life of unexpected surprises. I hope you face them all with the laughter and care that you approached the bee sting for you are going to have an interesting life together!
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Others on hand to help make the event a success;

Photographer - Slade Heath of Purple House Photography

Flowers - friends of the couple, Carmen Squadrito and Donnie Bunn

DJ - Taylor Pittman of TaylorMade DJ Services>

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