Kim and Brian marry with a classy Halloween style at Barclay Villa, October 31, 2009

So how do you marry on Halloween and, keeping it solemn, still give a wink and a nod to the day... but not let it get campy? You follow Kim and Brian’s lead.

First you find a castle. In this case the wonderful Barclay Villa, an Italian villa with a baroque interior set in the countryside of Angier, NC. Among other amenities, it comes complete with a great hall and a grand staircase that lent itself perfectly to the wedding festivities.

Here is the head table where the Lord and Lady of the castle (Groom and Bride) sat. How perfect is that?!

Barclay Villa has beautiful landscaping throughout the grounds and Kim and Brian used that to great effect as well. The ceremony took place at the gazebo in the back and look how cleverly they decorated the area.

They even made the Handfasting cord that we used for the Handfasting Ceremony after their vows. It was waiting for us to use on the table in the gazebo. Woven of their Halloween colors and with stones sewn onto it, it was truly beautiful.

And what reception theme do you use of all the possible options for Halloween? Kim and Brian chose the haunted castles of Europe. Each table card was the name of a haunted castle in Europe. There was a long information card printed up about each one, standing beside the very clever pumpkin table card holders.

The pumpkin stems were sliced to hold the cards.

And then once you have all that in place, you run with it and have some fun. Like Kim’s bat earrings (check the top photo more closely) and Brian’s bow tie and hankie - an orange ground with bats in a grid pattern.

And the skeleton bride and groom candle holder that stood by the place cards.

And the fun napkins.

Many couples nowadays have photos on display of themselves as children and of special times through their relationship. Here’s how Kim and Brian did the same but kept the Halloween theme.

This is their wedding cake, provided by Donna Ford of Sweet Memories. She picked up the Halloween theme perfectly, complete with bats flying off the sides of the cake.

And this adorable cake topper was actually crocheted by Kim and Brian themselves, each making their own self. Quite clever - and what a fun keepsake to pull out every year for their Halloween decorations. Their children who come alone one day are sure to love the story of how this cute couple came to be!

And of course things just wouldn’t have been complete without some trick-or-treat candy before you left, with black boxes for you to put it in.


It was such a fun and clever wedding celebration and just perfect for a Halloween date. Here is a photo of me with Kim and Brian, taken with my camera by their photographer, Stacy Borelli, of Swank Studio. (Why can she get better photos out of the camera than me? Must be why she’s the professional.)

Also on hand to provide the perfect musical accompaniment was their DJ, Ron Smith, of Ron K. Smith Productions. He must have had a great time planning the music for this wedding!

As I was leaving the wedding that night, I noticed there was a full moon and I could hear dogs howling in the distance...

“Ah, de children of de night.”

___

Christine and Kenny marry September 13, 2009 at Caffé Luna in Raleigh

Christine and Kenny are such a nice couple! They are the kind of people you know would be great friends to you and to each other. And with both having a twinkle in their eyes, they are surely a lot of fun to be around. It was fun to watch them tease and joke with each other.

They added many clever and witty touches to their wedding day, including a great piece of bling that the Ring Bearer carried as he came down the aisle. What looks like a round crystal is actually the giant diamond on the top of the big ring he carried proudly as he entered.

Christine and Kenny are building a new family and they wanted the ceremony to include their beautiful daughters, Brittany and Brooke. They decided to use a Blending of the Sands ceremony to symbolically show this element in their lives. Each person chose their own color of sand...

and when poured together one at a time, they ended up with this wonderful wedding keepsake. They will always remember which color of sand is theirs and this special memento will always be at Christine and Kenny’s home as a reminder of how important they are to each other and to their family.

The ceremony was held at Caffé Luna in downtown Raleigh. I love doing weddings there because no matter the time of day, the light always has a bright and cheery feel in the three rooms of the Caffé. It always feels happy in there.

The wedding favors provided for the guests were a full table of candy delights - enough to make Willy Wonka jealous. Figuring prominently on the table was an invitation to take all you like and they had monogrammed boxes to put it in. The children’s eyes must have lit up like crazy when they saw it. And I must say, I was pretty partial to the gummy bears myself.

What a cute way to let you know which were Christine and Kenny’s favorites.

Purple was the accent color of the day and their wedding cake, provided by Ashley Cakes, picked it up in the simple ribbon that wrapped around each layer. Accented with purple flower petals and a clever “We Do” sign they had placed in front of it, the cake made a great presentation.

The DJ on hand for the music was Jill Phillips of All The Right Grooves. I always look forward to working with Jill and her partner, Bethany, because they are just so much fun and very professional. That day there was a special treat - Jill’s mom had decided to come with her to watch her in action. What a nice lady.

Deftly handling the photographs was Scott Zelenka, lead photographer for Crystal Eye Photography. I had never worked with him before so it was fun for this amateur photographer to watch him work. His photos should be terrific!

Christine and Kenny, it was an honor to be a part of such a sweet wedding and to watch you and your family interact with each other. I know you will have many wonderful years ahead and I add my congratulations to the chorus of your family and friends who wish you all the best.