Heather and Joe Begin Their Married Life at The Highgrove Estate, October 8, 2010

Heather and Joe are a couple that cares about people. Heather is a Pediatric Intensive Care nurse at UNC and Joe is a Captain in the Morrisville Fire Department. With such demanding jobs, how in the world did they ever find time to meet?!

It was through their love of motorcycles. Heather’s mom told me proudly that Heather had started riding a moped at the age of 9 and was completely smitten with riding from then on. Heather and Joe love to take extensive rides on their bikes, especially to our National Parks, and have often traveled with Heather’s parents, who are also avid riders.

Joe rides a Harley and is currently the president of The Red Knights, an international firefighters motorcycle club. A rightfully proud organization, you can see their logo on the Harley-Davidson mailbox set up on the gift and card table.

Heather and Joe decided to use a fireman theme and had the most wonderful ambiance as a result. Look at the amazing Groom’s cake, made by Heather’s friend and colleague, Sarah Hassing.  Sarah has only been making cakes for about a year and has a blog about her work. What a talent! This is an exact duplicate of Joe’s helmet and it looked absolutely real. When the cake was cut later in the night, you could tell everyone thought it was a sacrilege. (In case you are wondering, it was chocolate.)

Here are the clever table card markers - where did they ever find glass hydrants?!

Firemen and bagpipers are a natural combination and Heather and Joe surprised everyone with  a wonderful piper, Robert White, to escort them in and out. You should have seen the happy surprise on everyone’s faces. Robert and I have worked together many times at other weddings and he is always fun to be around. I love his music and his sincere personality. Here he is with Heather and Joe and playing during the cocktail hour.

Another fun element was the guest book. Heather and Joe stationed someone there to take Polaroid photos of all the guests and put them into a book. The guests then wrote a note to the couple beside their photos. What a wonderful keepsake that will be!

The wedding was held at The Highgrove Estate in Fuquay-Varina. It is a magical location for a wedding and reception and they provide so many amenities for their clients, including in-house wedding planners. Ann Eberle was the planner for Heather and Joe and I always know when she is in charge that things will go perfectly. Kind, friendly and efficient, she is an asset at The Highgrove.

The DJ for the evening was Jason Huggins of Island Sound. He sure knows how to keep a party going. Here he is as his professional self and then as his fun self.

The beautiful wedding cake was provided by Cinda of Cinda’s Creative Cakes. I have seen many of Cinda’s cakes and they are always elegant and exquisite. This cake certainly was. 

When it came time to cut the cake, you could tell Joe was thinking whether to be good or not, but in the end he remained a gentleman. 

The photographer in the background is Amy Free, who surely got some great photos. She was everywhere!

Heather and Joe, thank you for including me in your wedding day. Your love for each other and for other people has touched my heart and I will carry that with me always. May you have many happy times riding together, starting with your honeymoon in the rolling hills of Tuscany.

___

Susan and Mike Have a Romantic Wedding at Their Home, August 28, 2010

I hear a lot of romantic stories but sometimes one comes along that just has to be told. A case in point; the story of how Susan and Mike met .

Mike is a lawyer by trade and a poet and sailor at heart. He had planned to sail solo from Maryland to Nassau but while out at sea a mechanical failure required him to put into port for repairs. He sailed into Charleston for repairs, not knowing that while in Charleston he would meet the woman who would one day soon become his wife. Meeting Susan changed the direction of his sail and the direction of both of their lives.

Fast forward a bit and now Susan and Mike live in Raleigh and work together, sharing work and life duties while enjoying the love of both of their children. They even bought their home with their wedding in mind and what a perfect backdrop it was for the romantic and heartfelt ceremony they designed.

Piping the couple in and out of the ceremony was the incomparable bagpiper, Robert J. White. He and I have worked together for other weddings and I always enjoy his company. Because it is so important to him that his music be traditionally correct for the ceremony, I have learned a lot about Scottish traditions and his attention to detail always enhances the calibre of an event. Here’s a photo of him, taken after the ceremony, standing by the arbor where Susan and Mike were married.

The ceremony that Susan and Mike created was traditional, heartfelt and beautiful and included scripture readings from three of their children. Mike had written Susan a wonderful song as a wedding present and she and I both wanted him to sing it during the ceremony, but in the end he surprised her by recording it on a CD. He created an album cover for it and they made copies of it to give to the guests as thank-you gifts for being a part of their special day. I also received a CD and the song is so touching that I have added it to my iTunes playlist. Every time I hear it I will think of Susan and Mike and the glowing love coming out of their faces that day.

Another thing Mike did for Susan; he wrote a poem for her as a wedding gift. They printed it in the programs and it speaks so beautifully of the relationship they have together that I just have to include it here. So all you die-hard romantics and Hallmark card commercial softies, enjoy this sincere token of love from a groom to his bride.

“On Our Wedding Day”

He sailed for Nassau, a man alone,

But a Siren’s song he heard.

She called to him from Old Charles Town,

And his voyage was deterred.

Hull and heart did find repair,

Where the lovely Siren sang.

Enraptured by her beauty there,

He felt love’s old sweet pang.

Hold fast now, lads.

Let the rollers run.

Let the sea her treasures bear.

But of all the pearls beneath the waves,

There is none so fine or fair.

She takes her place now at his side,

On this, their wedding day.

The sea’s brightest jewel is a blushing bride,

And the captain is come home to stay.

                                                                _ Michael C. Hurley

Michael and Susan, may your sail through life be free of stormy seas and safe from the monsters of the deep. May you sail together into the sunset of your life, perfectly matched for the voyage ahead, the Captain and his Mate.

___

Update - 9/14/10 - Mike just sent me an email that he had included this blog post in his firm’s website on the “News” page, and when I went to check it out, I found he had included more information there about Susan and also a link to the “Lawyer’s Weekly” article about his 1000 mile, life-altering sailing trip from Annapolis, MD to Nassau, Bahamas. I also learned there that he is a highly respected author of poetry, so it is no wonder his wedding gifts to Susan were so amazing! (He had not mentioned before that he is a published author, humble man that he is.) For those who would like to learn more about this very special couple, here is a link to Mike’s website.