Andy, Eileen and I met at the end of October to plan the ceremony for their wedding on December 30, 2011 at 5 PM at
St. Marks Chapel in Raleigh, one of the sweetest spots in the Triangle for small weddings. We discussed what they had in mind and started co-creating their ceremony. The wedding day was simply unbelievably fabulous and unseasonal weather for December with a high of 63 degrees and lots of sunshine.
When we arrived, our photographer, Tom Edwards of
New Image Studio, and his daughter, Amy, who was the second shooter, were taking some shots of Andy and two of his friends who were helping with the wedding.
The horse drawn carriage was maneuvered in place for the bride and groom to travel from St. Marks to the reception at Second Empire after the ceremony. I believe that
J & L Carriages provided this beautiful one.
Lindsay Skipper of
Elegant Violin was playing beautiful prelude music while the guests were being seated. Lindsay brings along her amplifier and iPod with pre-recorded piano accompaniment for her violin. It is simply beautiful. Lindsay and I did another wedding together last spring and I recommended her to Eileen and Andy. I did not know she had moved to Virginia though. She told me that her parents live in Raleigh so she is back frequently and was home for the holidays for this wedding so it all worked out!
Our pretty bride was hanging out in the Post Office building until it was time to begin the ceremony. We shooed all the guests inside and seated the mothers. Eileen's daughters, Marissa and Alexis, processed in then the two flower girls.
Eileen's son, Max, escorted his mother part of the way down the aisle then Andy met them and escorted her the rest of the aisle up onto the platform to join me for the ceremony.
Eileen and Andy wanted to remember those who have passed on front this earth, particularly Eileen's father and aunt and Andy's aunt so we had three white roses to symbolize their presence in spirit.
They each placed their roses at the altar while Lindsay played "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban.
St. Marks is such a nice setting for an intimate wedding. The capacity is 55 people. There is a loft from where the photographer can get some really good photos. Andy's mother and father, Dorothy and Andrew, are seated on first pew on the right. Dorothy took me aside before the ceremony and told me she had been waiting 50 years for this moment. Although Eileen had been married before, Andy had held out all these years! Eileen's mother, Caroline, and Eileen's children, Marissa, Alexis and Max, are sitting on the front row on left. In the ceremony we paid tribute to the two mothers and recognized Marissa, Alexis and Max.
Alexis read a passage from Colossians for us.
The pronouncement of marriage was made, they kissed, and were introduced as husband and wife to the guests then recessed to the back of the chapel as I announced for the guests to remain in the chapel for a champagne toast.
They really enjoyed this kiss in the light of the beautiful sunset!
The "champagne" was handed out but it was really non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice.
Andy made a great toast. Wish I had written down his words. Tom is capturing the moment!
Tom decided he needed to toast the couple as well as Amy handed him some "champagne," although in this photo it looks like he is taking it away from her and telling her she is too young to drink!!
Eileen poses with the pretty flower girls, Nicole and Michelle, who loved sprinkling the petals!
Eileen and Andy, I am so happy for you that you found each other to share your love and your lives! May you have peace, love and joy all your days!
This photo was taken by Lindsay and she posted it on
Facebook where I copied it for this blog post. Thanks, Lindsay!! BTW, she commented that St. Mark's has the best acoustics of any place she has ever played, maybe in her whole life! I agree with her. I do not have to use a sound system in the chapel because the acoustics are so great.
