Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Celtic Wedding for Michelle and Sean at All Saints Chapel!
Michelle and Sean wanted to incorporate elements of Celtic traditions in their wedding ceremony on May 15, 2010. So, they created a handfasting sash of Sean's family tartan which we used during the ceremony to "tie the knot." The men in the wedding also wore their kilts. They also arranged for a bagpiper to provide the ceremony music as a sweet surprise for Sean's father, Michael. It was a bonny good morning for a wedding at All Saints Chapel in downtown Raleigh. The majority of the guests were shuttled from the hotel to the chapel and we had to delay the start of the wedding mainly because Artsplosure was also happening about 3 blocks away and traffic was slow.
When we were satisfied that all the guests had arrived, it was time to start. Michael began by escorting in the mother and the grandmother of the groom.
As soon as the mother of the bride was seated, Sean, his best man Joe, and I entered and took out places on the altar.
Our sweet little flower girl, Deanna, niece of the groom, did a great job sprinkling petals down the aisle.
Then it was time for our beautiful bride, Michelle, and her father, William, to enter and float down the aisle.
This historic chapel is such a beautiful setting for a wedding and has become very popular for weddings since it was moved to its present location in 2008. It will accommodate up to 200 guests.
Michelle and Sean put together a very sweet and touching ceremony that reflected them perfectly. We included not only the handfasting and tying of the knot, but also the blessing of the hands. They wrote their own wonderful vows and read them to each other from my book while they were holding hands. We closed with a blessing and the pronouncement of marriage.
And now they are married!! Michelle and Sean, I am so happy for you. Congratulations and best wishes forever. When your wee one arrives in October, let me know and we can plan a blessing ceremony!
Our Vendors:
All Saints Chapel--On hand was Drew to help me get my sound set up and make sure things were handled. It was good to see you again! There were two weddings this Saturday and Sarah was due to come in for the other wedding.
I thank Sheena Johnson and Donald Webster of Carl Johnson Photography for covering the wedding. They were everywhere!
Daniel's Florist did the pretty bouquets and boutonnieres.
Our bagpiper was John Schodtler and he was very good. While we were waiting for the guests who were delayed, he came inside the chapel and entertained the guests who had already arrived.
After the wedding, Marty and I stopped in at Caffe Luna for the reception to get a photo of the wedding cake. This beautiful cake was by Cinda's Creative Cakes and it was very creative. In the second shot you can see that the ribbon of icing was actually colored like the tartan plaid. How did she do that??