Tammy and Alex were such a great couple to work with. They have such unflappable, even temperaments and easily tackled the job of creating their ceremony from the material I sent them. They wanted to do a unity type of ritual in the ceremony but because Alex's brothers had the water pouring and the sand ceremonies in their weddings, they did not want to repeat either of those. Tammy came up with the brilliant idea of converting the traditional rose ceremony into an "orchid unity" ceremony and it worked perfectly.
Their wedding day was Saturday May 29, 2010, and they chose the beautiful and expansive amphitheater at
Meredith College with the lake on one side and the tiered brick seats on the other for their wedding site. There are bridges on both sides and we used one for the entrance of the groom, his groomsmen and me. The other was used by the bride and her father to enter the ceremony. It was impressive. The day was rather hot and muggy but it did not rain! The sun was in and out during the ceremony. Usually there are lots of geese strolling around on the grassy area but they were obviously intimidated by all the humans on their turf and so they stayed in the water. However, they left behind plenty of goose poop for us to avoid stepping in! But see how pretty and green the grass is because of all the "natural" fertilizer!
We began by having all the guests leave the shady spots and go take their seats in the sun as Rebecca, a neighbor of the couple, played the violin. Then our director, Janie, friend of mother of the bride, directed the seating of the parents.
Alex and his men and I were ready to enter next. The sun was definitely out and the temperature was near 90 degrees.
Now it is time for the bride to enter escorted by her proud father.
Tammy had told me that her bridesmaids were wearing "grape purple" and that she was wearing a white dress trimmed in "wine red." Well, I could not imagine how all this would go together but it was gorgeous. Look at her amazing wedding gown! I am sorry I did not ask her more about it. I think it must be a vintage gown with a history.
Here is a bridal portrait of Tammy that Jennifer of
Kidd Photography took and posted on Facebook which is where I got it. Great photo and it really shows the detail of her awesome wedding dress.
This is the view from the seats in the amphitheater. See how large it is? I did a lovely Celtic wedding here years ago where the bride and her entourage were escorted in to the music of a bagpiper. It was majestic. I don't know why more couples don't use the amphitheater. The lovely chapel comes with it as a back up plan. Our head photographer was
Jennifer Kidd. Jennifer is so much fun to work with. She told me she had injured her wrists and her leg in a bicycle accident a few days before the wedding but that was not going to stop her from fulfilling her obligation to Tammy and Alex. So she brought along lots of help! Jennifer Aanerud and Michelle, both free lance photographers, were there to help her out. This is Jennifer A. in the foreground and it was great to see her back in action after having an adorable baby boy in March. Michelle is wielding the tripod and Jennifer Kidd is making her way around the guests to the right.
Here are Michelle and Jennifer busy getting great angles for the wedding photo album. This wedding was definitely covered photographically!
This photo above is taken from the lake-side of the amphitheater and shows the many rows of brick seats behind the guests. Not common to see a wedding from this angle. The little black "boxes" you see on either side of the guests are the speakers of my sound system that I provide so that all the guests can hear what I am saying and enjoy the ceremony the couple and I carefully created.
During the ceremony I handed Tammy a hankie so she could mop the sweat and humidity off Alex's face where it was rolling down from his forehead!
As they were escorted in, their mothers, the givers of life, each carried a stem of orchids representing the bride and the groom, much like the unity candles the mothers light in traditional ceremonies, and poured water into the central vase and placed the orchids in the two white vases, one representing the bride, one the groom. "Orchids in themselves are symbolic of love and are often described as elegant, beautiful, strong, rare, delicate and long lasting." The couple then exchanged the orchids as their first gift to each other then placed them together in the water that each mother had poured into the central clear vase which "represents the nourishment and unity of your families. May this water clean and soothe your relationship that you may never thirst for love and bind you together forever."
And now they are married!
Tammy and Alex, what a great couple you make and I know you will be so happily married. I wish you a lifetime of happiness and contentment!
