Back in June of 2011, Jessica and Mike contacted me to officiate their wedding at
Fearrington Village on May 26, 2012. They liked that they could construct their own ceremony and that I was experienced in performing the Jewish wedding customs they wanted to incorporate into their ceremony. I also collected information about their relationship so that I could put together the story of how they met and fell in love and what they loved so much about each other. Jessica and Mike were delightful to work with and we had fun bringing their expectations of their ceremony into reality. When the big day arrived on this Memorial Day weekend, everything was coming together beautifully.
Jessica and Mike created beautiful wedding programs and since they are both "birders," they incorporated birds into their color scheme of teal and yellow.
The Barn was all decked out and ready for the reception while the band got set up to play.
We saw the wedding cake making its way to the Barn for decorating.
Fearrington Village bakes their own cakes and does all the floral decorations for the ceremony and the reception.
Here is the cake with the finishing touches of sunflowers and a pair of nesting birds, of course!
The Groom's Cake is representative of the "Oreo" cows that are the trademark for
Fearrington Village.
On the chairs lining the aisle were hung jars of bright spring flowers.
The Chuppah was set up and softly blowing in the breeze. A table with the Memory Wine Box with love letters, the wine for the Wine Ceremony, and the glass for breaking were all assembled on the table in the rear of the Chuppah. I bet Jessica and Mike chose the Dovecote Garden for their ceremony because of the pretty birdhouse in that corner. Perfect for them and such a nice touch!
Gilda McDaniels is the event manager at
Fearrington. She is so good at making the wedding details come to life. We have worked together many times in the past 12 years and it is always a pleasure to let her take over running the show! Here she is going over the cues for the processional music with our two musicians (guitar and flute) from
Save the Date Music before the wedding guests arrive.
Here comes our gorgeous bride and beaming father, David.
And so we begin......
Quite a large wedding party!
For the parents' blessing, the parents and stepparents stood to hear the wonderful words the couple had chosen to pay tribute to them and thank them for their love and support.
Jessica and Mike chose two readings for their ceremony. The first was a sweet poem by Rumi which I had the honor of presenting. Then Noah, Mike's friend, shared the words of a poem (author unknown) about two trees growing so close together they look like one tree. Very fitting for a wedding and one of my favorites.
The Wine ceremony is a Jewish wedding custom in which each drinks from the "cup of life" symbolizing the taking in entirety the bitterness and the sweetness of life together.
The day was not boiling hot but it was humid and Mike kept that hankie I gave him busy wiping the perspiration from his face!
This is the moment I shared their story which generated lots of laughs, always so much fun and so unexpected at wedding ceremonies.
Krystal Kast, our photographer, got good shots of the exchanging of vows and rings.
Mike stomped that glass to smithereens! A sign of good luck as we all shouted "Mahzel Tov!"
Time to kiss the bride!
Notice that Mike has a pin on his right lapel. It was his grandfather's pin for being in an honorary society and on this wedding day, it was presented to Mike with great honor and he was so proud to be wearing it. Notice also the little teal colored bird nestled into the flowers of Jessica's bouquet. Another sweet and memorable touch.
Jessica, that is a stunning dress and so perfect for you! Mike and Jessica, congratulations to you both for a fantastic wedding and a great start to your marriage. My best wishes to you both!
