Chelsea and Ras met at work. They are both car fanatics--she Corvettes, and he, Mustangs! This theme was woven through their wedding ceremony. Their employer has an internal social media network through which they discovered each other shortly after Ras started his job then later met in person at the car club at work. The rest is, as they say, is history! Ras was born and grew up in Denmark and Belgium and has the most delightful accent too. Chelsea and Ras were so much fun to work with. They are both very creative and their wedding day reflected so much of it which I will highlight here. First of all, their wedding was April 12, 2013 at
Chateau Bellevie Bed & Breakfast in Fuquay-Varina, a stunning French Chateau sitting on three acres overlooking Lake Laurel that is so beautifully furnished with grounds perfect for a small wedding of 40 to 50 guests. I love doing weddings there. I first met them on January 10th when they came to see me about officiating. They were delighted to find that I encourage my couples to participate fully in creating their ceremony and that is what they wanted.
As you drive down the driveway.....
The back of the chateau and the terrace where we often do weddings. The other location is the gazebo you can see the roof of beyond the terrace.
Before the guests arrived I asked Hannah if we could angle the chairs in toward the center. She was very sweet to accommodate me. Thanks, Hannah! She is one of the event directors at the chateau.
I met
DeLane Hayes for the first time this day. He is our DJ and quickly got my receiver plugged into his system and we did a sound check. Thanks, DeLane! Hope to work with you again soon! I don't have a photo of our photographer for this post but it was Cara with
F8 Photo Studios with whom I do many weddings every year. Thanks, Cara!
The room off the terrace was all set up for the reception. Chelsea and Ras chose red, white, and silver for their color scheme. Guess why? His Mustang is red, her Corvette silver!
This is so clever. They took a map of the world and colored it red, blew the image up and printed it then matted it. This is their equivalent to the guest book. The instructions are below.
They also brought personalized games for people to play if they did not want to dance. How clever!
Their unique and humorous wedding program!
Ras personally made this beautiful wooden box and put their initials on it for their Memory Box.
When we were ready to begin, Hannah cued Ras' parents who came from Denmark for the wedding to enter.
Then Ras and I entered.
Best Man, Adam, escorted in Maid of Honor, Lauren.
Carl, groomsman, got two bridesmaids, Meghan and Amber!
Then it was time for Wes and Debbie, parents of the bride, to escort Chelsea in. (Chelsea made the bouquets! Beautiful job, Chelsea!)
And so we begin....
Their story was so good...everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats listening to it.
Time for their vows.
Then the rings.......
They were both nervous about speaking very much during the ceremony for fear of not getting through it so we used the vows and ring exchange where I do all the speaking and they just say "I do."
Explaining the Memory Box ceremony where they place love letters to each other in the box during the ceremony. Then on their first anniversary they open them to reflect upon the reasons that they fell in love and vowed to marry one another on this day. Then I handed them their sealed letters to put in the box.
At our rehearsal I told them what I always say to the couple: Don't rush out. Wait for the music to start and take the view in. You will never see this sight again! They remembered!
Chelsea and Ras, what a great couple you are. Your stars were meant to align and your paths cross. I wish you health, happiness, love and peace, and may your life together be a great adventure!
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