WEDDING PLANS: Amaran and Elliot Marry at Flanders Art Gallery in Raleigh!

Amaran and Elliot are the sweetest couple! She found me on mywedding.com and sent an inquiry. We set up a time to meet. The minute I met them I knew their wedding would be a sweet one. Their venue was Flanders Art Gallery on West Street in downtown Raleigh. This is a spacious open area with only partial walls and one in which you can do your own thing. Theirs was pretty much a DIY wedding with lots of help from relatives and friends. The date was June 15, 2013 at 4:00 PM. When Marty and I arrived, there was a flurry of activity going on and I was worried that we might not get started on time which would have been a problem because I had another wedding at 6:00. But it all came together. Amaran was with her mother, Mary, and her stepdad, Bill, in a car outside and after the guests were seated, we sneaked her up to the front porch while keeping Elliot's head turned away from the door.

Amaran's dad, Andy, was waiting inside for her. We enjoyed chatting a bit and he told me he was nervous. Since they had no attendants, we had not had a rehearsal so I explained what he needed to do--an easy task!

When we were ready to start, Elliot and I walked in first.

Our pretty bride and her proud papa!

When I arrived, I noticed that there were quite a bit more chairs than the 50 guests that they told me they were having. Apparently when people heard they were marrying, the guest list expanded to nearly 80. I wished I had brought my sound system with me. So I just walked out into the aisle to speak to the guests and be heard above the air conditioning. It worked out just fine.

They have a good story and I had fun telling their guests. You see, Amaran is a big Elvis fan and when she spotted Elliot at a party back in 2009, she was instantly attracted to this good looking guy who resembled Elvis. He got a big chuckle out of that but loved having this very beautiful young woman being attracted to him. Amaran soon discovered that not only did Elliot resemble Elvis, he was a very good person and cared about family like she did. A week later at Elliot's birthday party they exchanged numbers and a month later they began hanging out together and officially became a couple in January of 2010. He proposed in March of 2012 and they began planning this wedding.