Lori and James Wed at Lake Crabtree Where They First Met!

When Marty and I arrived for Lori and James' wedding on October 9, 2010, Sherry Lattin (violin) and Julie Frederick (flute) of Florian Music were already set up and playing their beautiful music. Lake Crabtree is a Wake County Park where James asked Lori if she would like to go for a bike ride sometimes when they met each other at the Fat Mountain Bike Festival in 2006. Hence it was only fitting to have their wedding ceremony here. He proposed to her at sunset at the Grand Canyon and so our ceremony was near sunset but not so close that we all got locked up inside the park which closes promptly at sunset.

Ann David of An Elegant Affair kept us all in order and organized! At the right, she is outstanding in her field!! Sorry, Ann, could not resist that one!

This wide open flood plain next to the lake is quite picturesque and was a beautiful place for their wedding as you will see in the photos taken by Marty with my digital camera. Our renowned wedding photographer, Brian Mullins, will have some spectacular photos to show on his website too.

When we were ready to begin and the parents and guests were all seated--we had quite a crowd--Ann started cuing us in.

I love this shot with the long skinny shadows cast by the setting sun to our right.

Then the ladies appeared out of a secluded wooded spot followed by the bride and her father.

 

These flower girls were adorable and had such a good time at the wedding. They are Ariana, niece of the bride, and Claire, Goddaughter of the bride. You will see later that they sat down in the grass and played with the flower petals. Apparently the wedding ceremony, although quite intriguing for the guests, bored these little girls! 

We are all in place up front and waiting for our beautiful bride and her proud father.

 

(Notice the flower girls? They were so quiet, I did not even know what they were doing until I saw the pictures!)

 

 

James' friend, Christine, presented a reading from "Gift From the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. She did a great job!

 

 

 

 

At the conclusion of the ceremony after the recessional, I announced for the guests to come up front as the bride and groom and wedding party circled around for a group photo. Brian, standing on two chairs--one foot on each, hoisted the camera high. Brian is 6'5" and so he got some good height for this shot. Ann and I are looking on at this wonderful assembly of James and Lori's family and friends. Then the guests expeditiously returned their blessing stones given to them in the beginning of the ceremony to infuse with their blessings for the couple into buckets provided and proceeded to the reception at The Museum of Natural Sciences.

Lori and James, what a fantastic wedding you made come true! I hope it fulfilled all the dreams you had of your big day. You are an amazing couple and I congratulate you both! May you have a lifetime of love, peace and joy!