Fantastic Wedding for Rachael and Victor at The Cotton Room!

It was such a delight to work with Victor and Rachael. We hit it off right away when they came to meet with me last May. They are mature and knew what they wanted--and laid back and easy going! At the rehearsal, one of their groomsmen told me they are the last of "their crowd" to marry and so everyone was pumped for this wedding. We had a good time constructing their story and ceremony and were really looking forward to this fabulous wedding day of November 2, 2013 at The Cotton Room in Durham--a really wonderful wedding venue. 

Their wedding planner/director was Amanda Scott with A Swanky Affair. Amanda and I have known each other for years but had not done a wedding together since she started her own wedding planning business. It was a pleasure to work with her on Victor and Rachael's wedding and every detail was handled with finesse and ease! Thanks, Amanda! let's do lots more!

These pretty tables were hidden behind the flowing draping for the ceremony then the drapes were pulled and the reception set up while the guests enjoyed cocktails after the ceremony.

Triangle Catering caters all the weddings at The Cotton Room. 

Eric Hodgden was our very fine DJ. We actually had just done a wedding together the weekend before at Caffe Luna. Love working with Eric. The sound was perfect!

This pretty cake was in place. It was baked by Cinda's Creative Cakes as was the groom's cake below.

Victor attended the University of Alabama and is a huge fan (now Rachael is too!) and so of course the groom's cake had to reflect his loyalty!

Tre Bella was the florist. This is the bride's bouquet! 

For the guest book, the couple asked them to sign the matt around photographs.

One of the tables flanking us for the ceremony. Simple elegance with their chosen color of purple.

So, this is how the ceremony set up looks on the side of the room with tall windows pouring in the daylight and the expansive length of the hardwood floors. This building has been re-purposed from being a cotton manufacturing plant and warehouse. 

Here is the view from the back of the room. 

Amanda has gotten us all lined up for the processional. It was a long processional. 

A quick shot of Amanda holding Rachael's train waiting for the time for her father to escort her in!

And there they go! 

And so we began! 

There was a warm welcome, an opening prayer, remembrance of those who have passed on and a sweet tribute to their parents.

Then we had fun with their story! Here is a brief excerpt: "They met for the first time at Coquette’s, a French restaurant in North Hills, in February of 2012. They had so much fun talking and getting to know each other at dinner that they ended up spending most of the weekend hanging out together. They were both very comfortable and relaxed and the conversation flowed so naturally. Rachael was intrigued by Victor’s calm, easy going presence. Victor loved Rachael’s smile and laughter. 
For their second date, they decided to go hear one of Victor’s favorite bands, “Alabama Shakes.” Although Rachael was not a big fan of concerts, she wanted to go just to be with Victor. They met at a local shopping center to carpool to the concert. Rachael is directionally challenged and assumed Victor was good at directions because he was so confident about it. On the way to the concert he asked her to look at the map on his phone and see if they were going in the right direction. He had no clue then that maps are useless to Rachael. He wanted her to look and see if they were headed for the red dot on the map. She was taken aback because she thought he knew how to get there. His style was simply to drive in the direction of the red dot on the map instead of following street by street directions. Thankfully they didn’t really get lost at all, just one wrong turn. Since then, Victor has been in charge of getting them where they want to go."  

They exchanged their vows and sealed them with their rings. 

We closed with a blessing then I made the pronouncement of marriage!

Great kiss! 

They were so thrilled to finally be husband and wife! (In the aisle is Randall Hill their photographer. He is based in Myrtle Beach so I had not met him before.  I liked him a lot. He was at the rehearsal and asked me then if I had any restrictions about photography during the ceremony. I told him that I only ask that photographers not get behind me during the ceremony and distract the couple and the guests. He said he would never even consider doing that!) 

Rachael and Victor, congratulations! You are a great couple, very well matched and it was wonderful to get to know you and have the honor of joining you in marriage!

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