An Outdoor Wedding

Here is a story from one of our local writers while attending a wedding over the summer:

After spending a lovely weekend in beautiful North Carolina, I feel the need to write and reflect on the wedding I attended. The ceremony was held outdoors on a gorgeous carpet of green grass next to a well manicured golf course. The guests were shuttled to the ceremony site via golf carts while a violinist played Pachelbel’s Canon in D major.

All of the men in the wedding party wore khaki dress slacks and light aqua shirts with small yellow flowers. They looked very cool and tropical. The shirts were not the typical Hawaiian fare. The fabric was crisp and the pattern very subtle. The bride’s attendants wore aqua sleeveless, street length dresses accented by yellow sashes around the waist. They carried long stemmed, gathered bouquets with splashes of yellow and orange daisies.

The bride was, and I mean this, absolutely radiant! She wore a long, white satin, strapless gown with a vertically, pleated bodice that flowed out to a full skirt. Her veil was simply white netting gathered near the crown of her head that billowed down her back. Her pearl necklace, bracelet and earrings were the perfect accessories.

Instead of the traditional receiving line the bride and groom had their pictures taken with each and every guest as they made their way to the buffet table. This was done table by table, with 8 to 10 guests seated at each table.

The reception hall was decorated with an international flair. Every guest had a place card resembling a luggage tag. Under the guests’ name was a name of a country. Each table had a centerpiece consisting of globes, passports, flowers and a particular country’s flag. Once you matched your place card to a country you found your seat. Each passport held information of the country and the significance of that country to the newlyweds. Most of them were countries they have live in or visited, but a few were countries they hope to visit in the future. The center pages of the passports were left blank for guests to write best wishes or advice for the bride and groom.

The wedding was a moving and memorable ceremony and the reception was pure celebration – just as every wedding day should be!

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