Carolyn and Madji contacted me via email April of 2009 about officiating their wedding October 16, 2010 at
The Pavilions at Angus Barn. They live in Cincinnati. They booked me in June and we met for the first time in August of 2009 when they traveled to Durham where her parents live. They were very wise to start planning their wedding way ahead of time so they could get the vendors they wanted.
The weather for the wedding day was wonderful. The sun was shining and we had a little breeze off the lake. This is the set up before the wedding down by the lake.
The Pavilions at Angus Barn is a wonderful wedding venue and the staff is wonderful as well. I love doing weddings here. They have their own sound system too.
This is the Pavilions all set up for the reception. They found the cutest lanterns for all their tables.
The fall themed cake was by
Sweet Fantasies. Their photographer was Paul Johnson, a friend from Florida. (All the photos on this blog post were taken with my camera.)
As the guests arrived, they socialized on the terrace and signed the guest book.
Matt Kanon, guitarist, provided the music for the ceremony. He comes complete with his own sound system and is one laid back guy who does a great job. I have done too many weddings with him to count! Thanks, Matt. Randy Bennett with
Joe Bunn DJ Company provided the music for the reception in the Pavilion.
When we were ready to begin, Kelly, with the Angus Barn, had the guests seated and the processional started with the entrance of the groomsmen and me.
Madji escorted his grandmother in and then stepped up to join me. His brother, Adoum, escorted their mother, Joyce, in and then joined us.
Cindy, mother of the bride, was escorted in by her son, Neil, who circled back around to help his wife, Laura, come in with our honorary flower girl, Claire, their daughter and Carolyn's niece. Claire is a bit young for the job of flower girl, but because they did not show her the flower petals until the moment they started walking in, she was preoccupied with throwing them out of the bucket which was just perfect!
The rest of the bridesmaids followed as directed by their honorary wedding director, Robin! Great job, Robin!
Finally, Owen had his turn to do his job as the ring bearer, a job he took quite seriously. He is Claire's older brother and nephew of Carolyn.
So, we are all waiting for the bride as she and her father make the long walk from the Pavilions.
Here they come. Ken, Carolyn's father, did wonderfully but was a bit nervous. I told him it was impossible to mess this up! He did fine.
Madji looks like he is pondering the immense gravity of getting married. I know he was ready to get on with it!
Their friends, Kristen and Todd, presented a reading from the Book of Romans.
Erin, Madji's friend, read an excerpt from the children's book
The Velveteen Rabbit. Then I shared with the guests all the adventures of the couple meeting in Washington DC, Madji's residency in Ohio and Carolyn's decision to move there to be with him. It is a sweet love story!
Carolyn and Madji, it was an honor to work with you to create your ceremony and to officially hitch you two together! You are an amazing couple and I wish you the best of everything life has to offer. I know you will both go far and make your unique contributions to the world!
