Slowing Down the Pace, Stilling Having Fun

St. Paul Lutheran Church at Cave Creek near Fredericksburg.  The church was built in 1883

On May 28th I performed wedding #50 in a two-month period. Maybe it was actually #51 or #52, but let's just say it was a LOT. The whirlwind was super fun and, yes, wore me out a bit. But I had the good fortune of going directly from that last wedding to a two-week retreat way out in the country. I came into town for a couple of weddings in the middle, and then I got a call from a couple needing an officiant in Fredericksburg on a Friday. As fate would have it, I was planning to be driving through Fredericksburg that day, and this is how I wound up performing an elopement in a tiny, very old church way down a country road.

I love all the opportunities this job brings. I love meeting all sorts of people. I love all the beautiful venues. I love the huge weddings and the tiny weddings. But there's something super exciting the times I find myself driving down some long, abandoned, dusty road. I feel like a JP in the olden days, traveling from town to town, helping out where I'm needed. I feel like a character in a James McMurtry book. It's so fun. Here are some pics from my latest adventures. 

A small, elegant wedding at the Four Seasons

Yay! 

Getting ready for the big moment at Caswell House.

This was wedding #2 in a 3-wedding day. I got there at precisely the start time, got out of my car, and mysteriously a man in a golf cart appeared, told me to hop in, and drove me straight to the ceremony site.

Lovely bride at Villa St. Clair

This is Mark Cruz. Mark and I have been doing weddings together since 2007. He is a magnificent guitarist and he is super chill. He just shows up, knows exactly what he's doing, and his energy brings a calm joy to weddings. You can find out more about Mark at his website.  

Great wedding at Mansion at Judges Hill. This year I have lots of weddings with couples that have been together eight years. This couple is one of those-- they met in junior high. 

Okay, can you say STUNNING dress? OMG. I LOVE IT. It's green! I told the bride that her classic beauty combined with this utterly unique dress was just unforgettable. 

Wedding #50 at Memory Lane Event Center in Dripping. 

All you need is LOVE. Well, that and CAKE.

Super elegant wedding at Green Pastures. That place is so classy and so classic. 

I've been seeing this more and more lately-- receptions featuring long tables so that all the guests can sit together. This was a the Hotel St. Cecilia.  

Outside at St. Paul Lutheran in Cave Creek. 

This is Ravner, another wonderful guitarist I've been seeing at weddings for six years now.  Like Mark, Ravner is a  total professional, really amazing guitarist. He shows up, sets up, plugs in and plays beautifully. You can find out more about his music at his website. 

House on the Hill is one of my very favorite venues-- often the wedding party will stay the entire weekend. It's a great idea because it let's everyone settle in and get some rest the night before. This was such a joyful wedding-- bride and groom swapped high fives during the ring exchange. 

If you'd like to know more about my wedding services and to hear what couples have to say about my work, please visit my official wedding website. Thanks!

SXSW! St. Pat's! First Day of Spring! Weddings That Fall on Holidays...

Since I last checked in, I've done three weddings all of which fell on special occasions. I mean, occasions special for reasons beyond being a wedding day. There was a couple in for SXSW. Here they are, heading to the Chapel (Dulcinea) of Love. 

Then, on St. Patty's Day, it was out to the Hill Country to the wonderful Memory Lane Event Center in Dripping! Thalia Morgan and her crew run a tight but also laid back ship out there and it is always a pleasure when I'm invited to perform a ceremony at their venue. As you can see from the men's attire, no, the date choice was not a coincidence. These folks went full on green:

They even had a bagpiper-- Hylton Cruickshank-- who is magnificent. I was grateful he played Amazing Grace BEFORE the ceremony, not during it, because that song, done on bagpipes, always makes me bawl my eyes out. Hylton's website is AustinBagpiper.com -- you can find out more about him and his availability there. 

And then, on the first day of Spring, I performed a small wedding out at Chapel Dulcinea. The night before the storm in town and in the Hill Country was so wild that the couple (and me, too) wondered if it would be raining for the ceremony and, more importantly, if the road would be closed. Well the road was open, we got there, and I am not making this up-- the sun came out for the wedding. Then it clouded over again making for a really dramatic skyline.