Yup, that’s the forecast from July 24, 2010 in Greensboro, NC. And even inside, it was hot. Proximity Hotel, which is the first LEEDS certified green hotel in the country, was pumping out all the A/C they could to keep up – but really, all that heat didn’t matter. Brandon & Sara brought about 130 of their closest friends and family to celebrate the day with them, and they did just that, in total style.

I’ve been looking forward to their wedding ever since we first talked. To start, they knew the perfect day to get married would be my birthday ;) and also, in a way, Sara and I planned our respective weddings at the same time, and at the same place. It was my first time back to Proximity since having gotten married there myself a couple of months prior. You see, some photographers go the week before to scope out a location to get ideas – but me – I step it up – I actually go all out – I get everyone together and actually have a wedding to really see what it’s really like ;)

We had a great time getting ready  – tons of people in and out of two adjoining rooms, lots of laughs, and some drinks were being poured – good times! Tiwa of Pink Diamonds did some amazing make up work and soon enough it was time for the ceremony.

To keep things cool, the shades of the Social Lobby were pulled, but it really added a great and new backdrop for the ceremony. After the ceremony, we braved the heat (yeah, it’s odd saying that lol) and took a bridal party photo out in the back, and then back inside for some one-on-one shots and the reception. On the reception table, each guest had a hand-wrapped giant Belgium chocolate bar which looked so good sitting on the perfectly folded cloth napkins. After a great dinner, several heart felt toasts and some delicious cake, Randal Calloway put his DJ skills to the test and these guys brought down the house with some serious tunes and dancing. Perhaps the highlight of it all was the African “train” style dance. Think of your more common American train dance, but set to African beats, and line formations which reminded me of the old Brazilian soccer warmup runs, and concluded into a giant spinning circle of people.

Special thanks to Amanda and crew who did their usual fantastic job of putting on the event. Let’s check out some photos and cheers to Sara and Brandon!

It was a perfect July day, which started out with a great brunch in the morning for both families. Rhonda from Berry Hill was there doing her usual awesome job of making sure everything was set and in order. Heather and the girls were upstairs getting ready while Jason and the guys were in the guest house watching World Cup highlights (props to the guys – side note – can you believe the WC is over? 4 more years?! Such a looong wait!)

The ceremony was perfect with the weather and mansion in the background. The Bridal party looked great, guests were all smiles and parents were teary – you can’t beat it :) The reception was highlighted with the great Doug Ferony Band – which came in straight from New York City to bang out the classic big band hits from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and more – these guys totally set the pace and tone for the night – high class, big laughs, big music. If you need a Sinatra type band for your wedding, these guys are the best I’ve seen – the real deal for sure. *UPDATE: I can’t believe my man Doug Ferony was actually in Goodfellas! He was the waiter in the scene when Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) takes Karen to the club for the first time – Doug, you rule!

Let’s check out some photos and wish Jason & Heather a long life of love and laughs…

*Update: I can’t believe I forgot this! To Heather, Pam and all the friends and family who brought the Lone Star to Virginia:

The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas!
The prairie sky is wide and high, deep in the heart of Texas!
The sage in bloom is like perfume, deep in the heart of Texas!
Reminds me of, the one I love, deep in the heart of Texas!

With a little pampering at the Pinehurst Spa, followed by some getting ready at the Little River Club we were set for the big day. After the ceremony, they hopped in a true classic, a 56 Chevy (I think it’s a 56, maybe a 57) either way, a classic, as we headed back to Little River for some good times.

Funny story – well, funny because it didn’t actually happen lol – so we were on some EZ Go’s driving on the gold course, and I was thinking “Wow, that’s a great spot on the course, we should stop and I should get them to go out there in the middle and take some photos”. Since we were in 2 different carts, and they were ahead of us, I just let the idea go and figured I would get it on the way back. About 10 seconds later, bam! all the sprinklers come on – haha! I was like “whoa!” Yeah, they would have been soaked! That being said on the way back, we did get hit with the sprinklers, and lucky for us, the EZ-Go’s had tops on them :)

Oh yes, you’ll see there is a pyramid of doughnuts. Those are local, famous and delicious. Props to Becca and Sean for some delicious originality. I knew I would blog about it, so I had 3 of them to make sure I could be accurate in my description of how good they were ;)

Also there was Anthony who works at Little River- who you’ll see in the photos, was able to free jump – no boost, no trampoline, no help, just a straight up, running jump over Sean and Becca kissing. It was crazy impressive!

So for the photos, I’m adding music this time. Becca and Sean are major Coldplay fans (rock on Coldplay) and she really wanted to walk down the isle to Life in Technicolor. Since the church wouldn’t allow it, I figure the least we could do is play it here for her. Cheers!

Moving on into the day we had a great ceremony at Our Savior Lutheran Church and the very nice Pinehurst Members Club. Surprise of the day: Emily had asked to make sure I get some nice photos of her and her dad that didn’t include a Wake Forest sporting event -well, that was no problem, but the surprise was their father/daughter dance ended with the WFU fight song – ha! Gotta love it :)

I gotta give a shout out to my friends Emily S. and Katie R. who couldn’t make it, but it was great to see Katie’s parents again. Let’s put the chit chat aside and check out some photos…

After the ceremony, we spent much longer than usual doing fun group shots and one on one shots with Josh and Lia – and it was both really fun and really worth it. You’ve gotta love a bride who says  “you know, its hot, we’re at the beach, I want ice cream”. Rock on Lia! And you’ve gotta love a groomsman who gets back behind the counter to scoop it for the bridal party – HA! We hit the dunes at Jockey’s Ridge, we hit the ice cream stand, we hit the beach, we did it all – and we still rocked out big time to some Journey and Def Leppard at the end of the night.

As you can see from the first shot below, massive rain clouds came in and brought a pretty big rain storm – but no worries, it all cleared up perfectly for some fantastic sunset ceremony shots. With an amazing singer, the perfect sunset and a gorgeous couple, you could not have planned for a better scene! We continued on throughout the night with some great music, dancing and cake and wish Michael and Casey well on their new lives together :)

They had an awesome ceremony which lead to a great reception. Tons of Greek dancing circles, tons of great Greek deserts including some awesome boklava, and we even had some plates broken :) OH and can I dare anyone to top the Mother Son dance song ! The Greeks pulled out a little Italian, and played the theme for the Godfather! That seriously was so cool! There were even guests yelling out “Luca Brasi! Luca Brasi!”With a reception at Briar Creek Club in Raleigh, NC and some awesome flowers by Venetia Gentzler, we’re ready to take a look at some samples. Cheers to Terry & Jenny!

I could say more, but really, just take a look at their smiles, and not to much I can say that isn’t already being said – have a happy week :)

The ceremony was excellent, the weather was perfect and things really started to rock once The Main Event Band kicked into high gear. I think for me, and probably a lot of guests, the highlight had to be towards the end of the night when you heard those famous guitar chords that takes anyone back. Your head starts bouncing, and you hear those first 3 lines: “She was a fast machine, she kept the motor clean, she was the best damn woman that I ever seen!” – look up and BAM, Amanda, and all her bridesmaids and friends are on the stage giving the performance of the decade. They were rockin’ the mic, and Amanda was even fretting some chords on the guitar! It was hardcore!

So hardcore, that over the span of the local cops showed up for the second time! Citations were issued (that’s what they’re holding in one of the photos),  and the time was cut short to 10:30pm. But if you’re lucky like Amanda, you’ve got the kind of dad who’s not going to let something like “the man” get away with cutting his daughter’s wedding short. I think the command to the band was “No, you’re going to play one more song, and you’re going to play it LOUD”. Sure enough, the boys went over, turned those knobs clockwise, and banged out Back in Black louder and harder. This time Amos joined in on stage and they let everyone 3 counties away know who was getting married. How happy was dad? Check out that last photo ;)

A big mega thanks to all my new friends and props and hugs to Amanda, Amos and their families for having me at their big day. You guys rock and I loved being at your wedding! Thanks to my new buddy Matt Evan of SENC Films who filmed the day. Enjoy the samples :)