A Celebration of the Gruenhagen/ Giorgi Wedding

I thought I'd change up the font a little for this one just to emphasize a point which is, I love color. I mean I can appreciate the elegant understated beauty of a white wedding. I can appreciate the passion of classic red roses. Give me clolor. Color says clebrate.

If a white bouquet is a waltz and a red bouquet is modern dance, this bouquet is a lambada!

The very lovely Mary Ayres Gruenhagen became Mrs. James Marcus Giorgi in a ceremony at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Southern Pines at a little after five thirty yesterday. Maggie was proud to serve as both florist and , with very professional assistance from our good friend Debbie Beard, event coordinator.

All weddings are part pageant and part celebration. A lot of weddings attempt to balance those aspects. This one was unabashedly a celebration. The bouquets, the altar flowers, even the flower girl's baskets...

and pew markers suggested that this was the start of a very good time.
I happened to be outside the church taking down the church rail decorations when the bride and her entourage emerged from having portraits done. My first instinct was to jump and grab my camera (which was only a few feet away) because I almost never get a shot of a bride with a bouquet. But the newly minted Mrs. Giorgi was striding so purposefully towards the waiting limousine that I knew she had better things to do than wait for another picture. I've no doubt that Mary will cherish the pageant portion of her wedding for all of her days, but I am equally sure that at the moment I happened to catch her she was done with that part and ready for the celebration.

I left my camera where it was and kept working.

When Mary and James arrived at the reception at Little river farms, they found every table in the lobby decorated with colorful arrangements lie this one. The rail toppers on the staircase going up to the ballroom were like miniature reproductions of her bouquet.

The centerpieces were a celebration of color on sheer gold and white striped tablecloths with gold underlays that Maggie had ordered for the event.

The band "Egypt" entertained revelers until late into the night. To say that it was a lovely event is not to do it justice. It was a party. It was a celebration.

My hope for Mary and James is that in the uneven progression that is life, that their marriage will always be a celebration of the possibilities and of the joy to be had in seeing life through with the one that you love.

More images from this wedding can soon be found on our galleries page.