My younger brother is in the Army and when he got word that he may be deployed soon wedding plans sped up from October to Memorial Day weekend. With two weeks notice my Mom and I booked some last minute plane tickets to North Carolina. Brian and Melorah were originally planning a low key courthouse wedding while spending a few days in a cabin with the whole family gathered. Instead Melorah’s mother planned a surprise wedding with two weeks notice (color me impressed!) including a harpist. Brian and Melorah drove my Mom and I the two hours to Wilmington Friday morning (after 4 hours of sleep due to an impromptu drive to Washington DC to pick us up from the airport). They stopped at the Registrar of Deeds to pick up the wedding license with the intent to head over to the courthouse right after. What they didn’t know was that waiting at the Registrar of Deeds was an envelope telling them to head over to the Hilton for a surprise….
So we hopped back in the car to drive a couple blocks to the Hilton where we met Melorah’s parents and settled in for a surprise wedding. I took Brian & Melorah out in front of the hotel for some quick photos before the ceremony and squeezed in a macro shot of the rings before the ceremony started. It was a small wedding, just a dozen of us or so and just family so it was very small and intimate which was really nice. Following the ceremony we had a fabulous dinner by Ruth’s Chris Steak House and even a little wedding cake and dancing. It was a lot of fun!
And just for fun I thought I’d throw in this photo of my brother and new sister in law at the University of North Carolina campus later that weekend. It was such a pretty location I couldn’t resist taking a few more photos!
Lynn - Such a lovely story and a perfect wedding. You took beautiful pictures in such short time. Congratulations to the bride and groom.
charisse - Beautiful!! Love your blog!
Terry Beigie - Wow. That brings tears to my eyes. So wonderful!! Great photos.
Sarah - What fun! These are just perfect.
Jennifer - Beautiful images!
Naomi - Beautiful images! I adore the ring shot!
Amber - These are so sweet. What a happy couple!
Ava Hristova - Belmont Child & Family Photographer - Aw! What a great gift of a surprise wedding. I hope your brother’s deployment is uneventful.
amanda - These are just perfect. They tell a wonderful story! Love them all.
Jenney McAnnally - What a wonderful memory that they’ll always have. Love this idea and the images you captured are perfect!!
Jo Clark - What a sweet story! They are a super cute couple! Your ring shot is stunning!
AshleyS - absolutely gorgeous!!! love them all and the ring shot ROCKS!
Jackie - Thanks for sharing the photos and story, wishing Brian and Melorah the best for their new life together.
Beckie Thomas - May you have a marriage that last forever. It’s fun growing old with your spouse.
Jen - What a perfect surprise and how lucky they were to have you capture it all!
Kim - They are an adorable couple, and what a cool story! Your photos are beautiful.
Your Uncle and Aunt Percy and Ruthie - CONGRATULATIONS!!! We just got an e-mail of the pictures of your wedding and they are beautiful. You look so good Brian, we haven’t seen you a several years and the last time I saw you, you were looking for a job. You both look so happy and I hope you have as many years as your aunt and uncle have had being married. Your grandma keeps us informed what you are doing as we are alwaysinterested. We went to Kennewick, he fell from a tree and broke a bone in his neck and injured his sternam. We talked to your grandma and she said he was able to drive a car, he is a tough old cookie.
It’s pretty hot here, a little muggy. We had a very cool spring but the heat came on fast. We go to Arizona every Oct. til May.
We love it there but too hot in the summer.
Take care of your new bride and we hope to see you before too long. Congratultions again, love you much Love, Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Percy
Robin - What a sweet couple! How fun to have a surprise wedding, these are great captures!
Life with Kaishon - I hope they have a very blissful happily ever after!