Weddings By Peggy

05/05/2024

¡Felicidades, Julissa y Josué!
Yesterday's beautiful backyard wedding.

04/12/2024

Love was blooming, along with the tulips, for Melissa and Anthony's ceremony last weekend. The gardens are Chatham Manor are spectacular this time of year, and as always, you can't beat this view of the city. This is my favorite place for micro weddings and elopements.

03/23/2024

Love was in the air today! The rain couldn't dampen our spirits today, as two lovely couples said "I do." Congratulations to Cristian & Jenni and Dany & Leslie!

02/05/2024

Is a micro wedding/minimony right for you? There are many great reasons this is such a popular trend.

I was on the phone with my son Drew catching up when I asked him how the wedding planning was going. There was a pause, then he said, “Ambur and

12/29/2023

Outdoor weddings are such a gamble this time of year but Mother Nature graced us with the perfect day for Florentino and Guadalupe.

11/16/2023

Warm hearts and warm hands on a chilly morning.
Corazones cálidos y manos cálidas en una mañana fría.

08/11/2023

August can be a tricky month for outdoor weddings. This lovely couple spent several weeks praying for perfect weather and that exactly what we had! It was a picture perfect morning with smiles all around. Congratulations, Doug and GiGi!

06/26/2023

It was a picture perfect day to celebrate LOVE with Maranda and Karey.

06/25/2023

Today, I celebrated my anniversary by creating two new ones. ¡Congratulations to Karey and Maranda, and Felicidades a Elmer y Nidia!

06/09/2023

Now that the smoke is gone, love is in the air! Kevin and Dayana said Sí and I Do in a bilingual ceremony at Chatham Manor this morning.

05/20/2023

¡Felicidades a Jairo y Eva! Today's weather was picture perfect for their intimate ceremony.

04/23/2023

Congratulations and many blessings to today's lovely couple!
¡Felicidades y muchas bendiciones a la encantadora pareja de hoy!

02/24/2023

We're lucky to have so many beautiful places for weddings in this area. Chatham Manor is one of my favorites. After they said their vows, today's lovely couple enjoyed exploring the grounds and taking photos with their family and friends.

02/21/2023

Love was in the air last week for this charming couple. They met at Hurkamp Park, so it was the perfect place for them to say I Do.

11/25/2022

The rain stopped just in time for the wedding of Emeli and Samuel at Chatham Manor, one of the many beautiful locations we have here in this charming little town.

11/24/2022

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! I have so much to be thankful for: the faith you put in me to make your wedding special, the joy I share with each happy couple, the chance to travel and meet so make wonderful people, and the rich diversity of our city. I am particularly grateful for the warm welcome I have received into to the local Latino community and their patience with my Spanish as I work hard to improve it every day. It is such an honor to be welcomed into their homes and their hearts at such an important moment in their lives. I truly treasure it!

11/14/2022

Friday's double wedding, with Jairo & Lucy and Yesli & Alfredo

11/12/2022

What a weekend: two days, four weddings, and five couples, representing six countries! ¡Felicidades y bendiciones a todos! Congratulations and blessings to all the couples!

11/07/2022

Thank you, Paulina and Adriana for this wonderful review!

Peggy,
You've gone above and beyond!
The ceremony was amazing 👏 we thank you so much for all you've done. You are a master at your craft and we can't thank you enough!
You were a blessing in disguise throughout this process. We are off in the high seas but we can't thank you enough for your dedication.

10/27/2022

There are so many beautiful locations for small weddings in the Fredericksburg area. Today was chilly and breezy but just warm enough for an intimate ceremony with a breathtaking view of the city. ¡Felicidades y bendiciones, Gladis y Edwin!

10/25/2022

I'm back from a fabulous destination wedding at Disney World. Congratulations, Shannon and John! Thanks for choosing me for your special day.

09/29/2022

Don't forget to include some options for your guests who don't drink alcohol!

"This weekend I went to a wedding at a friend's house. As we chatted with fellow guests, my partner and I stood in line at the bar.

'What can I get you?' the bartender smiled. 'We have everything!'

'Great!' I cheered. I was thirsty. 'Something non-alcoholic please.'

The bartender's cheery demeanor immediately turned to one of perplexity. He wasn't expecting this, apparently.

Befuddled by my request, he told me there was juice and water bottles in the cooler around the corner. So... the kids cooler.

Yea, I know the drill.

I've been sober a few years and I know all about the kids cooler. And yet I go into every social gathering, every wedding, every restaurant with almost a Pollyanna hope.

Maybe the sober curious movement is making a ripple in the food and beverage industry. Maybe this time they'll have the non-alcoholic (NA) beer they said was out of stock last time.

Maybe they've finally updated their menu to have NA options that are fun and flirty and celebratory.

But we still have a long ways to go, don't we?

And at every social gathering, I still ask for my drink in a wine glass or a tumbler. And I ask for a lime wedge because, yes... it's more fun.

And yes... it makes it look less like a kid's juice box and more like a grown-up drink.

And yes, I don't drink but that doesn't mean my taste buds died. I still like festive drinks in fun glasses with pretty colors.

Yet more often than not, I wind up digging through the ice of a kids cooler, looking for something NA besides apple juice and Capri Sun.

You stand out if you're not drinking.

You get questioned if you're not drinking ('are you pregnant?') You look and feel out of place, especially if you're new in your sobriety.

Sometimes... you even get ridiculed or pressured to have one.

Being sober in a world that idolizes booze feels like a target on our back. A target I never asked to be there. A target I never expected.

Quitting drinking was hard. But navigating in this boozy culture as the only non-drinker at almost every event, networking party, every wedding? That's harder.

A little inclusivity would go a long way.

Offering NA options at your party. Throwing out non-alcoholic suggestions when you offer to buy someone a drink? It's an easy, inclusive concept that might make a big difference for someone newly sober and struggling.

Time to change the narrative.

Someone's reason for not drinking is none of our business. Let's offer more NA options and less sideways glances.

It would go a long way."

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Shared with permission from Celeste Yvonne

09/03/2022

It's such an honor to be invited to share such an important moment in each couple's lives and to see how they celebrate it in their cultural spaces. It is not uncommon for the bride and groom to be seated during the ceremony in some Central and South American countries.
Today's couple were from Peru and Guatemala. They had 6 or 7 bridesmaids, 3 little flower girls and 1 boy, but no groomsmen. Everyone applauded as the bride entered, then again after the first kiss. They then went straight into the first dance. After that, they turned their chairs to face the guests and received well wishes and cards. It's similar to a receiving line (a custom that has largely faded in the States), but much less formal.
¡Femicides y bendiciones, Anita y Luis!

09/02/2022

Congratulations to Jacob and Shara!

08/08/2022

Congratulations, Mr. And Mrs. Patel!

08/08/2022

One of the most rewarding aspects of wedding work is learning about other cultures. It's truly an honor and a privilege to be invited to share each couple's cultural spaces for such an important moment in their lives. For today's wedding, I correctly guessed that the happy couple were Hindu. While it was a civil ceremony, not religious, I learned that my customary black clothing would not be appropriate for a Hindu wedding, but bright colors were preferred. I happily swapped out for the most vibrant blue dress in my wardrobe, not knowing that all 3 of us would be color-coordinated. (Sorry for the grainy photo, but thank you to the kind passerby who readily agreed to be our photographer today.)

08/03/2022

Just because it's simple doesn't mean it can't be special. Small, intimate weddings are so beautiful!

It is not just celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck who are arranging private nuptials. Getting hitched without telling anyone is catching on, cutting co...

07/20/2022

It was a scorchingly hot day but that didn't deter Sean and Claire. Congratulations to the happy couple!

07/17/2022

Today's bride is from Brazil, so I included this poem by Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes:

Love is God in fullness,
the infinite extent
of the gifts that come
with the sun and the rain,
whether in the mountains,
whether in the fields;
it is the rain that falls
and the treasure stored
at the end of the rainbow.

07/03/2022

¡Felicidades, Leydy & Benjamin!