Long time no blog! Jennifer and I got married on June 11, and all of the prep work for the big day was incredibly time-consuming! However, everything is relatively back to normal now, so over the next few weeks expect to see posts coming with more regularity.

I’d like to share some of the excitement with you, as well as some pictures. First off, we were very excited to get married at Homewood Castle here in Asheville.  Homewood is an absolutely beautiful venue, and as a matter of fact is where EstiMate had its offices for several years on the third floor. Jennifer and I were able to get married in the glen,  which is their outdoor ceremony site, and then had a super elegant reception inside the castle.

The way Homewood set up all of the tables for dinner was absolutely gorgeous. We had a big family style meal, which worked out perfectly.

My son Ivan was my best man, and he did a super job.  He looked stunning in his new suit (go Ivan!) and was all around lots of fun to hang with that day and evening.  He is currently home for the summer from the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he is studying Visual Arts in their high school program.

Leah Webb was Jennifer’s Matron of Honor (“Pit Bull to the bride” for those in the know) — she looked fabulous and had an awesome time.  Leah and Jennifer’s bouquets were beautiful, and Leah’s husband and daughter and our good friends Ed and Mila were there as well.  Great fun.

I’d like to thank several vendors who helped us pull this off.  First, I have to thank Shay Brown of Shay Brown Events.  Shay  was our “stage manager” for the event and without her nobody would’ve known where to be when.   Shay  coordinated all the vendors, and kept all the trains running on time for us.

The catering was prepared masterfully by Caroline Allured.   We had an incredible menu starting with a salad containing roasted pears, phenomenal pasta, green beans almondine,  and artichoke chicken for an entrée. Caroline and her staff carried everything off perfectly for one of the most successful dinners I’ve ever attended.  Her cake was absolutely awesome.

Photography was provided by Kelly Giezentanner and we’re still waiting for the results, but her work is stellar and working with her was one of the best experiences ever. She was completely unobtrusive, shooting pictures all night and getting everybody excited every time the camera was about to fire. We’re beyond excited to see how the shots come out!

The bouquets and flowers were outstanding! Thanks to Stacey Brown at the Bloom Room, Jennifer and Leah had bouquets to die for. In addition, there were flowers scattered across the dining tables and attached to shepherds hooks running down the aisle. They couldn’t have been more perfect.  We drank Evil wine and there were pitcher plants in the flower arrangements, so apparently we secretly had a goth wedding (thanks for that Alexis!)

Corine Brouwer, owner of Allegro Music and concertmaster for both the Winston-Salem Symphony and the Asheville Lyric Opera, provided beautiful music during the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner. Thank you Corine for setting such a lovely mood.

Last, but definitely not least, my godfather Mike Vaniman performed our ceremony flawlessly. Mike is our close hiking buddy, great friend, and mentor. Truly an amazing man.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with EstiMate or signs, but I wanted to share some of the pictures and the experiences and I hope you enjoyed them.

Now, back to work!