Robin & Jon's Wedding at Merrimon-Wynne | Featured on Southern Weddings

Last September, we were given the privilege of producing one of the loveliest weddings in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Merrimon-Wynne House. Robin and Jon live overseas in England, but with her southern North Carolina roots, they decided to say their vows and celebrate with loved ones on this side of the pond. When Robin first reached out to us and I spoke with her on the phone, I knew instantly this was a great match and I've been excited to share their wedding story on our blog for the longest time! We're grateful to Callie Davis from Nancy Ray Photography for sharing these images of such a special day.

When the planning and design process began, clear priorities emerged right away. Robin and Jon's faith serves as the center and rock of their relationship and above all else, they wanted a wedding that glorified the Lord and shared that joy with everyone present at their wedding. Oh goodness, I loved this. We then settled on some key design ideas to highlight Robin's love of heirloom treasures and developed a color palette to include soft grays and blues, with light gold, wine tones and rich olive greens. This isn't something you see everyday and I was so proud of this couple for so willfully choosing elements true to them and ignoring the trends.

Robin and Jon spent the day with their wedding party on the top floor of Merrimon-Wynne. They laughed, told stories, relived memories, prayed together and got ready for all of the excitement that would soon follow. Meanwhile, our team worked outside and in the bottom level of the house to set up, install floral designs, hang calligraphed banners in the windows, and much more. The sun was shining all day and I just couldn't help but constantly thank the Lord for such beautiful weather for this beautiful couple.

The lower level of the house was transformed into a series of intimate dining rooms, some with long banquet style tables and some with round tables. Each table was topped with soft, organic style floral centerpieces, olive green water glasses, gold pillar candles, small votive candles and tall olive taper candles. Linen napkins were overlaid with dinner menu cards that were backed with a shimmery antique gold paper stock. We kept things clean and simple, but it was so elegant.

This invitation suite, designed and produced by our team at Rebecca Rose Creative, was such fun to create! Every single little element was developed to reflect Robin and Jon's relationship and their wedding day. The envelopes were lined with a watercolor style map of the world as a testament to their long-distance relationship for so long, their travels and mission work together, and to honor so many guests who flew overseas to celebrate with them. A favorite bible verse was printed in the center. The invitation card included a rendering of the Merrimon-Wynne house, and artwork of the couple with fresh sprigs of greenery (something Robin loves!) were used on the accessory pieces.

The ceremony was gorgeous in every way. Not only were the birds chirping all around us (literally!) but the sunbeams were streaming through the trees and everyone was grinning ear to ear with the most infectious happiness. Robin and Jon incorporated such beautiful biblical traditions as they chose to include communion and washed each other's feet, just as Jesus did with his disciples. They also included worship music in their ceremony. The ceremony was so personalized and so special.

One of my favorite moments of the day happened in the hours before all the guests arrived, or the photography began, and I have to share this story because I'm so humbled by it! Every wedding day is very hard work for our team - no matter how large or small the wedding, no matter where the wedding is held, and no matter how much time we have for installation. We also push ourselves hard to deliver our very best and everyone on our team knows that this is something we care deeply about when we're serving our clients on what we know will be one of the most special days of their lives. This particular day was even harder than most for me. I was newly pregnant...about 7 weeks along...and hadn't told anyone yet other than our own team. My energy level was so low, I hadn't been sleeping well and I felt sick most of the time. Throughout the day, I just felt weak and worried that I wasn't going to get everything done in time. I worried I was dragging down the rest of the team.

A couple hours before the ceremony start time, Robin and Jon asked Betsy and me to join the wedding party on the porch because they wanted to pray for us. You read that correctly... it wasn't just that they wanted us to join them in a time of prayer. They wanted to pray for us! As we stood in a circle holding hands and they softly prayed over us to ask the Lord to bless our business and give us strength and energy as we worked so hard that day, I just felt tears streaming down my face. It was exactly what I needed in that moment. While I say my own silent prayers all the time on our clients' wedding days, I have never once been so humbled by such a beautiful act as a bride and groom taking time to pray over our team. It was selfless, genuine, totally unexpected, unsolicited, and so heartfelt. I never told them that day that I was pregnant or that I had been struggling because I wanted the focus to be on Robin and Jon, and on their marriage. But goodness gracious, those moments of prayer will stick with me forever and I hope they read this now and know how much that meant to Betsy and me. My energy level improved dramatically as the afternoon and evening wore on. Talk about an answer to prayer.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed a cocktail hour outside on the lawn next to the house while Callie photographed portraits of Robin and Jon. Later, we ushered everyone inside for a seated dinner reception before kicking off a night of dancing, toasts and merriment in the outdoor tent. It really was an incredible evening and was such a joy to watch these two begin their life together. Robin and Jon, we love you both and are so thankful to have been a part of this time in your lives. You have an incredible lifelong marriage ahead of you and we couldn't be happier for the new family you've started!

We were so delighted with Southern Weddings magazine decided to feature this beautiful story on their blog last month. If you missed it, be sure to read everything - in Robin's own heartfelt words - at this link too!

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