Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

Carrie and Matthew's Wedding

Saturday May 23, 2015
Gramercy Mansion
Stevenson, Maryland


Please Read:
It has been more than a week since Carrie and Matthew were married. I tried to publish this on May 26 the day of the problem with LiveWriter and Blogger. I have waited for them to solve the problem but am no longer convinced they will despite hearing that they are supposedly "talking to each other". I have used a Windows Live Mail work around which still required that I go back and redo all the formatting for this post. Still it is nothing like what was originally in LiveWriter.  The photos are the wrong size and placement.  It was a lot of work and I won't do it again. Blogger's editor and preview are horrible. In neither case is what you see what you get.  BUT this was an important post for our family.  So here it is.   Thanks a bunch Google and Microsoft for all the trouble.  IF they ever get this worked out, I'll publish what I actually originally created.



As you will see, I had a lot of help from my friends with the photos. Thank you all so much for being a part of this special special occasion.

Today is the day! Back from the Salon and it's time to get dressed. The Tower Room at the Gramercy is reserved for the Bride and Groom. It's here that the bridal party will get dressed and the first professional photographs taken.




Even the bathroom is elegant.




Amazing how you can change the look of a room so quickly.




The photographers take pictures of the dress and pictures of the bride. Some pretty posed shots but they look lovely.













It's just a stunning bridal gown.








The girls help her get everything buttoned and snapped.









The gown looks even more beautiful on the lovely bride.









Everyone is downstairs and ready for the big event.



Carrie and Matthew have chosen to do all their wedding pictures before the ceremony so they can go directly to the reception with their guests. Great idea, I think.
These pictures were taken right after "the first look". I can't wait to see the photographers' photographs of this moment.















The wedding party from left to right, Eleanor, Matthew's oldest brother Stephen, Jess, Matthew, Carrie, Kate, Matthew's older brother Mark behind Kate, Alyssa and Matt C.




A little clowning by the wedding party.




I'm not sure I have ever seen a lovelier group of women. What special friends Carrie has.



Carrie and Matthew with his friend Matt and brothers Stephen and Mark



So what in the world is the mother of the bride saying now rather than posing for the picture? Probably, "I'm too short to stand next to Matthew". Seriously, don't I look like I'm in a hole?



In the only other picture of Matthew and Carrie with us and David has his eyes closed. But here are the bride and her parents.




Luckily Matthew's mother poses better and I think this is a good picture of Matthew and Carrie with his parents Bob and Joan.




But now it's time for the ceremony. This can't be a kiss for good luck.
They have all they need already.




Carrie and her matron of honor Jess are looking pretty excited just before they walk down the aisle.







When she was fresh out of law school in 2008, Carrie was a law clerk for Judge Ellen Hollander who has come to be the officiant for Carrie and Matthew. She does an amazing job, I only wish someone had video taped it. Many people comment that it was the most personal ceremony they had ever attended. My special thanks to my great friend Pam who took all these photos of the ceremony with my camera.




Eleanor and Alyssa






















Matt C has all the luck, a girl on each arm as they head back down the aisle.



Matthew's new in-laws look pretty happy.




So do Carrie's new mother and brother-in-law.



Did someone tell Carrie's cousin Justin ahead of time that the color of the day was purple??





The food is waiting at the reception where the father of the bride gives his toast.












Like our Great Niece Olivia, at age 12 I wouldn't have been as interested in the Father of the Bride's Speech as my Uncle Ernie either. Olivia is quite the artist and every picture I have of her shows only the top of her head. I'm sorry I didn't ask her to pose.









David's Aunt Bunny, Carrie's great aunt, has come from New York with her son Brian to be with us. She is David's mother's younger sister and we are so happy she could come.




Carrie and Matthew dancing the first dance.








And of course the father daughter dance. Carrie has chosen James Taylor's How Sweet It Is. They do a fine East Coast swing. Wish I could have gotten the twirls but they all turned out blurry.  David's older brother Roger took the best ones.  That's him at work on the right.










Matthew chooses John Lennon's rendition of "Stand By Me" a favorite of his mother Joan one of the Beatles' biggest fans.




Mr. and Mrs. Iwanowski cut their wedding cake prepared by Matthew's cousin.








And now it's time to party.
Pretty sure that's Joan in the middle!






Emma and Allegra have all the right moves.













It has really been the perfect day in every single way.
It seems to have flown by.

David and I wish Matthew and Carrie a lifetime of happiness.
May you love each other every moment as you do now.
We love you "to the moon and back"!

36 comments:

  1. What a beautiful wedding! Everyone looks so happy.
    I haven't tried the Live Mail work-around yet but it looks like it worked well.

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  2. What a beautiful, beautiful wedding! And a gorgeous bride! And Mother of the bride! You looked stunning, Sherry. I can't imagine a wedding any more perfect than Carrie's. Congrats to the happy couple!

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  3. Congratulations!!!! How beautiful, I found myself smiling as I scrolled your blog.

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  4. Now that was a gorgeous wedding! You and David clean up pretty good. ;)

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  5. Thanks for going to all the trouble of the workaround! I love all the pictures as reminders of this wonderful day. She certainly looked very happy all day, as did Matthew.

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  6. A truly beautiful wedding. A fabulous blog about it. So sorry you had the problems with it. Congratulations to Carrie and Matthew!

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  7. A beautiful ceremony and bride! Congratulations to everyone and best wishes for a wonderful life.

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  8. I'm sorry that you had such a difficult time, Sherry, but this looks great to me. What a gorgeous wedding! Carrie looked like a princess, and her parents look like queen and king. It looks like a great day and I hope to catch up with y'all sometime to hear all the details. Thanks so much for going to the effort to post it.

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  9. Congrats to the happy couple and best wishes for the many memories they make together.
    You two sure look spiffy and it shows you were very happy.
    Thanks for the fun to read post.

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  10. What a lovely, lovely, picture-perfect wedding day !!! The bride is beautiful and sooooo radiant !!!
    Everyone looked to be having a happy, special time ....... Especially the parents !!! How proud you
    must be ...... Thank you for sharing the bliss with all of us !!!!

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  11. I'm so happy you went to the trouble to get this posted. I, too, found my self smiling from ear to ear as I scrolled through the pictures and commentary. Carrie made such a beautiful bride! You and David look radiant as well. Now you can relax a bit and wait for them to tell you about their honeymoon :)

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  12. OK so I am sitting here sniffing....I can only imagine what I would have been like at the ceremony. I luv, luv the picture of you and David walking with her in the wedding. I also think the pic of you alone after the wedding is the best pic of you I have ever seen. Such pure happiness. Best wishes to the beautiful couple, what a lovely day!!

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  13. What a nice wedding, Carrie looked beautiful, everything seemed perfect. You looked looked lovely. Love the picture of you and David with Carrie.

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  14. what a beautiful bride your daughter is. . .and what a lovely wedding they had. . .I was thrilled to see you both walk her down the aisle, what a beautiful idea. . .blessings to all. . .

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  15. This brought tears to my eyes as everyone looks so lovely and happy. Sorry it was such a pain to post but thank you.

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  16. Such a great wedding! We wish Carrie and Matthew a life of joy and happiness! Nice collection if pictures. Everyone looked their best!
    Lynne

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  17. Wishing Carrie and Matthew all the love and happiness in the world. Carrie made a beautiful Bride

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  18. What a beautiful wedding! Carrie is gorgeous, and the photo of you two walking her down the aisle is touching and lovely. Great photos of you and David -- you look so beautiful, and David looks terrific. Wishing Carrie and Matthew all the best in their life journey together!

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  19. Thanks for working so hard to get this blog posted. It is fabulous and will be such a wonderful place to come and remember this very special day!! Carrie is just stunning and so elegant. You and David look fantastic...LOVE your dress and hair and David looks great in a tux!! Since we really only know you in "hiking" clothes, we are quite impress with how you clean up;o)) They entire day, from start to finish, looks like a fairy tale. We wish Carrie and Matthew every happiness!!!

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  20. What a special day in a beautiful venue! And I love the colors chosen for the wedding party. You all look so happy, best wishes to the newly married couple!

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  21. The sunlight shining on the couple during the ceremony just says it all. Smiling through tears of happiness for all of you being together on this truly wonderful day. Love Carrie and Matthew dancing close with big smiles "We really did it!" all over their faces :-) You and David look amazing and so happy, I'm glad your friends shared their pics! Hang in there with the blog issues :-)))

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  22. Great blog! It really captured the day which was terrific in every respect :) You know that I never got to see a single one of those programs - lol! Maybe someone kept one? Thanks to all who donated pictures - there are some really good ones here. That day will be one I remember forever - fantastic :) It's lovely to read all these comments - such lovely wishes indeed!

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  23. Wonderful wedding shots- thank you for sharing!

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  24. Everyone and everything looked exqusite, including the mother and father of the bride! I bet a lot of stress has fallen off your shoulders, but it looks like a perfect day went off without a hitch. I would have just flopped on a sofa after it was over and probably not moved for hours. The best to the bride and groom!

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  25. Beautiful wedding ... congrats to the newlyweds and their families.

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  26. Thank you for taking the time and effort to put up this post and share this wonderful event with all of us. I think these are the most beautiful pictures you've ever posted!

    Best wishes for a wonderful life together for the newlyweds. :c)

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  27. I have been looking forward to your post knowing that you were waiting for a L.W. fix, which may or may never happen. I too wish they would get this worked out.... Lovely post, glad it all went well and best wishes to your daughter and new son.

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  28. How special and how lovely the bride is. I got choked up reading your wedding post, Im not sure why. Weddings to me are emotional yet special.
    Congratulations to the newly weds!

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  29. What a perfect day! Carrie is a beautiful bride. I love her dress! You and David look wonderful. I really like your dress, Sherry. Everyone certainly looks like they are having a wonderful time...big smiles all around:) Thanks for sharing this special day with your blog friends:)

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  30. So beautiful - looks like a lovely time was had by all! Congratulations to Carrie and Matthew!

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  31. Oh, that was a cry feast.... you are all so beautiful. It looked to be great weather and a great, wonderful, exciting day!!!! That place looks really nice, hope we get to see some of the professional pics too, altho these were very good and show a beautiful bride and family.... God Bless all

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  32. This was a great post. Very nice overview of the wedding, participants and guests. You even gave photo credits!! It was a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful day. Thanks for sharing this

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  33. I thought I had posted a message last night but must have messed it up! What a beautiful wedding! Your Carrie was as pretty as any bride could be and with her handsome young man, they were a radiant couple. May love always be with them as they unfold a life together in the years to come.

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  34. How great wedding reception!! Everything looks stunning and enjoyable in this wedding. You also look really pretty! Congratulations for your wedding dear. This is such a dreamful wedding.

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  35. I'm so glad you got this posted, after all the trouble-- and so glad to get a taste of this special day, perfect in every detail. (Are you sure you didn't just steal some photo-spread from Bride's Magazine?) The bridesmaids' plum-color dresses are gorgeous, and so is your dress, Sherry. Carrie and Matthew look so happy to be together. Best wishes to the new Mr. & Mrs.!!

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