Wedding Reception

Don and I shared some terrific cake at our wedding reception. He looks so earnest, you'd think sharing the cake was part of our vows! Wedding cake is a tradition that goes back to the ancient Romans. For more pictures of the reception, check out  Flickr.

Wedding Day

Marriage of Don Burke and Mary Carroll. Wayne Wood officiates.

On April 7, 2012, I married my best friend and ballroom dance partner, Don Burke. Our good friend and ballroom dance instructor is also a minister, and he agreed to marry us at Waterfront Park in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. My sister, Katie Hingle, stood by my side. Don's brother, Tommy, stood by his. My son, Matthew, played the bagpipes for us.

A pleasant surprise was that a few of my advanced Latin students drove all the way down from Chesapeake, Virginia, to "crash" the event in togas. What fun! I'll post a picture of Matthew playing his pipes . For other pictures, visit my wedding album on Flickr. I also posted pictures of the reception.

Getting Ready for a Wedding

My best friend Terry made my bouquet and other flowers as well as decorations for the hall. We got married at the Pasquotank Ruritan Club on West Main Street Extended in Elizabeth City, NC. Our "non-rehearsal dinner" was at Big Daddy's Pizza. Most friends and family stayed at the nearby Fairfield Inn.

One nice thing about having the wedding in E.C. was that I was surrounded by family and friends, even when doing business. The D.J., Kelly Nolan, I'd worked with for years, since he is also a local School Resource Officer. My good friend Becqui Masters made the cake through her business, "Mark it with a B." I even used to live next door to the family that runs this restaurant. "Big Daddy" is my former neighbor, Van. Our minister, Wayne Wood, is also our ballroom dance instructor.

Wedding Vows

Well, MLCsGarden would be more appropriately named "MLBsGarden" from this point forward. I married my best friend and dance partner, Don Burke, in a beautiful but simple ceremony last weekend. When I have time I'll upload pictures and details from the wedding and from our honeymoon on rustic Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. But for now I'll post our vows, which Don and I wrote ourselves.

Here are mine:

 We honor God as we pledge

our hearts and lives together.

May our marriage grow 

warm and bright in our hearts, 

like a fire in a well-tended woodstove.

As gently as a breeze rustles

the leaves of a mighty oak,

so I will tend our relationship

as husband and wife together.

A careful gardener, I will prune away

the rotten wood of hurtful actions

and words, so that the seeds of our love

will fall on fertile soil.

The mountain stream flows cool and clean through the hills.

It nourishes the earth and sustains the lives of all 

within its reach. Just so I vow to nurture

our relationship, for in this way 

you will never thirst for love.

I pledge to remain your steadfast companion, and

I commit myself, heart and soul,

to you.

I vow to dance with you in love and laughter,

through good times and bad,

today,

and for the rest of our lives.

Don's were more succinct but equally heartfelt:

Mary,

I have lived my life searching for someone like you and we found each other through an unusual chain of events.

Now that I have you in my life, I never want to lose you.

This day, in the presence of God, friends, and family, I pledge to you my heart, my soul, and my life forever.

I want to walk hand in hand for the rest of our lives.