Texas comes to North Carolina: Rachel and Matt's Big Day!

On a beautiful Friday afternoon at the end of August, Rachel Sears and Matt Guidi tied the knot with a deck wedding ceremony and reception to follow. Rachel and Matt booked The RiverRoom site-unseen back in January and drove all the way from Texas to have their dream beach wedding. As Rachel's day of coordinator, it was very exciting to finally meet her and show her the venue for the first time! We spent months planning the wedding from afar so it was so awesome to finally see it all come to life.

The room looked amazing with aqua linens from Etc. Party Rentals! Bella Florals helped furnish the tables with beautiful centerpieces: blue mason jars with floral arrangements atop rustic wooden tree stumps. The bride rented table number stands from Etc. Party Rentals to hold her table numbers on one side and engagement photo on the other. The Audio Visual People hung Italian weddings lights throughout the room to finish the look. We had total seating for about 60 guests.

Middle of the Island provided amazing food for everyone! The guests enjoyed marinated chicken, pot roast, mac n cheese, green bean almondine, strawberry spinach salad and more! Willy's Bakery provided the three-tier wedding cake. The cake was white with an aqua ribbon and had edible sea shells to go with her beach-themed wedding.

The bride and groom's guest book was a wishing tree. Guests were asked to sign a wish card and hang it on their tree for good luck. The party favors were two of Matt and Rachel's favorite North Carolina treats - saltwater taffy from Kilwin's and Moravian sugar cookies. The escort cards were starfish with pretty blue nametags stating the guest name and table number.

The deck ceremony began at 5:30pm. Reverend David Sears officiated the ceremony. One of the coolest parts of the ceremony was when Rev. Sears blew a conce shell horn at the conclusion of the ceremony. They set up the deck in the center of the brick wall on the JW Brooks building with an arbor rented from Etc. Party Rentals too. They put two cocktail tables down below on the bottom level of the deck and a cooler of water and beer. Peter McArthur is a bagpiper from Fayetteville that came to play during the ceremony.

Immediately following the ceremony, guest entered The RiverRoom to begin the reception. Guests were welcomed to the bar, where Wilmington Wine offered beer, wine and mixed drinks. Once the bridal party finished taking formal photos with their photographer, Rick Lee, we moved right into bridal party introductions. DJ Eric with DJ Professionals & Video provided excellent DJ/MC service all evening.

Rachel and Matt had their first dance to "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" from the Jersey Boys soundtrack. Then, Rachel danced with her father to "Kind and Generous" by Natalie Merchant and Matt took a dance with his mother to "Somewhere over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwoole. Then, we just stayed on the dance floor for the rest of the night. Around 10:00pm, Rachel and Matt enjoyed their last dance and then said goodbye and thank you to all of their guests. Some guests even choose to go out and enjoy the downtown Wilmington nightlife after the reception was over. Congrats Rachel and Matt! It was so gratifying to know that we successfully planned your dream wedding from such a long distance! Be sure to stop by and see us next time you're on the East Coast again!



Kind words of review from Rachel's mother, Carmen Sears:
Hi Melissa,
Just want to drop you a big thank you for the wonderful job you did to make the Aug 30st wedding ceremony & reception for Matt and Rachel such a success.  The RiverRoom deck was a perfect place for the ceremony & inside was so beautifully decorated by you. You helped so much to make it a very special event.

Carmen Sears
Rachel's Mom