nature and nuptials

Click on this picture to see it full size.

Like in the last few pictures here, this is on the Duke University campus. Quite a few weddings occur here in the gardens every summer and the vine covered arbor at the top of this picture is a very common place to perform the ceremony.

The setting is peaceful and beautiful. A fitting place to begin a marriage. For the more formal, Duke U also has a Gothic Cathedral that is quite impressive in a much more formal way. It's beautiful but a little intimidating!

It just seems to me that being outside to get married makes a much nicer ceremony. Of course you do have to worry about nature and the mishaps that can happen if you go that route. A violent rainstorm can really put a damper on the ceremony!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I think all the pictures are just beautiful. I wish we had somewhere like that where i live..But its all dirt roads and country..

I've added you to my blog roll :)
Hi There Rick..Here from Michele's tonight. In a former life.(lol--not really) I am a Reverend and can marry people. Almost ALL of the weddings I have done with the exception of possibly 2 or 3 were ALL outdoors...Here in L.A. we used to be able to count on certain mlnths of the year being completely safe for outdoor anythings--Weddings, Party's, Showers, etc...But, the way things have been going..I don't think one can count on that anymore. That graden is a BEAUTIFUL seeting...I can see why people have weddings there...Are you allowed to put chairs around and such? All the photo's you have shown us of this campus are so beautiful..and I'm sure Spring is the most beautiful. (Well summer, too). One day I will blog about some of the weddings I have done and the interteresting places some of them have been...!
Michele sent me back again, Dear Dave...(my mind has returned..!)
I was thinking about the Wedding thing some more and out of 38 Weddings that I have done, there have only been two that were inside. ALL the others were outdoors in a Garden of someones home or at various Hotels or one at a Rented Estate, etc...I actually had not thought about that in depth till I saw this Garden and commented, and then later I thought, it really was only
two weddings. I think that is amazing, in a way...All of the weddings were here in Greater L.A., some out in Malibu and SAnta Monica and The Marina, and the rest, ALL over the place...Didn't that just put you to sleep?
craziequeen said…
Coincidentally, OOL offered to marry MB and me in the Hollywood Hills....needless to say MB refused..

But my dream wedding is outside, either at dusk or at midnight, blazing torches and everything. A religious ceremony in the church of Mother Nature :-)

Michele sent me

cq
loong said…
nice landscape....
guppyman said…
I would have gotten married outside, but Kentucky in November is not exactly the place for that.... (We were still barefoot though)...

Nice pic.

Michele says howdy!
Anonymous said…
Hey Utenzi! Did you change the look of your site? I haven't been here in awhile, but I don't remember it looking like this. Looks good!

I'm getting married in October and I never even considered getting married outside - even on the most beautiful of days, I wouldn't want to deal with wind, bugs, sun or any other force that might distract me or my guests! I do love the outdoors very much, just not for my wedding ceremony. :)
Anonymous said…
Hi there. It's been awhile since I've visited. Glad Michele sent me.

That looks like a lovely venue for a wedding. But I must say, as a KY Wildcat fan, I do not find Duke's basketball team to be lovely. :-)
Anonymous said…
It does look like a wonderful setting for a wedding...I love the idea of outdoor weddings...although you'd have to be brave to attempt one here in England!
carmilevy said…
In an earlier, long-ago phase of my life, I did some professional wedding photography. The outdoorsy ones were always infinitely more entertaining than the indoor ones. Everything from the lighting to the mood of the guests and the looks on the faces of the participants was freer, more natural and so much more fun to capture.

Photographically, I also didn't need to have a flash go off every time I shot. It was easier to hang back and silently shoot into the scene. The results always leapt off the page.

Your images of these campus scenes make me wish I still did this type of work. Instead, I'll enjoy your perspective.
kenju said…
Dave, I love the gardens, but the chapel is not intimidating at all (to me). The first time I saw it (age 15) I decided I HAD to get married there!

Michele sent me this time.
keda said…
what lovely pictures. this time of year is just bursting with coulour isn't it!? what a wonderful garden.

i also laughed out loud at some of those jokes below!

hope you had a good weekend babe, i'm here via michele today.
Unknown said…
I got married outside, so of course I agree with you! I love an outdoor wedding. It's more spontaneous, more relaxed, even in a formal setting, and people are just more themselves then they are in some hotel or synagogue.

Duke campus is gorgeous. I was just telling my son the other day that Duke was such a pretty campus and such a good school (hint hint) but he's kinda stuck on going to school around here.

Here via Michele today.
Sandy said…
I never realized the Duke campus was so gorgeous. Wow.

As for outdoor weddings - we didn't attempt. A friend did. It turned out ok if you ignored the squishy, muddy ground under your feet. ;)

Michele sent me over to enjoy your photos.
srp said…
Here from Michele today.
I like the nature and the lovely flowers and the calm feeling one gets from looking at them. Well, except for the couple in the trees making out, but if you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have noticed. My pictures have been tending towards this lately too... something in the air over North Carolina and Virginia perhaps?
Anonymous said…
Are those the Sarah P. Duke Gardens? I LOVED that garden as a child when we'd sneak out of Chapel Hill and stealthly visit Duke without fellow Heels knowing we were there. ;-) The gardens and the underground sections of the chapel are my favorite parts of the Duke campus.
Anonymous said…
How beautiful! All three of my weddings have been outside! (I don't date, I marry!) But THIS one is here to stay. I swear! Michele sent me tonight. Have a great week.
Anonymous said…
Just stopping by to say hello. LOVE your photos. Really gorgeous!
And also love outdoor weddings. Especially overlooking the water. Much nicer than inside a church, I think.
MsT said…
gorgeous flowers, what a beautiful campus!
Michele sent me.
kontan said…
clicked in from micheles...love the gardens. shivering at the stress of planning an outdoor wedding, but oh so pretty!
Michelle said…
So Dave, you thinking about marrying again ehhh??? :o) Better let me know, Aussie mail can be slow!
Anonymous said…
Thats beautiful; I would like to get married outside but I think my first option would be on a boat =)
Lois Lane said…
It is a pretty place to tie the knot. And I think a university is way better than where my sister took us for her wedding pictures, a freakin' cemetery. Seriously! It did have scenery going for it but come on, that's just weird.
Lois Lane
Diane Mandy said…
Duke Gardens is really love. But if I ever got maried again, I'd be thinking destination wedding. So, U... are you thinking an outdoor wedding? Inquiring minds want to know..
It has been forever since I've actually sat down and read through everyone's blogs. Sorry I haven't written much in yours. I have to say that I would love to get married outside. My boyfriend and I have been dicussing when and where we would get married. I prefer an outdoor wedding with an indoor reception somwhere in the May time frame. I like the flowers and how the temperature is always just right. I would be somewhat worried though that it would rain.
Anonymous said…
Gosh, that's a gorgeous setting for a wedding ceremony.

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