Deliriously happy—that’s how I would describe the wedding and reception of Joey Fala and Sarah Jones at The Cookery, a popular venue for newlyweds in Durham, NC. I have a feeling that that the couple’s face muscles are tired from smiling so much!
People from 18 different states came to the wedding, as illustrated by this drawing:
The first people I greeted were Mr. and Mrs. Sam Hammond whom I met on my previous visit to Duke (“The view from the top“). He was the carillonneur at Duke University for 53 years and just retired. There’s a nice article written about him which you can read here, and as you will read, Joey has taken over the carillon duties. Thankfully they have given him the next two weeks off!
I was happy to see Patsy Fala, Joey’s mom, who said she always reads my blog to find out what Joey is doing! I think this is the first time we two have had our picture taken together (I am honored that the family thinks of me as Joey’s music mom!)
The newlyweds arrived and immediately did their first dance as a married couple. It was soooo sweet to see them smiling, laughing, kissing, and being so much in love!
During this first part, we had typical North Carolina appetizers: fried chicken and waffle bite, crab cakes and fried green tomatoes! (I had to forego my diet tonight!)
We all went next door to the banquet facility and saw that the tables were beautifully decorated with a menu and name card. They even listed which dishes were vegetarian and/or gluten-free! The North Carolina theme was carried out further with absolutely scrumptious selections: Mixed baby green salad with blueberries, feta, and walnuts in a vinaigrette; Shrimp and grits with wild-caught NC shrimp, smoked bacon, and cremini mushrooms; Cast iron seared and slow roasted beef tenderloin; Southern Mac and Cheese; and Sauteed Haricots verts (green beans).
I was extremely honored to be seated at the “head” table with Joey’s family.
I was seated next to Patsy’s sister, Loretta Bahng, who had earlier read the New Testament Lesson in the service. She and I had a nice visit both tonight as well as the night before. On the other side, I spoke to Beth (sorry, forgot her last name), who was the voice teacher of Nathan Jones, Sarah Jones, and even Joey Fala, who was referred to her by the Duke Chapel staff. She told me Joey had a beautiful singing voice! I told her that I really didn’t hear him sing after his voice changed, and to hear that he has a lovely singing voice is just great!
The newlyweds were seated just to the left of Joey’s family. By the way, during the rehearsal, Joey was asked whether he wanted to use his “real name” during the vows (Joseph) and Joey elected not! So he said, “I, Joey, take you, Sarah … “— but after all, we all know him as Joey!
My favorite part of the dinner was dessert—there was an ice cream truck parked outside and we all got to pick our favorite flavors!
We all went back inside for the cake-cutting ceremony. You can always tell how a couple treats each other by this ritual of cutting and then feeding each other—they both cut the cake together and lovingly fed each other!
I took this picture of Joey with his classmate, Claire Mosteller, from Iolani School!
We all went back next door for dancing but I’m afraid that the music was too loud for me. I got back to the hotel about 11 pm and wrote the post about the wedding before falling asleep about 1 am.
It had been a perfect, GREAT day for Joey and Sarah!