1. Real Weddings

Kendra & Trey in Upper Marlboro, MD

There were many reasons that Kendra's mother walked her only child down the aisle to marry Trey. One of them was because if it weren't for Mom, the tw

There were many reasons that Kendra's mother walked her only child down the aisle to marry Trey. One of them was because if it weren't for Mom, the two never would have met. THE BRIDE Kendra Willey, 25, courtroom clerk THE GROOM Trey Hines, 29, police officer THE DATE October 7 Kendra and Trey met after Kendra's mother was introduced to him. He was a close friend of one of her coworkers, explains Kendra. As soon as he had left the room, my mother picked up the phone, called me, and said, 'I just met my future son-in-law!' As our best man said during his toast, 'It was love at first sight, and then she called her daughter.' But Mom was right -- on our first date, everything just clicked. On what the bride remembers as a beautiful and crisp fall afternoon, Kendra and Trey were married at Mt. Airy Mansion -- one of the oldest mansions in the state, located in Maryland's Rosaryville State Park -- nestled on 1,000 acres of beautifully preserved, lush land.

The Ceremony
The four-tiered stacked chocolate and yellow cake, with raspberry filling and white buttercream icing, and Black Magic rose petals strewn on top and between the layers, was made by a friend of the bride, Jennifer Jennier.
Shortly after the wedding ceremony, the party unfolded with a cocktail hour on the lawn. Guests slowly moved inside for dinner and dancing in a romantic room lit only by tiny bulbs on few ficus trees.
The couple danced to Etta James' At Last and Kendra and her mother danced a mother-daughter number to Joe Cocker's You are so Beautiful, before the feasting and festivity got underway.
Kendra wore a white strapless mermaid gown by Monique Lhuillier in duchesse satin and carried a cluster of rich Black Magic roses; her five bridesmaids were dressed in white wrap shirts paired with satin taupe skirts that matched the taupe ties given to each groomsman.
The Couple
At 2 p.m., a Scottish bagpiper and a drummer announced the start of the ceremony. Kendra, whose father had passed away a little over a year before the wedding date, chose to have her mother accompany her down the aisle. After my parents' divorce, she says, I was raised by my mother alone. I always knew that when I got married my mother was going to give me away. She earned it.