Great Pictures from Elizabeth City, NC

Exchanging
Vows
in Elizabeth City
The bride's grandfather, Dr. Bo Jenkins,
loaned his 50-foot Beneteau sailboat to
the wedding party as transportation to
the Southern-style reception held at his
waterfront home.
46 :: NCboatinglifestyle / June 2008
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6/5/08 7:46:00 PM
The newlyweds, bridesmaids and
groomsmen bedecked in preppy
pink and green and nautical navy
make their way to the party.
BY NICOLE CREWS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BETH NISER
hen it comes to
waterfront weddings,
the Jenkins-Peel celebration takes the
cake. The courtship
itself began on the
shores of the Pasquotank River, where
Natalie Jenkins and John Alexander Peel
met at an oyster roast. “It was right before
Thanksgiving and that night I jokingly
called him Mr. Jenkins,” says Natalie,
whose prescient humor was rewarded on
May 3, 2008, when the couple wed in
Elizabeth City.
The couple dated for over a year with
Natalie commuting from her job as marketing manager at Regulator Boats in
Edenton to visit John at East Carolina
University (ECU) in graduate school in
Greenville. John, now an art teacher in
Hertford and founder of John Peel Pottery
where he makes functional pottery akin to
stoneware, proposed on the ferry to
Ocracoke. The two quickly decided that
their mutual home town of Elizabeth City
was ideal for the wedding.
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The couple was wed at Christ Episcopal
Church where the bride's parent's were
married and where she was Christened.
The couple’s young friends jumped
right in, throwing the two a party on the
deck at Grouper’s Restaurant, situated
right on the water. Natalie’s friends from
Virginia Episcopal School (VES) and
Meredith College were there alongside
John’s buddies. John was an undergraduate at Appalachian State University (ASU)
where he played football. The rehearsal
dinner was as down home as it gets with a
blue grass band and a lowcountry boil on
the river. The event was hosted at the
waterfront home of John’s parents, Dr. Joe
and Carolyn Peel.
The nuptials took place at Christ
Episcopal Church where 350 friends and
family members gathered to honor the couple in ceremony.
Afterwards, the wedding party walked
across Water Street to the town docks where
they boarded Dr. Bo Jenkins’ (Natalie’s
grandfather’s) 50-foot Beneteau sailboat.
The group motored up the Pasquotank to
her grandfather’s house where the reception
took place.
“We wanted a real Southern reception in
terms of food,” says Natalie, whose menu
included barbecue, fried chicken, fried
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6/5/08 7:46:03 PM
A wedding that takes the cake.
The just-off-the line, 26-foot Regulator
belongs to Natalie's aunt and uncle and
swept the newlyweds off their feet at the
end of the party.
Glorious, natural bouquets of pink peonies
in galvanized vases adorned the tables.
The newly minted Mr. and Mrs. John
Alexander Peel.
The crew disembarks.
A rustic wheelbarrow housed parting gifts
for guests, handmade barbecue rub.
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The couple embarks on a new
life adventure together.
green tomatoes and deviled eggs
from Pam’s Catering. “Even the
guest favors had a Southern
food theme,” says Natalie, who,
with John, made a dry barbecue
rub for partygoers to take home.
Beach music and Motown
hits were crowd pleasers and
served up by BS&M from
Richmond, VA.
The newlyweds departed
aboard Joe and Lynne Jenkins’
(Natalie’s aunt and uncle) spanking new, 26-foot Regulator. “This
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JenkinsWedding_June08.indd 49
The Regulator was festooned
for the festivities with
streaming bouquets.
is his third Regulator, and the
fact that I work at Regulator
makes us a real Regulator family,”
says Natalie.
For the honeymoon, the couple rented a villa situated on a
cliff in St. John with its own
pool, where they contemplated
their new married life back
home in Elizabeth City and, of
course, eyeballed the marina
regularly for boats made in
North Carolina, especially
Regulators.
R
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