Megan Morr
Jennifer's dad, Kelly, plays a mean sax solo at the Hope Valley Country Club reception. Photo by Megan Morr/Azul Photography
This article appears in the June/July 2012 issue. To have your wedding or engagement featured in Durham Magazine, contact Editor Matt Dees at mattdees@durhammag.com
When Jennifer Upchurch was in middle school, her dad, Kelly, started the now famous Durham funk band called – wait for it – Sleeping Booty. You might think an adolescent girl would be mortified by her dad rocking out in such a colorfully named outfit. You would be wrong. She said to him then, “You have to keep this band going so it can play at my wedding.”
Kelly kept that promise. When Jennifer married Brendan Bradley this spring, Sleeping Booty, with Kelly on saxophone, kept the reception at Hope Valley Country Club rocking into the night.
Brendan, a communications manager, met Jennifer, a meeting planner, at the Independent Petroleum Association in Washington, D.C. where they both work.
One Friday they went to the National Portrait Gallery. Waiting until almost closing time, Brendan got down on one knee and proposed. Afterward he said to her, “Take a moment and just stand here, so when we come back here we will remember how we feel today.”
Jennifer, carrying a bouquet custom made for her by Sanders Florist and dressed in a beautiful gown from Tre Bella Bridal, had the wedding she had dreamed of at Duke Chapel with her sister, Ashley, as her maid of honor and childhood friends Katherine Black and Kate Jahnke as two of her bridesmaids.
But Brendan was shown the greatest Durham hospitality. Jennifer’s mom, Laura, enlisted her friends to bake pies – Brendan’s favorite – for dessert. That made for his second sweet dream come true.
The first, of course, was Jennifer. DM
