Country Wedding

The neighbor's daughter was married on Saturday.  She was in J's class in school, and she and R have been really good friends forever since they grew up together.  Her new husband grew up on a ranch a couple of hundred miles west of here and now works as a customs agent at the port north of Opheim.  He fits in well with the neighbor girl's ranching family.

The wedding was held at the ranch so was a big event in the neighborhood, and friends came from all over the state.  The ranch was full of campers and tents plus 16 extra dogs and 2 miniature pigs!!  The wedding arbor was made by the bride's brother out of horseshoes welded together and painted yellow.  There were milk cans painted kind of a mossy green full of yellow and white daisies.  Off to the side were saddles on saddle stands and at the ends of the rows of chairs were old boots filled with daisies.

The bridesmaids wore strapless green dresses and daisies in their hair and were barefoot.  The groomsmen were in yellow western shirts, jeans, and cowboy hats.  The ring bearer isn't walking yet so was pulled along by the best man in a little red wagon and the flower girls threw daisies.

The bride was beautiful in a lace tiered strapless gown with a green belt and she arrived with her father and her son (not quite a year old) in a horse-drawn carriage.  She was barefoot also.  There were too many guests to be seated so a large group stood for the ceremony which was very traditional.  As the couple was lighting the unity candle there was a ripple of laughter from those standing in the back because a dog walked by and peed on the pile of presents before ambling off toward the house.  The team of horses was brought out again to bring the couple to the reception and then give rides to anyone who wanted one.

The Butler steel building was the site of the reception decorated with ranch panels, green tulle and white lights.  On the tables were Ball jars decorated with ribbon and full of wheat topped with battery-operated votive candles.  The guests were fed a supper of BBQ beef and salads.  Then the tables were moved out of the way and a band played old time country music.  I got in on a butterfly dance with the bride's mother and one of the groomsmen.  It had been years since I had danced a butterfly.  We were thinking the young groomsman would have a story to tell about how a couple of old broads taught him something.  I danced with my husband, my brother and my son so I enjoyed the night.  The bride commented on how dirty her dress got from dancing on the shop floor.  Lots of Pendleton was drank as were kegs of beer, and there were fireworks at midnight.  We went home about 1:30 but I heard that the bride's mother chased some of the young people to bed at 4:30 and heard the father of the bride slept (passed out?) on the ground by the shop.  Too much Pendleton would be my guess.

The weather can always make the outdoor wedding stressful, but they couldn't have asked for a nicer day.  It was hot early in the day, then we had a little cloudburst which cooled things off a bit, and there was just enough of a breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay.  It really was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful setting.  The bride's father says he'll never do it again but her mother says she will but maybe at a different time of year since it's haying time and they should be busy with that.  They have two more daughters, so we'll see.