I am all for non-traditional weddings.
My wedding was in a hay field, soon after square bales were baled.
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| I rode in on my Dad's tractor, on the left fender. I used to ride around on the tractor fender like this when I was little. However, Dad waxed the tractor for the wedding. Probably it's first and only wax job ever. Which made it a little tricky/slippery in a silk dress. |
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| I didn't want anyone all gussied up in tuxedos. The men wore khakis and white shirts, and Dad wore his bolo tie. In the invitations we encouraged everyone to dress casual. |
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| We got married barefoot! |
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| And my Uncle's played electric guitar versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D, The Wedding March, and Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. |
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| We had a bonfire to keep it a little warm. It was late October, after all! |
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| Food was BBQ catered in from a local joint. For dessert we had 5 cakes, 4 of which were made by Grandma Ettling: Spice Cake w/ Penuche Icing, Chocolate with Cream Cheese Icing, Golden Cake with White icing, and Angel Food cake. (She actually made fifth: white cake with pineapple filling and coconut icing, but it fell out of the cake carrier and was covered in grass.) I also got a sugar free cheesecake for all the diabetics in my family from My Daddy's Cheesecake, which tasted just as good as their sugared cheesecake. And Grandma also made her famous cream cheese mints. I need to make sure those are in the family recipe book! |
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| The wedding guests rode down to the hayfield on hay wagons. I'd like to say our wedding went off without a hitch but that would be a lie! Halfway down the hill one of the wagons came unhitched from the tractor. No one was hurt, but the situation definitely made me aware that nothing can be planned and executed to the letter. |
I think your wedding day should be a reflection of who you are as a couple. If a stuffy church wedding isn't your thing, you shouldn't force yourself to go through that ceremony even if your family wants you to have a traditional wedding. I intended for my wedding to involve a lot less organization than a church wedding but in reality it probably took more. I included a map with each invitation so wedding guests wouldn't get lost. (The farm, especially three years ago, barely had any cell phone reception.) We picked up the catering so it wouldn't get lost on the way. The photographer did get lost, even though she was an old high school friend who had been to my house numerous times. We had to plan for the unexpected rainshower by borrowing an events tent from the church. We rented a porta potty so city-folk didn't have to pee in the woods. We used walkie-talkies to communicate all day. the Hubs and I were within 1/2 mile of each other nearly the entire day as we were preparing for festivities and still didn't see each other in our wedding attire until the processional song started.
my friend Amanda gave me several years ago. 
), mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening until mixture is crumbly. (I used a pastry blender that I bought at a flea market, that was similar to 
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