Our family has experienced an especially busy spring. It is a rare occasion that we are all six in the same place at one time. This past weekend, our family was home together due to rained-out races in Tulsa. We were able to get caught up on our yard work. The rain has put us behind on keeping up with just about everything we need to do on the farm this spring.
One of the kids’ favorite babysitters (and our neighbor) was getting married that day. We were all able to cowboy up and attend her wedding together. It was a beautiful setting on a newly refinished deck on their pond overlooking Round Mountain. Beautiful music, lovely flowers, and a committed young bride and groom made the afternoon incredibly special. We were treated to donuts and a candy smorgasbord while the bride, groom, and their families took precious photographs after the wedding.
As tradition would have it, the bride and groom arrived up to the reception tent to cut the cake and serve their wedding guests. It was a warm and sunny, so we enjoyed the fellowship with friends and neighbors as we celebrated the nuptials of the young couple.
When planning a country wedding on or near a farm, several logistics must be considered upfront. The biggest challenge is always favorable weather. Our family knows the only way to remedy favorable weather for any outdoor event is to commit it to prayer and leave it up to our creator. It rained that morning for a bit but cleared off with beautiful sunshine in the afternoon. What a blessing.
The next challenge is farm animals. The neighbors hosting their daughter’s wedding have several coonhound dogs at their farm. We were concerned about the howling they might do with so much commotion at their normally peaceful residence. They parked a tractor in front of the kennel to distract the dogs from seeing what was going on. After a few days of family and friends in and out of their property to prepare for the rehearsal dinner and wedding, the dogs were cool as cucumbers on the wedding day.
We were quickly running out of green grass in our pasture for our cattle the week leading up to the wedding. We held off rotating pastures to make sure our cows, bulls and calves did not make a scene during the vows. They all seemed to be far enough away from the wedding staging area that they got an A-plus for wedding day manners. There was a concern about flies but there was a breeze in the air, and they were not too much of a menace.
When the wedding party were prepared to venture off on their honeymoon, the kids (and some adults) were excited to shower them with sparklers. The getaway car had been properly decked out with plastic wrap, petroleum jelly and some redneck hay twine with plastic bottles to trail behind as they made their way out of the driveway. A special Texas uncle provided a spectacle of fireworks as the couple took off.
The kids raced home to get swimsuits to play in the cold pool with the leftover group of cousins and friends. I love springtime, and I am a sucker for the simplicity of a pretty country wedding, neighbor.
Jody Harris is a freelance communications specialist, gardener, ranch wife and mother of four. She and her family raise Angus beef cattle and other critters on their northwest Arkansas ranch. She is a graduate of Missouri State University. To contact Jody, go to ozarksfn.com and click on ‘Contact Us.’
