Christina McCarthy and Travis Ashlock's Wedding
Christina McCarthy and Travis Ashlock's wedding was held in her folk's back yard garden in early September. Outside weddings are always a little tricky because of weather. A small sprinkle, well maybe even a light rain, fell just a half hour before the 6:30 ceremony. A few in the wedding party were biting their nails since the inside living room would not have held the ceremony. Usually out door weddings in Colorado need to be held either before one p.m. or after 6:00 p.m. to avoid the normal afternoon shower. We lucked out on this one!
Home weddings are especially nice because of the warm atmosphere provided. But, keep in mind that not all guests are as prompt as they might be at home affairs. Since the guests are normally close friends and relatives they often have a more "relaxed" view of the proceedings. Another problem concerns location. While most of the guests have a good idea of where the home is located, some may have a problem. "Googling" a location isn't sure fire either. For instance, there are six Aspen Ways, Aspen Circles, Aspen Streets, and Aspen Terraces just in west suburban Denver alone. Out of town guests need to be sure they don't go to the wrong one! We did fine this time. The rain stopped, a ittle sun poked through, and the very last five guests arrived for the 6:30 wedding at 6:40 p.m.
Those of us who perform many a wedding each year do worry a bit about starting close to on time. The officiant isn't much impacted by a late wedding, but think of the other professionals involved. Consider the photographer and/or videographer who need to charge by the hour. When things start quite late there's always the food to think of. Caterers pride themselves on serving hot food and go to great lengths to get things on the table in good order. When the wedding starts a half hour late some caterers are pulling out their hair. I remember one wedding which started a full hour late. That caterer said, "Well if they really want well done roast beef they can just start a hour late." One way around that problem is, of course, to have the caterers arrive well after the ceremony. That works for most folks, but children can get cranky if they have to wait too long to eat. Speaking of food, Cristina's mom is co-owner of winery. You can bet bottles of their special wine, appropriately labelled, were served.
It was a lovely Colorado out door garden wedding. Everything worked magically. The parents were crying when we did the old "gifts to the parents" ceremony. I especially liked the poem we picked for that part of things. But, if you're planning an outdoor wedding there are things to keep in mind.
