Garden Wedding

Last Saturday, my little Sister got married. Rustic barn wedding is now all the rage and that is exactly what she had. It was brilliant! My mother works at Ousley's Harvest Gardens in Alexandria and also tends her own garden. I think she has spent more than her pay check there in flowers, herbs and other decor since the marriage proposal on Christmas Day to get ready for the wedding.

The morning started with a bang! A bang of thunder that is. Then the rain came, like Forrest Gump rain, "sideways". It rained all morning and I was torn. On one hand, I selfishly welcomed it for the rain starved gardens at Mission Berry Farms, and on the other hand, I worried about the evening forecast for the wedding and also worried about my mother's nerves. My sister?--heck, she'd have been fine rain or shine. No act of nature was going to stop her day!

But, Providence and the Weather Channel shined just in time. The sun came through and photography lighting for the evening was just perfect. My sister is a photographer.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you the poem I wrote for her unity candle ceremony. The exception though with this ceremony was that it was not done with lighting candles, but instead Rodney and Kara expressed their union by mixing soil from their two childhood homes and then planted a tree.

Cultivation
Earth, soil, sand, and clay,
Mud, rock, stone,
Flesh, and bone
As the woman found the man
So does the rain find the soil
As the man finds the woman,
The soil is warmed by the sun
These soils are mixed today
And so cultivation begins again
Each are different and yet the same
And when they come together
All are enriched
By the goodness of each
Thunder and Lightening may strike
Winds may blow
But soon after
Always comes the rain
Plant firm roots in each other
Nourish each other
And tend daily to your garden
Called marriage