Jody Harris Spring days and country weddings

NEW Farm Hand Ag Resource Directory Coming July 19, 2021

Contact Us Today To Update Your Free Listing and Be Sure to Ask About Our Advertising Options! 1-866-532-1960

ads@ozarksfn.com agresourcedirectory.com just a thought Freshly Picked

By Jody Harris

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. Jody Harris is a freelance communications We were able to get caught up on our yard work. The specialist, gardener, rain has put us behind on keeping up with just about ranch wife and mother of everything we need to do on the farm this spring. four. She and her family

One of the kids’ favorite babysitters (and our neigh- raise Angus beef cattle bor) was getting married that day. We were all able to and other critters on cowboy up and attend her wedding together. It was a their northwest Arkansas beautiful setting on a newly refinished deck on their ranch. She is a graduate pond overlooking Round Mountain. Beautiful mu- of Missouri State University. sic, lovely flowers, and a committed young bride and To contact Jody, go to groom made the afternoon incredibly special. We were ozarksfn.com and click on treated to donuts and a candy smorgasbord while the ‘Contact Us.’ 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.