Long distance love weds at Hitching Post Farms Story by Amy Passaretti Photos by Penni Lauren Photography
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rom living more than 300 miles apart for the majority of their relationship to now working in South Carolina in offices sideby-side, Sally and Ben Miedema tackled some obstacles to wind up in a dreamcome-true and celebrate a Southern-Californian wedding in March 2019. Sally, originally from Wetumpka, and Ben, who grew up in California, checked out many venues in Elmore County but ultimately settled on The Hitching Post Farms in Eclectic for its indoor and outdoor venue options. “We debated if we wanted an indoor or outdoor wedding, since Alabama’s weather is pretty unpredictable, but we liked the set-up options both ways at Hitching Post,” said Sally. Also, the venue handled most of the organization and offered many options in its wedding package, from added decorations to full set up. Sally said her favorite part was that their entire families were together for the first time, including Ben’s family from California and his sister from overseas, as well as a lot of friends and family from South Carolina. “My family is mostly from Alabama, but it was really nice to have everybody together in one place,” said Sally. They celebrated with about 160 in attendance. As a family-oriented couple, Sally and Ben chose to have honorary bridesmaids and groomsmen who walked down the aisle but sat in the audience. Ben’s children, Scarlett and Lucas, were the only two standing at the front with the bride and groom. “We wanted to make it about our family. We let them each pick out a unity sand color to incorporate,”
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said Sally. Scarlett, 6 at the time, even wore a dress that Sally had worn in a wedding when she was that age. The dress was handmade by Sally’s aunt. The pastor from the bride’s hometown church, who Ben had gotten to know well over the years, officiated. “He was always so special to me, and he and Ben formed a relationship, so it was the one person we could kind of both agree on,” she said. While Elmore County is home for Sally, Ben struggled with some Southern wedding traditions. “We didn’t have a groom’s cake because Ben had no idea what that was,” said Sally. Ben stuck to his guns on attire, as well, and wore a gray suit, while his six groomsmen wore gray pants
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