Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/127001
owd even included a few vy special gue of hono — a io of alpacas. Even without a rehearsal, the ceremony went smoothly for easygoing Shandy and Carolyn. With so much open space, no trimming of the guest list was needed. 50 fashioned the affair as one big potluck party. To round out the meal — just in case the offerings yielded multiple spinach dips or salads — the pair sprang for a spit-roasted 200-pound pig, freshly caught fish and a dessert table loaded with eight types of pie, 100 cupcakes and a two-tier chocolate cake. With a crowd of that size, there was only one time during the whole event when they all fell uniformly silent. For the duration of the ceremony, all chattering and chewing temporarily ceased as Carolyn and a trio of bridesmaids swept down a grassy aisle, accompanied by harmonica music. And when the longtime lovers stood hand in hand at the altar, they confirmed their commitment to one another before a justice of the peace with an exchange of self-written vows. For many couples, it's a time when words become choked with tears, but not for this easygoing duo: "We both thought we'd get emotional but we didn't," Carolyn says. She was surprised, too, that the ceremony went off without a glitch. "It went really smoothly, considering we didn't do a dress rehearsal. We just winged it." Still, the bride's favourite moment of the day came just moments after she and Shandy were declared newlyweds. "I absolutely love surprises and I'm a hard one to get a secret past," she says. "Right after we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife, Shandy grabbed my hand and swung me around the side of the barn and up onto a tractor with a beer-can train and a 'Just Married' sign taped to the back. He started it up and we drove around the field. I had the hugest grin plastered on my face." rw real weddings SPRing / SUMMER 2013 p48-51_Carolyn+Shandy.indd 50 13-04-22 11:08 AM