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Steph G

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Hi all,

I am getting married this summer and would love to have my minis play a part. I'm thinking instead of hiring a carriage company it would be far more unique and special to me to use my own mini. We are looking into a venue that is a plantation style house on top of a hill that has been leveled off. Its not a steep hill, but more of a gentle slope. I want to get married on the front doorsteps of this house and have my reception around back. I can use the inside of the house as my bridal room or a house down the hill on the same driveway(theres also a barn off to the side). I'm just not sure how to go about doing this. Should I get ready in the house and have Spring bring me around from the back in the cart(short trip, level ground, but people would see me as soon as I came around the house before I actally get to the isle) or should I get ready in the house down the driveway and have her bring me from there (long trip up the slope and you would still see me coming from far away)? There's also the possibility of having someone get her ready in the barn and having someone drive me to it just before the wedding so that I come in from that direction.

Has anyone done anything like this before? Who took care of tacking up and untacking? A friend or did you hire someone? Are the guests supposed to stand as soon as the bride is in sight or right when she is coming down the actual isle?

Thanks for your help! I'm so excited. BTW Spring is in my avatar and will be a deep golden color by June when I'm planning on doing this.

Steph
 
That sounds wonderful.

I have never seen this done but the guests would likely stand as soon as the carraige appeared I would think.

Looking forward to the pictures
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Steph, I have done one wedding sort of the way you are describing only I was not the bride...only the event planner and mini supplier!! I would suggest you take the longer route around and end up right at the entry way or aisle you plan on walking down. Perhaps have your Dad or the person giving you away standing right there to have as a header or to help you out of the carriage/cart. Most likely your guests would not start standing untill they see you get out of the cart and take the persons arm to walk down the aisle. Once you start down the aisle or into the building you will need a horse savy person to lead your horse back to the barn. I say lead b/c I think it would just look better than having someone else try to get in the cart and get the horse going again....ALL EYES SHOULD BE ON YOU!!

As far as getting ready, all dressed and looking beautiful....you do not want to be in the barn hitching up and you do not want your horse standing around all dressed up with no place to go either while you are getting ready and photos. Any one in your family horsey enough that you could have tidy up Spring and hitch for you ( you would do the final inspection of the hitch prior to getting in the cart ) That person should also be there to see that you do not have any part of your dress hanging near the wheels or if you have a veil you dont want that caught on anything or blowing totally out of control. I would also make a point in driving Spring on this route several times with you practicing with some sort of billowy fabric and get him really used to it.

The wedding we did, the bride had a very fitting dress...not real flowy and she actually had a long white fitted jacket that went to the floor...she wore that over her dress in the carriage and took it off as soon as she got to the aisle ( she was married in a lovely field ). Most carriage accidents I have seen in weddings are just silly things getting caught on wheels and the like but can turn into major disasters pretty quickly....having her in a "cover up coat" seemed to help. She had wanted to really dress up the carrage but I suggested that she keep it simple ( less likely a startled horse) and we placed just several greenery swags and a couple of flowers. People will know you and your love of Spring and just seeing the 2 of you together will be fine....keep it simple!!

Another idea....High School Students.....if you are arriving from a far distance perhaps your guests may not be able to see you come driving down the road....you could have 2 trumpet playing students announcing your arrival...they would stand maybe at the top of the hill when you start to get with in eye sight...that would make all your guests turn to watch you...very dramatic.

Well Steph, I sure wish I could be there to help your day go off w/o a hitch....or in your case...off with a hitch. Im sure it will be a glorious day. Im going to try to contact the bride of the wedding we did and see if I can sent you some of their photos.

This is just a thought.....Its my business to think of ideas...sorry. But another thought would be to only use Spring at the end of the ceremony. If you are changing at the end of the reception you could always sneek out....change into some sort of more fancy horse attire, get Spring hitched, have someone lead him away, you go back in and say good byes throw your new hubby over your shoulder ( just kidding here ) and the 2 of you leave in the carriage/cart that has been brought around front.

P.S> tell the groomsmen there will be no tin cans tied on the carriage!!

Sorry about the long post....I tend to get over excited with planning thing. Congratulations on your June wedding and keep us posted!

Heidi
 
Oh, I just wanted to say Spring is beautiful and by the looks of it....very used to having billowy sashes hanging from his neck....lucky you. LOL You guys will look awesome!!
 
Very cool idea. I'd suggest having a nicely dressed groom/header walking beside the horse whichever way you go. As soon as the guests see you, the cameras are going to go wild, and it wouldn't make a very pretty picture to see the bride behind a runaway horse! LOL! Just thinking of safety. Then that person could lead the horse back to the barn also.
 
Very cool idea. I'd suggest having a nicely dressed groom/header walking beside the horse whichever way you go. As soon as the guests see you, the cameras are going to go wild, and it wouldn't make a very pretty picture to see the bride behind a runaway horse! LOL! Just thinking of safety. Then that person could lead the horse back to the barn also.
Very,very good idea. I was thinking also that anything can happen sort of like in a parade. No matter how calm the horse usually is, we have a constant header with a driving horse in unusual situations. Maybe someone you go to horse shows with that knows a bit about horses.
 
Thanks everybody. I'm really hoping we can to do this. She is my dream horse so I want her to be in my dream wedding.
 
Is there someone else that could do the driving, and you arrive as a passenger in the cart? That way they drive up, drop you off and then drive away--all very smooth & elegant.
 
That's what I'm leaning toward. I'm a very petite person so I don't think Spring would have any trouble pulling me with someone else. The only thing is that the horsey people I know would want to stay and watch the ceremony so I'm thinking maybe after we drive up they could just stand at the end of the isle and watch and maybe we could even leave in the cart when we exit and at that point have whoever drove me up just walk beside Spring as we leave.
 
I think this is such a neat idea, on a personal level and on a business level. If you had a few carriages to choose from and a couple of minis, you could really have a lucrative business idea on hand. If you live near rural areas where there is a generally larger population of "horse folks" you would be able to find all kinds of clients. As a wedding photographer I have learned over the years, once a bride gets something in her mind that she wants, she HAS to have it for the wedding.

Plus it just sounds so dang cute and I hope you'll post pictures afterwards
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This sounds wonderful -- and nothing like making it VERY clear that your fiance is marrying you AND your horse!

One addition -- be sure to put a note in your program about Spring, that she is your own horse and how important she is to you. Some may not know the story, but once they see her, they'll want to know.

Also, be sure to let your photographer know ahead of time about the role Spring will play, and be sure to have Spring available for photographs. I can envision some truly magical photos.

If you send an announcement to your local paper, be sure to mention Spring and include photos with her -- that's the sort of special touch they love...you may just end up on the front page...
 
LOL... Actually if it weren't for horses I wouldn't have met my fiance. The last big horse I had coliced one night and my fiance was the vet on call. We agreed to meet at the clinic, but by the time we got there the little stinker seemed better. Since we were already there he looked him over and we went back home. Exactly a week later the same horse did it again. So again we called and AGAIN he was the vet on call! This time he didn't miraculously get better so he had to pass a stomach tube and get some mineral oil in him. I made a goofy comment about needing to marry a doctor to pay for these crazy horses or a vet to take care of them. Well... another week later I got a call from the vet. He said he was just calling to check on my horses and by the way did I want to go out on a date with him!!! We went out the following Friday and have been together over two years now. Oh and we got engaged in front of a waterfall called "horse trough falls".

BTW - the horse that caused all of this... His name was "Last Chance for Love"
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LOL... Actually if it weren't for horses I wouldn't have met my fiance. The last big horse I had coliced one night and my fiance was the vet on call. We agreed to meet at the clinic, but by the time we got there the little stinker seemed better. Since we were already there he looked him over and we went back home. Exactly a week later the same horse did it again. So again we called and AGAIN he was the vet on call! This time he didn't miraculously get better so he had to pass a stomach tube and get some mineral oil in him. I made a goofy comment about needing to marry a doctor to pay for these crazy horses or a vet to take care of them. Well... another week later I got a call from the vet. He said he was just calling to check on my horses and by the way did I want to go out on a date with him!!! We went out the following Friday and have been together over two years now. Oh and we got engaged in front of a waterfall called "horse trough falls".
BTW - the horse that caused all of this... His name was "Last Chance for Love"
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You are about to make me cry. Sounds like a movie in the making.
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Me, too! A true fairytale...

Okay...now I envision your wedding program being more of a booklet, in which you can include the story of how you met, a photo of the horse that brought you together, etc. Are you familiar with chapbooks? They're small, handmade books, usually using unique papers and handbinding, that are used for publishing short runs of poetry and short stories. (I guess with the minis that yours could qualify as a short story, hehe)
 
LOL... Actually if it weren't for horses I wouldn't have met my fiance. The last big horse I had coliced one night and my fiance was the vet on call. We agreed to meet at the clinic, but by the time we got there the little stinker seemed better. Since we were already there he looked him over and we went back home. Exactly a week later the same horse did it again. So again we called and AGAIN he was the vet on call! This time he didn't miraculously get better so he had to pass a stomach tube and get some mineral oil in him. I made a goofy comment about needing to marry a doctor to pay for these crazy horses or a vet to take care of them. Well... another week later I got a call from the vet. He said he was just calling to check on my horses and by the way did I want to go out on a date with him!!! We went out the following Friday and have been together over two years now. Oh and we got engaged in front of a waterfall called "horse trough falls".
BTW - the horse that caused all of this... His name was "Last Chance for Love"
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You mean...."looked YOU over"
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Great story!
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