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WEDDINGS
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Harrisonburg, Va.
‘Something That Represented
Us’ Susan and Andy Keeler of Harrisonburg decided to have their wedding reception last August in the plot behind their home in downtown Harrisonburg, after realizing there was lack of downtown venues large enough for 200 people. They rented a 40-by-60 foot tent, large enough to fit tables and chairs for everyone in case of rain, and a dance floor, which was set up in open air with string lights hanging above. Courtesy Photo
Valley Couples Express Individuality, Commitment With Backyard Wedding Ceremonies By HANNAH PITSTICK Daily News-Record
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n planning a wedding, some couples go big, while others go home. The backyard wedding has become increasingly popular in recent years for various reasons, whether to save on money, create a more intimate feel or hold a ceremony that truly represents the couple. Scott Christopher Murray and Dawn Lorenzen set a June 27 date for their wedding just last month, allowing for only five weeks to plan everything. By that point, just about every venue in the area was booked, but the couple was set on a June wedding because Murray, a Harrisonburg-based Grammy-nominated musician, sings a song called “In June,” about a couple who meets under a sycamore tree. “In the center of my farm there are these two enormous sycamore trees, so I figured it’s already a beautiful love story, let’s start it there,” says Lorenzen, who lives on a 50-acre farm in Fulks Run. “We could have done it at the
church with air conditioning and a kitchen, but it’s just too perfect if you listen to his music.” Lorenzen’s farm is bordered by mountains to the north, a row of trees and a river on one side, and a field that runs down to a barn and silo on another. “The view is beautiful, so really we don’t need to do a whole lot more,” she says. The relatively few decorations will include candles on the tables, flowers by her friend Sarah Showalter of Showalter’s Greenhouse, and fans with the program printed on them for guests, of which there will be about 100. Because the wedding will be the week before Fourth of July weekend, Lorenzen says the only available tent was 40-by-60 feet, large enough to hold the ceremony and reception in the shade, and act as cover in case of rain. Lorenzen’s uncle will be making pork tenderloin, and the rest of the dinner will be potluck-style, with her aunts making salads and a cousin making the cake. “We love that kind of afterchurch supper where everybody
“There are obviously gorgeous locations all around the area, but we really wanted our family to come in and have a place to stay that was close to us.” — SUSAN KEELER, WHO, WITH HER HUSBAND ANDY, HAD HER WEDDING RECEPTION IN THE PLOT BEHIND THEIR HOME IN HARRISONBURG
brings something and you never know what there’s going to be,” she says. Following the ceremony, Lorenzen’s teenage sons will clear the chairs out of the way to create an open space for dancing to her friends’ bluegrass band. “So many of the guests are musicians that it’s just probably going to end up being a jam,” she says. “I can’t wait.” Lorenzen says the downsides to having a backyard wedding are the stresses of trying to make the home look perfect and the risk of inclement weather. “Yeah the yard isn’t going to be perfect and it’s not going to be something out of Southern Living,
but I keep reminding myself that we’re doing it this way so everyone’s comfortable,” she says. “And we buried the bottle of bourbon so we’re going to have great weather.” Lorenzen explains that legend says if you take a bottle of bourbon to your wedding site on a day the weather is perfect and bury the bourbon neck down, that’s the weather you’ll have the day you get married. “My personal philosophy is, either way, you have bourbon on hand.”
Comfort and Cost Jen Kratz, 35, and Shawn Phillips, 37, of Broadway held their wedding on September 13 in the yard of Kratz’s brother, who lives just outside of Harrisonburg. The ceremony was held in the front yard with about 75 guests in attendance and the reception was held in back, with string lights, barbecue chicken and music from Phillips’ iPod. “We did the ceremony out front and the party in the back,” Kratz says. “We kind of joked that it was
like the mullet wedding.” Holding the wedding at her brother’s place enabled them to keep under their budget of $5,000 and eliminated any concerns about being turned down by venues that may not allow a same-sex wedding ceremony. Kratz says her brother’s property is completely flat and surrounded by pasture on three sides, with the closest house located across the street. It was rainy and windy the morning of the wedding, but cleared up just in time for the ceremony, which was a relief because they had no backup plan. “I guess if there would have been a monsoon we may have done it the next day, but we had no backup plan whatsoever,” Kratz says. “We had one tent, a 10-by-20 that we had the food under, but there’s no way we could have fit everybody under there; I basically said rain or shine, I’ll be out there, but I don’t know if I’d go that route again.” The pair planned the program from the bottom up, opting to walk See BACKYARD, Page 9