Organic craze spurs farm weddings

 

3 Nov 2008, 0001 hrs IST, Mireya Navarro, NYT News Service

The Times of India

 

For their wedding at Oz Farm in Mendocino County, California, Kate Schatz and Jason Pontius came up with unusual gift baskets, which included head lamps, flashlights, walkie-talkies and other items better suited for construction workers than teary-eyed guests.

 

But this was a farm wedding, without hotel-like amenities, and the couple from Oakland, California, wanted to make the 30 or so friends and relatives staying the weekend as comfortable as possible.

 

Unfortunately, they forgot about the bats. "There were eight bats in our cabin and we had no idea how to get them out," said Julia Mayer, 29, who was rooming with her boyfriend and three other guests. "One of us had a head lamp on, so they were flying in our faces. We opened the window and tried to turn off the lights, but nobody could see anything. We slept somewhere else."

 

Weddings held at farms are not exactly new, but just as the wine craze decades ago sparked a vineyard wedding industry, the green crusade, with its emphasis on organic and local products, seems to be spurring interest in farms as the ideal venue for vows.

 

But these weddings are not for every bride and groom. The couple must want not only an outdoor setting, but also a close connection with the land. While working farms may offer romantic sunsets over golden fields, and truly local, organic food and flowers, couples must also be game for some rural challenges, like uncertain electricity and plumbing and the occasional runaway chicken or pig, not to mention a family of bats.

 

In other words, Bridezillas need not bother. "If you’re the kind of person who wants everything to work out exactly right, I wouldn’t let you have it here," said Judy Lessler, owner of Harland’s Creek Farm, a historic site in Pittsboro, North Carolina, which she is preparing for weddings starting next year. "This venue is for people who like the outdoors, love the romance of it and are willing to be somewhat flexible," she added.

 

timesofindia.indiatimes.com