mountain lodge wedding

Some time ago we attended a wedding in an old mountain lodge overlooking a river.
I wasn't so enthusiastic about the wedding since I wouldn't know anyone there.
The bride's father, who I've only met once, is a friend and colleague of the Gardener's.
The Gardener was keen to go, so we made a little get away of it,
traveling two hours south for the wedding, spending the night near there,
 and exploring the city in that area the next morning before returning home.

The wedding venue was a state park and the weather was on the verge of
a storm so the ceremony was held inside the park's rustic lodge with a
 beautiful view. It was perfectly fitting for what
I would call a throw-back to the 60s wedding.

The young minister was neatly dressed in jeans and rolled up shirt sleeves.
A guitar played old folk songs as the bride and her attendants walked up an aisle
strewn with wildflowers. The girls, dressed in different off-white dresses and sandals,
 carried freshly picked sprigs of green, with wreaths of flowers adorning their heads.
The couple planted a tree together to signify their new unity
while we sang "This Is My Father's World."

Some guests picked flowers from vases at the lodge entrance,
and tucked them in their hair. 

We snacked on grapes and listened to John Denver while we waited for
the wedding pictures to be taken. The bride and groom had their first dance
as raindrops began to fall. Then they served barbecue.

The bride and her groom were so in love, smiling their joy constantly,
and seemed very at home with themselves and their wedding.
The were surrounded by 18 attendants, family and
many college friends there to observe and to help.

It was such a relaxed wedding.
For us it was like stepping back into the 60s and felt oh so familiar.