by Kate

Three years ago, I married a mariachi.

That is, I married a half Mexican schoolteacher in a custom made Mariachi suit, on a windy Wisconsin ridgetop, in the church across the road from Sweet Ridge Farm.

I wore my Grandmother’s vintage satin wedding dress and my mother’s veil.

My mother had worn this wedding dress as well. I had been dreaming of wearing this dress since I was a little girl, and was thrilled to carry on a tradition in the third generation.I am guessing that my grandmother wore very high heels when she was married in this dress.

The day was full of blooming peonies in the beautiful bouquets designed and created by my sister Mary…

and the air was full of rose petals.

The celebration on my brother’s organic dairy farm was exuberant, as was famous moment in which the hoop skirted bridesmaids in ballgowns climbed the silo.

Granted, the hoop skirts did have to be left behind for this stunt to work.

A moment which, to be honest, horrified my brand new big city raised husband, who was gesturing with all his might for me to climb back down, preferably in a ladylike manner. I did come down….. eventually.

It was a gorgeous day for grand sweeping gestures and great romance and castles (or silos) in the sky.

Three years later, our feet are on the ground, and our life is taking root here in a city far from the rolling ridgetops where I was raised. I am less a blushing bride and shaped more like a vast ship at sail at sea….

but our married life is deeper, and (mostly!) smoother, and overall much easier than it was in the whirlwind of wedding and moving and getting to know each other and settling in to new roles and a new joint life. Happy Third Anniversary to my husband! Thanks for putting on that mariachi suit, and letting me leap down off the silo and into this new life.

There are lots more posts about our weddings here:

Our Red Dirt Royal Wedding

Red Dirt Wedding Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

How I Became a Slattery- A Love Story

Before We Dance

Petticoat Junction