Waltz of the Flowers

In September of 2018, there was a wedding. It’s theme was a marriage of flowers and writing as the bride was a flower farmer and both the bride and groom were writers. They had met in and MFA for Creative Writing program years earlier. Deb studied nonfiction and Bix’s track was popular fiction. The wedding was very much DIY as it was a second marriage for them both and as was said before: farmer and writers. The bride was a Virginian and the groom from Iowa originally, but they were living, part of the year, in St. Paul, Minnesota at a wonderful place called The Schmidt’s Artists Lofts or “The Beer Castle” as they sometimes referred to it. Their residence resembled a large red brick castle with crenulated roof lines and in years past it had been a storied Midwestern Brewery.

Lavender is such a huge part of Deb and Bix’s summer lives, they decided to eschew it for their wedding day. The color theme of the event was pink, blue, white and brown. Brown? You might ask. They felt it added a earthy element to the otherwise kinder colors. The flowers were purchased at the local farmer’s market and the bride created this easy breezy arrangement for the ceremony area.

Deb chose a floral gown as her wedding dress. And Bix wore a floral themed shirt and, if you look carefully, a leather belt embossed with flowers. They had purchased the belt a few days earlier at the Minnesota State Fair, at a stand where they put strips of decorated leather together with the buckle of your choice. The man at the stand gave them a really funny look when they told him the belt was for Bix. Deb kept the wedding bouquet simple with white and ivory tones as there was already a lot of pattern and color going on.

The reception space was decorated with antique books, small flower arrangements and roses made from book pages.

It was a short ceremony and the vows were written by the bride and groom of course. Followed by some self-congratulatory high fives at the end.

THE FOOD! Deb imported a good friend and Virginia chef who made the most scrumptious Southern delicacies, like sweet potato biscuits with Virginia ham and watermelon salad.

The wedding cake was on theme too. And Edie, Deb’s mom, made a special tablecloth for the cake table. And more book page paper roses were employed.

As gifts for the folks who helped them celebrate, Deb, with the help of family members, sewed up these book marks with fun papers, quotes about love and marriage by famous authors and silky tassels in keeping with the wedding colors.

A family was created that day too, for what was originally two “only children.” Lincoln on the left and Ash on the right had some fun with their “poses” and as bartenders at the reception.

A kiss recorded by the wedding photographer in the “golden hour” created a favorite wedding photo.

Their love story is bound to end up in a book one day.