Julie & Brian’s country farm wedding with horses

The Offbeat Bride: Julie, Nurse

Her offbeat partner: Brian, Mechanic

Date and location of wedding: Abydos Farms, Picton, Ontario and Cedar Rail Farm, Belleville, Ontario — June 8, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: The ceremony was at a friend's farm where I have worked since I was a young girl. It was my dream to have my wedding there. One of my favorite parts was the ceremony entrance. The wedding party entered on horseback! My mom and two bridesmaids entered on a John Deere gator, my maid of honor/sister, flower girl, my dad, and I entered on horseback.

Once the ceremony was over, we kicked up our heels at another farm nearby. It was in an indoor arena with a dirt floor. We had family-style BBQ with ice cream sandwiches, cake, and homemade goodies for dessert. At 10:00 p.m. we had pizza delivered! Our band was great, and at one point had every girl at the wedding on the stage/hay wagon singing “Mustang Sally.”

Tell us about the ceremony:
Since the horses were going to be present during the ceremony I thought it would be cool to incorporate them somehow. Just before Brian and I signed the registry, the “horsemaids” did a choreographed “musical ride” to the song “Marry You” by Bruno Mars.

Here are some clips from the ceremony and the horse dance:

Our biggest challenge:
At times it was difficult to stick to our vision. I think because it was a little different, others weren't sure it would work. I had to do a lot of convincing and clarifying of ideas.

The other biggest challenge was the weather. It rained for three days prior to the wedding, which really worried us. The day before the wedding, there were actually ducks swimming in the area where we were going to have people park! Luckily, it was overcast but did not rain on the day. We ended up getting a tent (just in case) and used chairs instead of hay bales for people to sit on.

My favorite moment:
Even though Brian was pretty emotional during the ceremony, I was able to keep my cool for most of the day. However, I had two moments where I lost it. The two moments were our first dance and our wedding slideshow. Brian picked our first dance song which was “Hey Pretty Girl” by Kip Moore. He sang every word to me and I lost it. A close friend created a beautiful slideshow of Brian and I through the ages. I also lost it at this point. I am emotional now writing about it!

My funniest moment:
When I was on my horse in a big dress, I got my dad to help me off. Rather than getting off normally, I kinda fell off the horse and let my dad catch me (you can see it in the ceremony video above)!

One of my favorite funny moments was when my friend brought out her horse head masks. We had so much fun dancing around with them.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Venues: Abydos Farms and Cedar Rail Farm
• Photography: Jessica Cockburn and Kelly Taylor
• Dress: Kleinfield's

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.