The Cowboy Takes a Wife

What's the phrase, "once a cowboy, always a cowboy"? OK, that's not really a common phrase, but it's true in the case of my nephew Zachary, who was born with a love for horses and all things ranchy! Fastword 30-plus years and his cowboy boots are walking down the aisle.

You know. THE aisle.

It was a hot, windy and wonderful day for a wedding yesterday. Zach and his now bride Liana held the event at the Polk County Fairgrounds in St. Croix Falls (kind of up by Luck, and you all know where that is, I'm sure.) Hadn't been to a wedding at the fairgrounds but it was all country-fied, cowboy and gorgeous.

Got in a few pictures before the ceremony. Here is Zach with Grandma and his mom, my sister Rachel. Zach was very, very close to my dad, so after Grandpa Hedberg died, he named his next horse after him. The shiny belt buckle he's wearing is from a championship he won on Watching From Heaven.

A few of the aunts and uncles there ahead of time.

Onto the ceremony... Zach walking his mom down to her front-row seat.

As a single mom, it's always been just Rachel and Zach so I know she was emotional, as any mom would be, but so proud, too!

I gotta say, these kids stole the show, though. How cute are they??

And they adore Zach, so that's special.

 Here comes the bride.

 Ready for vows.

Instead of lighting a unity candle, they did a "unity branding" on a picture frame with Zach's ZH ranch brand. Very cool.

You may now kiss the bride!

 Yee-Haw!

Instead of a receiving line, they rode through the fairgrounds so their guests could see them and cheer (without startling the clydesdales, of course.)

Since it was so hot, they had some games between the ceremony and reception, including a dunk tank. Guests could pay for chances to dunk groomsmen and the groom. They had that in lieu of a "dollar dance." Isn't that a great idea?

Here Batman (aka Zach) tries to sweet talk Grandma into not dunking him.

She got to be as close as she wanted and therefore, could keep trying 'til he was dunked.

Some people cheated and just pushed the lever. I guess when you're a godmother you can do that, Rayna! I, on the other hand, had an honest-to-god hitting of the target with the baseball and down he went!! I can't confirm or deny reports that the baseball coach I live with missed the target.

Had some picture time after the wedding. Got Mom, the newlyweds and the 8 R's together for one. Also had a bunch with Hedberg cousins (it was like a reunion), but I didn't get any taken with my phone since we were all in the photo!

Also got a nice pic with our boy. Notice Jim dusted off his cowboy boots? For real, he literally had to dust them off. It's been more than a decade since he last wore them!

I hope this link works. Here's Zach and Liana in their first dance. Well, 20 seconds of one of their "numbers." Just SEE what we need to be teaching our young men when it comes to dancing!

Some random hot dancers! As in very hot and sweaty. Our hair spray could not stand up to the humidity plus gusty winds. We look like a fun bunch of sister and nieces, though, don't we?

I did dance my way to 10,000 steps on my FitBit so that was a bonus. Can you tell my twin and I took these in the photo booth after some hardcore polka-ing? A little shiny and red in the face.

It was a lot of fun. Stayed overnight and awoke to storms up there. Sort of followed the rain clouds home. I guess the Wedding Gods made a deal with Mother Nature to wait a day.

Thanks for that, by the way.