The normal feeling nowadays.

Hutterite Wedding on Sunday

May 13.

Hutterite weddings vary from traditional non-hutterite weddings. With the help of another blogger we wrote a description of one from a few years ago, you can see it here. 

Early Sunday morning, at 7:30 everybody had to be at the bus or vehicles that were going to the wedding in Fairholme Colony.

Joyce waiting for all our friends to arrive for the bus ride, the Sunday morning of the wedding.

The wedding train stopped just outside the grooms colony to decorate the vehicle for the ride in.

Arriving at her new colony. With family, friends and many people from the colony.

With horses leading the train, everybody wants to get a piece of the action. The're also reading the signs posted along the way with jokes about the new colony.

Four horses led us in, for the mile before the colony after which we were met by the below sight.

Possibly the oldest of traditions, the welcome wagon. With all the children. Color and happiness.

Ford. Through and through.

Most of the members of the grooms colony are there to greet the bride and groom plus family. A lot of hugging and happy feelings here.

Beneath the oaks in Fairholme Colony

The youth from our colony having just stepped off the bus.

Couple and family heading home just prior to the wedding.

Everybody is off to relax for about an hour before the wedding ceremony.

No photos of wedding ceremony itself, this is the reception in the school gym. Some of the people have arrived, and i've already been told to not take photos.

Waiting for the couple to arrive at the school.

Couple and family arriving, usually after most other people have been seated. Flower girls in front.

Most people have arrived, youth on one side, older people on opposite side [mostly off the photo]

Hulba.

Two Sundays ago we had a 'hulba' or engagement party in our kitchen. The girls spent at least [months] preparing and imagining decoration ideas for that one night. And I have to give them credit...they really did a good job. Past decorations have often looked a tad cheezy, this time they upped the class factor. I liked it. The sunday of the hulba we, the boys and girls collected tables from the kitchen basement and school to make room for all the people that would come and celebrate. Sing, and eat. We set up tables, and arranged all the neccessary cutlary and decorations on the tables. and that was it. The women took care of the food.

If you feel like reading a more in-depth article on hutterite marriges head on over to hutterites.org

I'm sorry if you were expecting photos of the actual celebration. I don't have any. Cameras are not allowed at the event.

Kerri

Shot this photo a week ago, Kerri is the newest addition to the colony.

With my Friends at the old country church

I was at Oakbluff colony the past weekend, visiting my aunt for the first time since she married last summer. I had the greatest of times. Ok I admit that I'm a geek and fit in real well. I also got to exercise my photographic tendencies. My friends took me to a Catholic church a short distance from the colony and we had a little photowalk. It wasn't one of those large, overly ornate churches by the catholic standards, but more of a subdued Prarie church. They showed me all of the nooks and crannies in it while a friend and I were shooting photos. After we had seen all there was to see at this church we took off back to the colony where we circled their large underwater gravel pit. It was late so the sun was casting beautiful reflections on the lake. I enjoyed having a really wide angle lens, a sigma 12-24mm that I had borrowed for the day. It gave the landscape a whole new look in the photos. That dramatic look. We were having a rather tender piece of meat when we were asked if we wanted a plane ride. Having never had one before, there was nothing that would make me say no to that offer. So I accepted and shortly thereafter I was sky high. Shooting photos out the window while being administered heart stopping zero gravity drops by the Pilot. I quite liked them especially after I realized that I didn't need to be afraid. I want more! These are some of the photos I shot during the ride.