In June of 2021, I had the honor of performing a destination wedding in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. From the start, It was an exciting adventure!
To make things even more exciting, we had just gotten our new puppy, Remington A. Weddle. He is a Goldendoodle. (I am working on getting his own post ready to publish.) He is an extremely loving puppy who only has one fear. VEHICLES! He doesn’t get motion sickness, however is has anxiety about getting in a vehicle. His anxiety starts as soon as we put his harness on to go to the vehicle (more on that in his post). After giving him the medicine prescribed by our vet, we started on the 5+ hour drive to southern Oklahoma.
It was pretty high stress getting out the door. As you can guess, we accidentally left some stuff behind. As we approached the Joplin area, Audra asked , “did you get your clothes?” After a gut-wrenching silence I humbly replied, “no.”
Thankfully, it was a western-themed wedding so I did not have a tux. I have a pair of Ariat jeans, a white shirt and a black suit jacket. I knew my boots were packed in the suitcase so all I needed was the rest of my clothes. Joplin had a Cavendar’s Western Wear and a Men’s Wearhouse (where I bought my jacket in Springfield). As long as they had my size I would be good there.
I was in luck! Men’s Wearhouse had the exact same jacket in my size. Cavendar’s had similar jeans and a nice dress shirt. Too easy! EXACTLY…
Just as I get back in the car and start to head down the road, get a call from Marissa (my colleague and the bride-to-be) asking for my page and book number. What the heck is that? Turns out, Oklahoma is the only state in the Union that requires you to register your credentials in order to officiate a wedding. They just found out as they were getting their marriage license. The requirement is to file with the State of Oklahoma, showing proof of your minister’s credentials. It’s Friday, mid-afternoon and I am an hour+ away from any county seat in Oklahoma. We’re off to the races.
Fortunately, this could be done at any county courthouse in the State of Oklahoma. As the officiant, you sign on the line on a page in their book. That becomes your page and book number that is required for legal marriage. It was not easy, but I was able to get registered in Miami, Oklahoma in time. (If you are getting married in Oklahoma and need an officiant, call me.)
The Wedding
The venue was a lovely cabin in the middle of the woods of the Ouachita Forest near Broken Bow, Oklahoma. https://cabinsinbrokenbow.com
(Wedding pictures courtesy of Amanda Boswell & Free Dove Photography) http://freedovephotography.com
Reception
The reception was held at the Hocatown Saloon. It was a cool place. It was decorated like an Old West saloon with nods to Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Good food, too! https://hochatownsaloon.com
Fish Tales Winery
Of course, we WILL find a winery if there is one near by. (That’s just what we do!) They had great food, excellent wine, and they exhibited many local artists in their restaurant and shop. https://www.fishtaleswine.com
Connection Magazine
A few months after the wedding Marissa and Matt were contacted by Connection magazine in Monett, Missouri. They wanted to write about their story for an elopement-themed edition in the February edition. They were unaware at the time that they would be on the cover when the magazine was published. Links to the magazine are below.
https://www.connectionmo.com https://issuu.com/connectiononline/docs/cn_02feb22_finalproof
Remington A. Weddle
This was Remi’s first trip with us. He was a trooper! We took him to the Mountain Fork River for some fun. This was his first time at the river. Once he figured out it was ok to get wet, he loved it. He will have his own ongoing and updated post, soon. Be on the lookout for that.
