BRIDES - Post Register

G8 Post Register
By Desirai Schild
For Brides
“Labor of love” is a
ood term to apply to peole
who landscape their
ntire property for a backard
wedding. With
emphasis on the Labor.
Edith Morris spent
nearly a year preparing
for her granddaughter’s
wedding at her farm
between American Falls
and Aberdeen.
“The kids picked out a
spot where the old spud
cellar used to be and
where we had old machinery
parked,” Morris said.
“It was probably about
eight feet wide by 60 feet
BRIDES OF 2011
long. They told me this in
the fall when they started
planning their wedding
for the next August.
The first thing Morris
did was plant grass over
the area.
“Lawn is hard to get
started,” she said. “I did a
lot of watering, fertilizing
and praying.”
She chose a rainbow
theme.
“I planted the taller
866BIN0123
Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011
Lots of love – and labor – in preparing your back yard for a wedding
flowers in back and went
to gradually shorter ones
in the front, simulating the
colors of the rainbow,” she
said. “In the center, I had a
berm planted with petunias
and alyssum. They
smelled so wonderful.”
Morris started out
planting seeds and eventually
bought a lot of
plants, too.
“I planted the seeds
and then got nervous that
it wouldn’t be enough,”
she said. “I started buying
plants to fill in. When the
stores had their spring
clearance on plants, I
bought up everything I
could get my hands on
and found a use for it.”
The whole family was
pleased with the results.
“It was beautiful,”
Morris said. “But, it was a
lot of work. You really
need to plan how you
want the finished product
to look, then put in the
plants that will do that. It’s
a big undertaking.”
Shannon Koch,
Pocatello, has already
started her labor of love
for her son’s August
reception at her farm near
Inkom. Her son, Jeremy
Simpson, and his fiancé,
Miranda Oliver, delighted
Koch by asking to have
their reception on her
farm next summer. They
will be married in Belize
in February in a small, private
ceremony.
“I was so excited when
Miranda asked me,” Koch
said. “She didn’t want a
particular color scheme or
theme so I’m just going
for as much color and fragrance
as I can.”
Koch started creating
flower beds and planting
seeds and bulbs as soon
as she got the request.
The plan calls for flowing
beds of brightly colored,
fragrant flowers surrounding
the entire yard.
Lights are a big theme.
“I’m so glad they let me
know that far in advance,”
she said. “I was able to
buy up a bunch of solar
lights at the end of last
summer for a really good
price ... They will be sort
of like tiki torches around
the whole back yard
area.”
“I’ve bought up a
bunch of white, twinkly
lights that will be draped
on the edges of the pathway
between the field we
will use as a parking lot
and yard areas where all
the events will be happening.”
Koch has planted
“tons” of trees and shrubs
as a screen across the
front of the house.
“We’ll have a big screen
set up there and will run a
loop of Miranda and
Jeremy’s wedding on the
beach and clips from their
entire trip to Belize so the
guests can see the wedding,”
she said. “Around
the back, we are buying
two outdoor tents that will
be put together for form
an L. That’s where the
band will be.”
Koch, a manager at
New Day Products and
Resources, is purchasing
several pieces of wooden
furniture made there.
“There will be several
areas, all surrounded by
trees and flowers, where
people can group and sit,”
she said. “They can
choose the atmosphere
they enjoy most from the
band location and tents to
a kitchen-like area to sitting
around the firepit and
the pond we made for
this.”
All the tables will be
decorated with large
bowls edged in fresh flowers
and holding floating
candles.
“I keep hitting all the
thrift stores looking for
the right bowls and other
accessories that will
enhance the reception,”
Koch said. “I’m glad they
gave me a year to get this
ready because I find new
stuff to add to the plan
every day. Since they don’t
have a theme or colors,
my goal will be to have
tons and tons of fragrant
flowers, plants and unusual
lights.”