Saturday, 26 July 2014
Madeline and Jacob’s wedding at Pink Poppy Farm
Allan and I were so honored to be invited to the wedding of a young couple whose talent and creativity have impressed us ever since we met them just a few years ago. They lived next door to us for awhile before buying a home in Chinook. Maddie owns the delicious Pink Poppy Bakery and grew up on Pink Poppy Farm, a beautiful garden setting which was on the Music in the Gardens Tour in 2013. The garden became a fairytale setting for the wedding.

looking east across the garden; the house in the distance (behind the yellow balloon, not a residence) was being used for dinner preparations.
Madeline’s multi-talented mother, Lynn, made the stunning wedding dress and the vests for the groomsmen. I am in awe.
I walked around the garden for awhile….
I realized after awhile that I had accidentally set my camera to “vivid colour!”
Back in the central garden, the hoop house in the middle of the garden (usually full of veg) had its covering taken off to transform it into a viewing pavalion.
Unless you knew the garden from garden touring, you would not have guessed that right to the south of the seating tent is a whole row of big wooden compost bins. Earlier in the year, nasturtium seeds had been planted in the old compost and made a solid wall of flowered green.
I was so fortunate in that from where I sat I had a perfect view of the wedding party walking down to the ceremony garden on a grassy path strewn with hydrangea petals. The songs: The wedding party walked to When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sedge. Parents and family walked to Never Ending Song of Love by Delaney and Bonney. And Madeline walked in to Wild Theme by Mark Knopler.

in blue, Maddie’s mom, Lynn. to the right, Maddie’s dad’s business partner, and Maddie’s honorary uncle, John Berdes.
A few words said by Sonya, and then there was an exchange of hugs among all the family members.
Maddie’s mother stood by Maddie and Jacob and quoted words by Joni Mitchell:
“I want to have fun, I want to shine like the sun
I want to be the one that you want to see
I want to knit you a sweater
Want to write you a love letter
I want to make you feel better
I want to make you feel free”
Then came what for me was the deepest moment of the afternoon, when a recording was played of Jacob’s mother singing a song that I later learned was by Don Henley. The lyrics were so realistic and so very far from fairy tale perfection that I, who have never in my life cried at a wedding, felt the tears on my face. She changed the lyrics of “For My Wedding” to “For Your Wedding” (and may have made a few other lyrics changes that I can’t recall).
And never again will I look back
Ah, my dark angels we must part
For I’ve made a sanctuary of my heart.
For your wedding, I don’t want violins
Or sentimental songs about thick and thin
I want a moment of silence and a moment of prayer
For the love you’ll need to make it in the world out there.
That’s what I’ve wanted for my life
And if it hasn’t always been that way
Well, I can dream and I can pray
Maybe nothing, maybe nothing at all
But I pray we’re the lucky ones; I pray we never fall.
To take what we’re given with grace
For these things I pray
On your wedding day.
That, by the way, is a tattoo of Madeline’s mixer, the one she uses at Pink Poppy Bakery.
After the ceremony, it was cocktail hour. I wandered the lovely gardens some more.
We learned that all, and I mean all, of the soft cheeses were made by Madeline’s renaissance woman mother, Lynn, otherwise known as Superwoman.
Throughout the garden, tables had been constructed by post hole digging tree trunks into the ground and making long tables and small individual tables.
It was a brilliant concept. I found out Maddie’s dad Mike came up with the idea and Jacob implemented it. “It was a piece of cake”, he says.
I found a chair at a table near to that table laden with delicious food and ended up spending considerable time with a fascinating woman named Gloria (I think), who volunteers with Peninsula Poverty Response and Project Homeless Connect.
Maddie was circulating through the crowd and I believe she stopped and spoke with every one of the 250 or so guests.
Gloria, Allan and I went for another garden walk up to the big poly tunnel, to the east of the ceremony garden.
From Pink Poppy Farm’s bounty comes the salad greens and herbs and flowers that Maddie sells at her Pink Poppy Bakery booth at Ilwaco Saturday Market.
I decided I it was time to have a cocktail and chose “Moore to Love” because it had Starvation Alley cranberry juice in it.
Soon we were called to the dance floor tent for Maddie and Jacob’s wedding dance. During their vows, Jacob had made reference to taking dance lessons with Maddy (and might I add, his vows, which he called “bullet points”, made me realize what a very funny guy he is).
After the dance, Jared, the MC (and co owner of Starvation Alley Cranberry Farm) announced that it was time for dinner.
Later in the evening I talked to Chef Jeff McMahon of Pelicano about how beautiful and tasty the salads were; he said he loves to use beets because “they are like jewels” and I said I make sure to order any beet salad on the Pelicano menu because it is always superb.
After dinner came the wedding toasts in the white tent.
All the words were kind. A friend each of Maddie’s and Jacob’s spoke of their childhood and college friendships. Maddie’s college friend praised Jacob’s courage! and Jacob’s friend reminisced about their boyhood science experiments, both being science-experiment minded youngsters.
Mike, Maddie’s dad, had a tear in his eye when he spoke of his long companionship with his wife, Lynn. I very much loved when he thanked the many guests for being kind to his garden.
And then, the father-daughter and mother-son dance, and I realized that these good parental relationships are the foundation of all that was so beautiful here.
And then, more garden wandering. Allan happened upon the signing of the wedding paperwork.
But wait, there were more treats in store. Maddie and Jacob cut a small meringue wedding cake made by a Portland pastry artisan (Maddy had been talked out of making her own cake); I wish I had gotten a photo of it as it was the most charming array of three or four meringue “berets” with berries, And then we were all directed to a dessert table.
The meringue cookies, which echoed the cake, were so delicious I must admit I could have eated a trayfull of them.
Then….more garden wanderings.
(We heard that the dancing went till 2 AM!)
A campfire had been laid with all the fixings for ‘Smores.
My garden wandering continued.
And then suddenly we got a chance for a ride back to our van. We had arrived on a shuttle from Long Beach (part of the amazing organizational skills that had gone into this event) and while shuttle rides were offered back, we did not want to take any of the guests away from the party, so we took the opportunity to catch a ride south with friends. It was probably about eight o clock when we left; the party carried on into the early hours of the morning.
Never have I been to any celebration that came off as perfectly as this one did or seen any couple who seem as well suited to a long, happy, creative, and rewarding life as Madeline and Jacob. A toast! to their future.
You can peruse the official wedding photos at Homespun Creative.
What a fabulous garden to have as the setting for such a sweet and wonderful wedding! I saw your picture of the bride on Facebook and wondered about that mixer tattoo. There were so many creative and imaginative touches for the wedding that you showcased in this post. Thanks for sharing your experience through your, and Allan’s, photos. I hope this garden is on a future tour, I’d love to see it.
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It was on in 2013 so may be on again in a few years. If there is an edible garden tour again it might be on thAt, I would imagine. It’s a magical place.
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PS. If you and Debbie come to the tour next year, I might be able to get you in to see Pink Poppy Farm on Sunday.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH Skyler and Allan for all of the amazing images and incredibly kind words. It was such a joy having you both to celebrate with us and we are so glad you had such an amazing time.
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I’m so glad you like it!
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What a fantastic wedding! Can’t wait to stop in at the bakery during my next trip. Such a jewel to have there on the peninsula.
A lovely bride and a lovely family. I would have cried too with those lyrics.
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UnbeLIEVable! What an incredible Wedding Celebration.
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