Wedding bells at the ranch

The beautiful young couple of Bryn and Bryan – yes, that’s right – saying their vows under an old oak tree

Julie and I love weddings. They combine three fantastic elements which make them unmissable for us – celebration, reunion and travel. So when we heard one of our beautiful nieces in the US had chosen the date and place for her nuptials we locked it in before the invitation arrived. And the double added bonus to the whole event was that the lucky couple had chosen the family ranch in California as their venue and our youngest son Zach was going to join us. So we were aiming for a huge celebration, a fantastic family reunion and a great trip to the beloved family ranch in central California.

The ranch is a place of rolling hills, dramatic horizons, deep valleys, a picturesque river, dozens of dams for the cattle and endless childhood memories

Zach and Julie with the jeep as a group of us explored the outer reaches of the ranch

Accommodation for the wedding was camping – even for the bride and groom

The ranch brings out the cowboy in all of us, including this group of brothers, sons, nephews and in-laws

Diane and Julie walk to the wedding venue as a little drizzle fell

Uncle Ken made a handy little bridge to get us to the wedding site

Some people are special – Momo gets the chauffeur treatment

Brother Bruce walks Bryn down the biggest and longest aisle of all time – and what a magnificent setting!

Momo and Papa get a well deserved front row seat at the outdoor ceremony

Our family is a little spread out these days but all recognise the opportunity to form a quorum at an important family event, even if it meant flying from interstate or overseas. Bryn is the oldest of the youngest in the family and she’s always had a little bit of cowboy in her which makes this setting at the ranch perfect. And Bryan fit in perfectly to the whole scene and the family – they make the perfect couple. A little bit of drizzle wasn’t going to stop the festivities and the sky was filled with stars by nightfall.

As a crazy twist, Bryn is one of the ‘triplet cousins’ because she was born within days of two nephews – Zach and Weston – who were actually born on the same day. These triplets have always been close – as far back as when they were tiny little kids.