Environmentally Friendly, Locally Sourced Wedding: Cleve and Rachel

Rachel and Cleve’s wedding at Camp Mitchell, on the top of Petit Jean Mountain, is one of my favorite weddings that I have ever photographed.

This is an amazing couple to start with. They are brilliantly creative, and they have an immense desire to help others. Rachel’s dad has worked for Heifer International, which is one of their connections to Arkansas.

For their wedding, they chose to create a light footprint, environmentally speaking. Flowers were local and in season: either from the gardens of friends and family members, or wildflowers. Rachel’s dress was part re-creation of a family heirloom, part handmade. Their outdoor wedding was held in the chapel at Camp Mitchell, and their reception was at the boathouse of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain. Wines were from Arkansas and Texas (their home state) and food choices were local and organic, including lamb raised by Rachel’s dad.

After dinner, the cake cutting and toasts, the guests got down to some serious contra dancing. And here’s the fun thing: one of the last photo stories I did before leaving the Democrat-Gazette was on the Arkansas Country Dance Society. Suddenly I began to realize why there were so many familiar-looking faces in the group.

I can’t tell you how much I loved this wedding day. It has been hard to choose which photos will go on the blog, because I love so many of them.

Since I’m concerned that if this post gets too long, it will never load for many of you, I’ll be waiting until tomorrow for “Part II: The Reception.”