Dear ESB,
I'm getting married and I have a vision. I want to get married on a small lake involving row boats -- I love the idea of all our guests being in rowboats but understand that realistically that would be a nightmare and at least 10 people would fall in. So maybe my dad rows me in? The concrete part of the vision is that after we say "I do" we jump into the lake and later after my dress and his white linen suit dries -- they will be beautifully encrusted with lake residue forever.
The only problem is that this vision doesn't seem to exist in Southern California where we are planning on getting married. It's really more Northwest or East Coast. I have searched high and low for the lake but alas can't find anything that doesn't include jet skis and a kind of barren desert look. I'd like it to look like this... and all the better if it is private. Any magical lake ideas would be much appreciated.
Thanks you and thank you and one more thanks....
Miss Lake Lover
*****
Pick Two:
[ ] A wedding
[ ] A Southern California wedding
[ ] A wedding on a small lake involving row boats
Also, please bear this in mind.
YOu're welcome.
Love,
David Cross and Amber Tamblyn were recently married and Amber and her dad canoed to the ceremony location. It looked pretty rad/adorable.
ReplyDeleteI was at a wedding ceremony a few years ago in a vacant lot by the gowanus canal in brooklyn. At the end of the ceremony, a women in a canoe paddled up to the bank of the canal, got out and handed the oars to the husband, and the bridal couple canoed away down the canal. It was pretty amazing, largely because the gowanus fucking disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI know you're probably thinking of a beautiful lake and not a gross superfund site, but just to add my two cents, your guests will totally hate you if you make them sit in canoes. Many of the the older family members (a lot of Brooklyn natives) at the wedding I described were not at all pleased to be hanging out in a vacant lot with no bathrooms by the gowanus.
I'm actually writing a paper about the Gowanus superfund and all that, focusing on the community involvement, and this is so ridiculous and awesome, I really would love to include it. Let me know if this is okay, and if you have more details? kairoslighting@gmail.com
DeleteThanks!
Your idea is lovely but I think the reality of it would be complicated and awkward. It's hard enough to hold it together during the ceremony– facing the love of your life, committing your yourselves to one another for all eternity, etc.– without also trying to balance in a small boat, hear the officiant over the wind, occasionally adjust the anchor so you don't float away, and swat away bugs. And what happens if the weather isn't perfect?
ReplyDeleteIf you're totally married to this idea, maybe consider hiring a photog to do a bridal session for you guys at a lake. But keep it more simple on your actual wedding day. Let the moment be about the emotion and meaning between you and the person you're marrying, not about "the vision."
-Midwesterner who has spent a LOT of time in boats on lakes and knows a thing or two about just how much OFF! spray is takes to keep the mosquitos from sucking all of your blood in a matter of minutes when you're out on the water.
I agree wholeheartedly with all this, especially about the bugs. Your wedding is not a photo shoot and all that. I promise the ceremony will be special and amazing for you; it doesn't have to LOOK special and amazing.
DeleteMy family and I vacationed on Convict Lake when I was younger. It's gorgeous, not too big and they allow dogs (perhaps only an important factor when planning my own wedding...) This was probably about ten years ago now but I remember at the far end of the lake, there is a woodsy/grassy area that would make for a great reception area. It is maybe more north than you'd like and looks larger than the photo you provided but, excuse the semantics, that looks more like a pond than a lake.
ReplyDeleteMy other suggestion is the lake/pond at Alisal Guest Ranch, another family vacation destination of my youth. It is a couple hours outside of LA. Again, a bit larger than your photo but it is absolutely stunning with several feasible reception locals.
To give "Miss Lake Lover" some hope despite all the negative comments, a decent-looking wedding with a row boat on the aforementioned Convict Lake.
Delete@Kate I dunno. The more photos I see of brides and grooms in fucking row boats the cheesier it gets.
DeleteThe story about the woman who drowned in her wedding dress... how had I not heard that before? So sad, with shades of Gothic fiction and urban legend.
ReplyDeleteIf it's about the experience you will make everyone wear life jackets, if it's about the pretty pictures you won't. Don't make your guests uncomfortable, andput them in a possibly life-threatening situation (not everyone knows how to swim!) Just for some great photos. If it really is about the experience, at least have life jackets available for those who want them and for any kiddos! Doing cool things just for the photos irritates me, especially when its something like make everyone row out into the middle of a lake. It's on par with making everyone wear the same color or hike up a mountain for your wedding. Inconvenient and irritating, and likely impossible for grandma.
ReplyDeleteCan I suggest that if you find a lake you try out the jumping in while wearing clothes and then letting them dry while you still wear them thing because I suspect it isn't that comfortable a way to spend a day - might also be good to know if 'beautifully encrusted with lake residue forever' actually means 'forever stinky'...
ReplyDeleteexactly. have you ever been in a lake?
Delete"Honey, I'm going to wear my beautiful white linen suit jacket to our anniversary dinner."
Delete"Oh no you don't mister - it's still covered in algae! You march back up those stairs and change right now."
wet t-shirt contest wedding?
ReplyDeleteThis.
DeleteSouthern California is filled with beautiful places & backdrops for weddings that would be extremely magical and memorable without the swimming (especially if in a white dress)...
Maybe opt instead for getting in some fantastic poolside, lakeside or ocean-side time and photos on the honeymoon? That's the prime moment for married adventure-seeking. :)
I went to a wedding at Redfish lake in Idaho right on the lake. We all jumped in the lake the morning of the wedding and rented boats the day after. It was gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteWe did this at our wedding in Northern WI as well. It was a blast. But our ceremony was on dry land. :)
DeleteMy rehearsal dinner was a bbq at a lake and it was a blast. We swam, went boating, my groom and his father both went kneeboarding and broke ribs, and it was a blast (except for the part about the broken ribs = not the best honeymoon). But it was clear that grandparents and anyone else did not need to go into/near the water. And no one bought and ruined an expensive dress then wore it and smelled gross the rest of the evening. Also, the wedding was in Minnesota (land of 10,000 lakes) so we used it as a way for our guests from out of the area to get to know the location. So the idea wasn't just pretty pictures or some "vision."
DeleteThis is seriously the worst idea I have read on this blog.
ReplyDeleteThis.
Deleteyes.
DeleteYes, thank you. I couldn't understand why no one was saying this!
Deleteoh my word, pretty much.
DeleteMy only hope is that OP is trolling us all.
DeleteIt has to be trolling. "Beautifully encrusted with lake residue forever" come onnnnn!
DeleteIt has to be trolling. "Beautifully encrusted with lake residue forever" come onnnnn!
DeleteThere is no way people will be able to hear if you are on the lake, guests will be trying to paddle to keep the current from carrying their boats away while you are saying your vows. Seriously, have you ever rowed on a lake? Doesn't actually sound like it since you think they only exist in three pockets of America.
ReplyDeleteWorst idea. And you wil just smell after you jump in, what about changing into swimsuits after for a pre reception dip? Rowing up to the ceremony or away after the ceremony sounds doable though.
I am totally not on board with trashing the dress /diving into a lake with a dress for the reason ESB linked to above.
ReplyDeleteMore so because 1) it happened in the town where my boyfriend's sister's family lives; 2) said sister was planning to do a trash the dress photo session with the same photographer at the same location the week after the tragedy; and 3) right after this happened we got frantic phone calls from friends and boyfriend's extended family who thought it could have been her.
Row yourself into your ceremony, sure, but for the love of all that is good, wear a lifejacket. And possibly some floaties.
floaties - the perfect wedding accessory. ha!
DeleteA question, since you're local - is the current there strong enough that she might have drowned even if not wearing a heavy dress?
DeleteThe current is very strong, yes, but without the weight of her dress dragging her down, she may have survived.
DeleteNo one looks good getting out a rowboat. Even if you don't make guests watch the ceremony from boats (goddamn I'd lose my mind if asked to attend said event), people will probably laugh as you stand up and try to get out of the wobbling boat and onto a dock in your dress.
ReplyDeleteGet married a semi-normal way and save the pretty pics for a pre or post wedding photo session. If you fall in during a photo shoot, it'll be all adorable and not super sad.
I looked at your pond picture and its gorgeous, of course. I can take you to pretty much that spot here in Wyoming, but it's 1) in Wyoming and 2) we have to ride ATVs to get there.
Deletei can not even IMAGINE the conversations that followed that poor bride's death. how do you explain to a mother/new husband that their beautiful daughter/bride died doing some ridiculous BS she found on pintrest ? seriously tragic.
ReplyDeletelove the sentiment. If you're hearts set on it, go for it. I'd strongly recommend against having EVERYONE in row boats or canoes. Everyone will drift away from each other; it will be impossible to keep all those boats together! Really, I used to teach canoeing in HS and when we would do group activities on the lake, we literally had to use ropes and carabiners to keep them all together. There's no way less then professional rowers could keep a boat in one spot for more then 30 seconds. But, your inspiration photo really is more "Pond" like, and I betcha someone has a private pond/property they'd rent out. Start asking around! Especially up by Big Bear.
ReplyDeleteThe Alisal Ranch, just north of Santa Barbara, is closeish to LA/in southern california and has a pretty sweet lake where I'm sure you could have the lake to yourself but probably comes with a hefty price tag. (its also more of a southern california setting than evergreen forest so maybe not for you)
ReplyDeleteSome friends of mine did this a few years ago. It was a small man made lake on the grooms parents property where they had the ceremony. The groom was the one who paddled to the ceremony, but it made sense because he lived on the other side of the lake. Although there wasn't much to see since there wasn't a clearing at the dock. They did take pictures on the lake after the ceremony and they were pretty cute.
ReplyDeleteIf you end up doing this you might want to practice, especially if getting in and out of a canoe isn't something you do on the reg. That shit is awkward, even more so with a big ass wedding dress.
This is a test of your 'people leave nicer comments with names' theory, right? That is the only explanation I can come up with for this shit.
ReplyDeleteI hope you've figured life-jackets into your "vision".
ReplyDeleteI can't decide if I would RSVP no because I don't want to sit in a canoe during a ceremony (at least do rowboats or a less awkward means of boating) or if I would wholeheartedly go just to see someone tip into the lake. I love lakes, I live on one, but no.
ReplyDeleteIf you are dead-set on finding a place that looks like that photo.....check out Lake Crescent in Washington. Rent out the entire Log Cabin Resort for a weekend (remote, rustic, and delightfully Twin Peaks-esque). Or check out Lake Crescent Lodge. You can even go play in a rowboat.
ReplyDeleteBut for god's sake, don't jump in right after your ceremony. And don't make all of your guests witness your wedding in tiny boats, either. Dangerous, awkward, and screams "I'm trying to get my wedding on a blog."
Look, I totally get having a vision. For awhile I was convinced getting married on top of a mountain was what I wanted, and it was going to be beautiful. Except for the fact that the mountain "resort" where we would have been staying was really a hunting lodge that was very rustic. And not cute, blog rustic. And then I remembered I feel nauseated at high altitudes. And that all elderly family members would have a hell of a time getting there. Basically what I'm saying is, remember why you are getting married, and realize it isn't all for the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI think its a fantastic, fun idea, but will end up being awkward to actually do. Maybe get married beside a lake and do some of the wedding shots in a boat? And I wouldn't jump in before the party, you'll both end up wet and grumpy all the way through dinner. Again I think the idea is fun, and super photogenic, but weddings should be so much about your enjoyment than a good picture.
ReplyDelete"a kind of barren desert look"
ReplyDeleteWelcome to southern California. First time visitor?
Solution! Move to Sweden
ReplyDelete