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Garden Weddings Ring Up Profit
It only took attending a son's outdoor wedding to give Mary Ann Norton the idea of putting her gardens to work. An avid gardener with a tool-handy husband, she set her plan in motion. Two months later, her second son was married by a pond in her front yard. A year later, when her third son decided to get married at
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Garden Weddings Ring Up Profit 28-6-8 It only took attending a son's outdoor wedding to give Mary Ann Norton the idea of putting her gardens to work. An avid gardener with a tool-handy husband, she set her plan in motion. Two months later, her second son was married by a pond in her front yard. A year later, when her third son decided to get married at home as well, Norton and her husband Gary got serious about her idea, recognizing that they needed a shelter in case of rain.
"Gary built a post and beam shelter from scratch, and we installed pavers," says Norton. "He followed a plan from a company that recycles old buildings for post and beam structures. The beams were from a granary in Saskatchewan, and the purlins that held the shingles were from wooden silos on my parents' farm."
She advertised and had six weddings the first summer. Seven years later, they are up to 70 weddings per year and have a total of nearly 8 acres of gardens and landscaped areas. They have hosted wedding ceremonies as large as 400 people with participants from Indonesia, Ethiopia, Russia, China and a number of other countries.
In addition to as many as five wedding ceremonies on a weekend, the Nortons also host teas and lunches on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. These tend to appeal mostly to ladies groups and organizations. For these, she offers some combination of soup, salad, fruit, breads, sandwiches, tea and dessert served on good linen and fine china.
The weddings consist of only the ceremony, not receptions. Originally, she charged separately for site, chairs and audio equipment. Starting in 2005 she will be charging a set price of $1,000 for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or evening wedding and $800 for a Friday evening, Saturday or Sunday morning wedding. Brides and grooms are responsible for arranging for their own clergy or justice of the peace, though she keeps a list of local officials for brides to contact.
"I grew up thinking the only place to have a wedding was in a church, so I have been surprised how much people enjoy outdoor weddings," says Norton. "One concern we had was people being respectful of the property, but they have been great, rarely having anyone run through a flower bed."
Norton advises anyone thinking of a similar venture begin with a good insurance policy. She suggests having paved paths to direct people to the ceremony for the benefit of women in high-heeled shoes after a rain.
"High heels aerate the grass nicely, but it doesn't do much for the shoes," she notes.
Parking remains in a mowed area near the gardens. Norton does plan to expand her gardens and add statuary over time. For now, she and her husband stay busy with what they have.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary and Mary Ann Norton, 26062 Olinda Trail, Lindstrom, Minn. 55045 (ph 651 257-6072; website: panolavalleygardens.com).
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