Pictures-Our Wedding *

July 25, 2008 ~ Kathi & Jeff’s Wedding Photos
Friday, July 25, 2008 was a big day for us – Kathi finally put a halter (okay, you know it as a ring…) on Jeff. Cowboy and cowgirl were married over the French River gorge aboard a train we chartered. We stood on the back of the gorgeous car Northland, a railroad car built by the Pullman Company in 1916 for the president of a regional railroad company. Its ornate furnishings and plush seating made for the perfect surroundings as we headed out of the Duluth Depot with a train so long (6 cars plus locomotive!) it required its own caboose for the crew. We added a separate open boxcar for the kids to ride in with babysitter. It was pure coincidence that the bar area was close to this car…

It was a perfect day, the overcast weather from earlier in the day clearing up completely by the time the conductor yelled “All aboard!” and smiling family and friends climbed aboard and our train left the station at 5:30pm. Temperatures were in the high 70′s, the sky was brilliant blue and the engine and cars were so highly polished the sun glinted off the equipment. Many had never been on a train before so this was their first train trip – as we passed each rail crossing people would wave or flash their lights.

Hors d’oeuvres were rolled out as our train rolled alongside the Lakewalk along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Lots of laughter and talking as Kathi and I mingled with the crowd. About 20 minutes or so away from the gorge we were going to get married at Kathi slipped away to put on her wedding dress. Upon arrival at the gorge, another photographer was set up on a hillside overlooking the tracks, train, bridge and river. From Kathi’s private suite came the order to move the train 30 feet farther over the gorge. Us guys on the back of the train tried to send the message back to her that the photographer had a good angle. Her brother acting as messenger shuttled the message back to her…with a return message of move the train 30 feet more over the gorge…we sent the actual camera back with her brother to show her the angle…shortly thereafter we moved the train another 30 feet over the gorge… The bride wanted to be married right over the river and thus it was made so…

The ceremony lasted around 20 minutes and was presided over by the Reverend Robert O. Hickman who did a wonderful job tolerating responses to his questions like: “What do you bring as the sign of your promise?” Correct response: “Wedding rings.” Actual response: “I brought my checkbook!” The Northland has seating for about 30 people in the parlor area so as friends and family looked on and shot lots of pictures of us as we said our vows on the platform overlooking the French River (which by the way for those wondering is not a time to mention to the bride “I hope my chute opens in time…” – kidding) we said “I do.” Kathi was absolutely breathtaking in her long flowing, open backed dress. For those that haven’t seen her in ‘real life’ Kathi weighs maybe 100 lbs if she’s soaked and sports a dark tan to go along with her rippled muscles. Her arms and legs show the results of what horse training and farm work can do for your physique! Yet she looked like a princess as she gracefully glided down the aisle, occasionally telling her escort he was standing on her dress…her brother Neil Davis walked her down the aisle to give her away. I also learned at that time there was “no trades back.”

After our walk down the aisle as Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Tucker, we returned to announce it was time to adjourn to the dinner car where red roses and lilies greeted everyone. We decided against assigned seating and that worked for the best – the small group mixed and bounced among tables as the beautiful north woods of Northern MN and Lake Superior along with several more rivers passed by or under our train. After passing Knife River and slightly before Two Harbors, MN we stopped and disconnected the engine from the front end of the train to get it ready to pull us back. Before re-connecting the engine to the front of the train, the crew made the locomotive and any equipment we desired available to us for photos so while the crowd either sat in the dining car and watched (they pulled the engine alongside the train for the first set of pictures) or hung off the side and shot some of the photos you see below (we won’t have the official wedding photographer photos for awhile) we laughed and lit up cigars and posed for the photographer(s) in our more natural attire – cowboy hats and cigars! The crowd loved it and got to join in for the photos and they were actually fun. After that, we moved the engine away from the rest of the train and took more photos.

After re-connecting the engine to the train we headed back for town and dinner was served – beef or chicken. Fancy dishes that I can’t pronounce so you’ll have to accept it was either beef or chicken. My brother, Richard, gave a toast I can only hope to live up to followed by a toast from Kathi’s brother, Neil, who reminisced about their adventurous childhood. The ride back was in the dark so the car’s were set for night lighting so people could watch the moonlight dancing on Lake Superior through the trees and over the rivers we crossed. Our wedding cake was rolled out on the way back so the evening was rounded out with a chocolate cake with raspberry mousse layer in the middle. After that folks freely roamed the many cars of our train, mixing and mingling over wine. The evening was still very warm and the kids laughed and hugged various family members as Kathi and I stood at one of the open boxcars and watched the city lakeshore and twinkling lights come back into view. As we passed crossings and the lakewalk people would yell “Congratulations!” up to us as we sipped our wine and shared a cigar. We came back into town more than 2 hours later than anticipated, everybody laughing and excited and telling us this was the best wedding they had ever attended. We had to agree. Here’s some shots of our wedding…