A RURAL ROMANCE

PUBLISHED IN MARTHA STEWART WEDDINGS – WINTER 2001

PIPPA WARDEN TO CRAIG PAULSON
RED HOOK, NEW YORK 6.3.00

PIPPA WARDEN AND CRAIG PAULSON GOT ENGAGED TWICE. THEY HAD GONE CAMPING TOGETHER one August weekend, and after a dinner of fish they’d caught in a nearby lake, they were just settling in for a game of cards when Craig excused himself and went into the tent. When he emerged, he was wearing a clean T-shirt. He fell on bended knee and proposed to Pippa. She accepted immediately, and they took pictures of their campsite to commemorate the moment. However, when Pippa looked at a calendar to make note of the date, she realised it was Friday the thirteenth. Unhappy with the idea of becoming engaged on a day considered to be unlucky, she asked Craig to repeat the whole ritual at two minutes past midnight, on Saturday the fourteenth.

Pippa, who grew up in England, and Craig, who is from Australia, had met five years earlier in London at the advertising agency where they both worked, and moved to New York a year later. Their wedding brought together friends and family from around the world. Because they wanted their guests to see the beauty of the rural United States, which isn’t commonly visited by tourists, Pippa and Craig drove around for five weekends looking for the right spot. Finally, following the advice of a friend, they found Poets’ Walk Park in Red Hook, New York. In the park was an arbor just right for their ceremony. Research on the Internet turned up an equally perfet reception site in the nearby town of Rhinebeck, which was also full of bed-and-breakfasts for visiting guests. “It’s a beautiful old down,” says Craig. “we liked the history.”

The wedding day was warm and clear. Escorted by her father, John, Pippa walked down a ribbon-outlined path at three in the afternoon to the arbor where Craig waited. After the service, a yellow school bus transported the couple and fifty guests to Whistle Wood Farm, where they ate, drank, danced, and celebrated until one in the morning.

Pippa and Craig’s wedding completely satisfied their expectations. “It felt right to get married someplace so beautiful and relaxed,” says Pippa. And this time, she felt no need to ask for a repeat performance the next day.

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

Above: Pippa and Craig Paulson at Whistlewood Farm.
Opposite, top row, left to right: Pippa’s sisters, flower girls, and maid of honor at the ceremony. Friends and family stand during the ceremony at the arbor, a gateway to 120 acres of fields and forests. Craig’s goddaughter Alfie plays at the farm during the reception. 
Middle row, left to right: The wedding guests walk the half mile from the parking lot to the ceremony; “We told the women not to wear too-high heels,” Craig says. Flower girls Alfie and Fia toss petals as they lead the bride. After the ceremony, Craig and Pippa take a school bus to the reception with their guests.
Bottom row, left to right: Pippa and Craig end their nontraditional ceremony with a traditional kiss. The bus en route. “The yellow school bus was quite a novelty,” says Craig, “especially for our friends and family from England and Australia, who’d never ridden in one.” Pippa and Craig are married by Judith Johnson, a nondenominational minister in Rhinebeck who helped them write their own ceremony. “We wanted it to be special just for us,” Pippa said. “Neither of us is very religious.”

FIELD OF DREAMS

Above: The new husband carries his exhilarated bride through the field in Poet’s Walk Park.
Opposite, top row, left to right: Among the wedding guests are Linda Jantzen, left, who arranged the wedding flowers and made the favors, small organza bags filled with sugared almonds; Heather Davis, who created the invitation, a strip of photos of Craig and Pippa; and Jaime Welch, right, a friend of the couple. At the reception, a jazz band plays as guests mingle before dinner. Craig’s godson Nathan Hull, who gave a toast thanking Craig for being “a cool godfather.” 
Middle row, left to right: Benny Hams, the best man, practices his speech before the toasts begin; in the background is one of the farm’s eight horses, all of whom had their manes decorated with ribbons of the occasion. The cake is simple and topped with a wreath of icing flowers. Marisa Firman, a guest. 
Bottom row, left to right: The casualness of the setting brings out everyone’s playful sides; here, Benny Hams, Nathan Hull, and Geroge Nicholas act up. Craig’s goddaughter Alfie, who carried out her duties as flower girl, Kathy Warden, one of Pippa’s sisters, with Gino Zardo, a friend of Craig’s from Australia.