The camouflage-clad pair tied the knot at Hog Waller Mud Bog and ATV, a mud pit and four-wheeling outdoor adventure park in Palatka, Fla. The bride made her way to the mud pit where the ceremony was performed in the back of a monster truck, down an "aisle" formed by other mud trucks lined up in formation.
"The first few dates we went on were mud-related," the new Mrs. Umphenour, formerly Carina Pasco, told ABCNews.com. "We went and played on four wheelers. We have four mud trucks and seven four-wheelers. This is our life … the mud bog is our vacation from everything."
Kodie Umphenour, 24, popped the question last year at the mud pit, so when it came time to pick a place for their wedding, they decided Hog Waller would be the best venue.
The wedding was actually promoted by Hog Waller, and an estimated 2,000 people showed up. Adults paid the $15 cover charge to watch strangers get married, and children 10 years old and younger entered for free, Charlie Matthews of Hog Waller told ABCNews.com.
Matthews actually made up a poster billing the event as a "big ol' muddy redneck wedding."
"I asked them 'can I call it a big old muddy redneck wedding' and they said 'heck yeah, that sounds great,'" he added.
It was the first wedding Hog Waller's, and it went off without a hitch.
"She had on a camouflage wedding dress … it was a very beautiful dress for being camouflage," he said. "She even wore an orange bikini underneath in case she fell in the mud."
The bride and groom live in St. Augustine, Fla., and work together at a car salvage yard. They met online. She is a cancer survivor and they were friends at first while, but things changed.
They wrote their own vows, which reflect their love of cars and mud-bogging. "You are the rev to my engine," the vows read, and included the promise to stand by each other "through blown head gaskets … no matter how muddy the trail or how steep the ruts."
"Being a redneck is nothing to be ashamed of. We're just like anybody else; we just have a different idea of fun," Carina Umphenour, 31, said, adding: "It was amazing."
Her sister, an ordained minister, performed the ceremony.
The newlyweds didn't have a traditional honeymoon, but spent the night camping at Hog Waller's with their family and friends. They had toasts and cake at their campsite, danced, played in the mud and went on trail rides. "It was kind of like a normal wedding but a whole lot messier," she said.
Carina Umphenour initially thought to have a quiet courthouse wedding, but her husband wanted to do something small for his family. That plan grew into the celebration at Hog Waller.
She said she wasn't prepared for the interest her wedding has generated.
"It was fun and everybody that attended seemed to really enjoy it. I have had hundreds of friend requests on Facebook, people just wanting to see how we go from here," she said. Mud Pit big ol muddy redneck wedding
What is a redneck? Redneck is a historically derogatory slang term used in reference to poor, uneducated white farmers, especially from the southern United States. It is similar in meaning to cracker (especially regarding Georgia and Florida), hillbilly (especially regarding Appalachia and the Ozarks), and white trash (but without the last term's suggestions of immorality).
In recent decades, the term has expanded its meaning to refer to bigoted, loutish reactionaries who are opposed to modern ways, and has often been used to attack Southern conservatives and racists.[8] At the same time, some Southern whites have reclaimed the word, using it with pride and defiance as a self-identifier.
Source:http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/redneck-florida-couple-hold-wedding-mud-pit-105436304--abc-news-topstories.html
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