Cassie Woodard grew up in a small town near Southern Indiana, where she loved riding horses.
Cassie Woodard knew she wanted a wedding that felt like an extension of her life.
She told Insider: “I wanted it really simple; we even did the food. I did all the flowers myself.”
She noted that the cockscomb flowers used for the ceremony had been growing on a patch in her grandpa’s garden for around 40 years.
The wedding took place on September 30. Cassie didn’t inquire with any florists as she was always sure she wanted these flowers to adorn her entire wedding.
In a viral TikTok video Cassie Woodard posted on October 4, she showed the process of cutting the flowers the day before her wedding.
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She said that her grandfather was very happy with the flowers being used in the wedding, and that he wouldn’t allow anyone to touch the patch until she had the first pick. “We’ve had them ever since I could remember,” she added.
After taking the week leading up to the wedding off work, Cassie went to her grandfather’s house the day before the wedding to pick the flowers.
“We just had breakfast and took our time and cut all the flowers together,” Cassie said. “I wanted to remember him and the flower patch and that morning together, because I knew it was going to be super special to me.” She said.
By the time they had finished, Cassie’s whole trunk was full of boxes of the beautiful flowers from her grandpa’s garden.
Cassie and her partner, Tyler Woodard, met three years ago at the Indiana State Championship Horse Show, a barrel racing competition.
After they got engaged last New Year’s Eve, the idea of having a horse show as their reception was discussed. “A lot of people thought it was a crazy idea,” Cassie said.
She added that it was significant for both of them, with the couple and both their families being heavily involved in horses.
Even though their ceremony was intimate, with 40 to 50 family and friends attending, the horse show reception was opened up to the public, which made it even more entertaining.
“You didn’t have to be invited. It was just open to anybody to see it and support us,” Cassie said.
The flowers planted by her grandfather were included in every aspect of the wedding, from the flat-lay photography and Cassie’s bouquet to the reception centerpieces.
The cockscombs are a German flower and the original seeds came from Germany, a nod to her grandparents, who are both German. Cassie said that she and her grandfather are very close, given that she is the only grandchild.
Not only was it a personal touch for Cassie, but the comment section of her TikTok video was flooded with people from South Carolina who had been passing her grandfather’s garden and flowers their whole lives.
“I shared a lot of those comments with him; it made him feel really good,” she said.
She added: “It was neat seeing how many people that he’s touched over the years.”
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Photo credit: Getty