Recently, I encountered a wedding at Jedediah Smith Redwoods. It was close to 5pm on what started as a dry day, with a downpour of rain from 1pm to 4pm. The specific location was Stout Grove adjacent to the Smith River. And the wedding probably occurred just as the deluge began to subside. Actually, the wedding atmosphere was probably the pinnacle of the day.

Among my redwood pages is one on weddings in redwood parks: saying there are like 50 per year.

Link > http://www.mdvaden.com/redwood_weddings.shtml

The page has more information, but the number 50 struck a chord in mind after spotting one of the rare 50 or so weddings at a redwood park. And so … what are the chances?

In the past 5 years, I spotted Black Bear 6 times … brief sighting, but seen them nonetheless.  And why not add the one-time sighting of  Mountain Lion at Redwood National Park.

So in 5 years, that’s 7 times I’ve seen Black Bear or Cougar,  but only once for a wedding in the redwoods. Apparently the chances of seeing Black Bear or Mountain Lion are 7 times greater than a wedding in the old growth redwoods.

It was surprising to hear that only 50 or so wedding permits are issued or requested per year. I would have imagined more like one per day per each of the main parks: several hundred at least.  With such small wedding parties, and so much acreage, more couples should consider doing a wedding among the redwoods.

Maybe it’s the limited number of guests that keeps the redwood weddings few in number.