Darren, Amie and Patches Oct 1995
The first LittleWood Horses wedding was October 20, 1995. The day Darren and Amie were joined in marriage. Like most newlyweds, we really had no idea where life would lead us.
Darren's family relocated to Idaho from Pennsylvania in 1975. With them came a sleigh and horses. Patches half sister Daisy was the driving horse at the time. Later, Darren's mom purchased the buggy pictured above. When Darren was about 14 he wanted to go for a sleigh ride, unfortunately Daisy was too fat for the shaves. He pulled Patches out (who had only been ridden!), fitted the harness to her, hitched up and away they went. (A few wrecks we won't mention). They had both found another way to play.
Amie came to driving through her extended family, whose interests were chariot racing and draft horses. The first time Darren and Amie went for a drive together, she asked him where the rest of the harness was. She had never seen a light horse harness before!
When the wedding was planned, the buggy was included from the beginning (the only way to get the horses involved). The day was beautiful as we drove accross town. Our photographer was wonderful and took great pictures, including one of Patches trying to eat the bouquet.
Afterwards, many friends commented "how I wish I could have done something like that." Soon came "Could you do our wedding?". In 1999, Darren's mom bought an antique surrey. The next friend that asked, we were able to say "Yes". Several weddings later, we decided to turn it into a business. We purchased the Victoria this fall, after 2 years of searching for just the right vehicle.
We do this because we love our horses, we love to drive, we love to bring something special to peoples lives. We earn (almost) enough to cover expenses. We have been very fortunate, every couple we have worked with have been wonderful. We hope we can say that 20 years from now.
