Mooove over humans, Ontario farm hosts 1st-of-its-kind cow wedding
Supporting local tourism is a high priority for many Canadians this summer, and a farm in Bright, Ont., has found a low "steaks" way to draw visitors.
Udderly Ridiculous Farm Life, about a 30 minute drive south west of Kitchener, hosted a first-of-its-kind cow wedding.
The 32 guests gathered Friday evening to celebrate the nuptials of a lucky couple – rather, cow-ple. The guests were handpicked initially from visitors who had established their support for the farm. The event wasn't open to the wider public because the $95 tickets sold out in under three days.
The farm offers several "experiences" on its website, including goat yoga, goat cuddles, an alpaca sunset picnic and a "mini Highland cow experience." One of their Highland cows, Muriel, is a "viral Tik Tok star," the farm says. Muriel also happened to be the bride at the wedding.
Cheryl Haskett is the creative mind behind Udderly Ridiculous Farm Life and calls herself the CEO — that is, the "Chief Everything Officer." Haskett said the ceremony was the "momentous" culmination of months of hard work from staff and volunteers.
When she first told people about the cow wedding, Haskett said people assumed it was a wedding for humans with cows surrounding them.
"No no, we're having a wedding for our cows," she said. "Probably ridiculous, but that's what Udderly Ridiculous is all about."
The ceremony between Muriel and a mini Highland bull named Rhett was intimate, possibly because of the need to keep the animals calm.
"We're not a petting farm, we don't sell feed and we don't let people grab at the animals all the time," Haskett said. "That's for their health and well-being."
This way, Haskett said, both guests and hosts can have an exciting experience.
A sunset ceremony
The ceremony kicked off around 6 p.m. with co-founder Greg Haskett leading Rhett from his groom's suite, which was a pen in a secluded area so that he wouldn't get anxious. Rhett wore his best blue kilt for the occasion but quickly bucked it off.
Next to trot in was the maid of honour, a goat named Queen Victoria. She and her kids were led down the aisle before the bride herself walked in.
The blushing bride, Muriel, was adorned with a specialty flower crown wreath, white wedding skirt and glittery pink painted hooves.
Cheryl Haskett officiated with a speech full of puns. One of the highlights was when she asked Rhett to confirm his commitment to Muriel, and in a perfectly timed moment, he let out a loud "moo."
The couple then celebrated with their first dance which resulted in the immediate consummation of the marriage.
Being 'unique' in local tourism
After the ceremony, guests headed to an area of the farm set up for a meal of charcuterie, cupcakes and beverages. They also got the chance to partake in another Udderly Ridiculous classic: an alpaca social hour.
Udderly Ridiculous Farm Life was founded by CEO Cheryl Haskett in 2022. She left corporate life to begin a gourmet goat milk ice cream brand when, during the pandemic, was asked if she would ever consider doing goat yoga.
"I said at one point in my life that I'd never marry a farmer because I was allergic to everything," she said. "Here I am now with 100 and some-odd of my own animals."
Her and her co-founder/husband Greg Haskett made for a strong team. She had business savvy and he knew how ot run a farm. Greg Haskett's father bought the property in 1967.
"He really instilled the love of the land and the love of the animals. And somehow it just seeps into your bones," Cheryl Haskett said.
"When we decided to open to the public, we wanted to make sure that we could not only support sustainable, responsible tourism and farming, but also give people a really great experience."
Erica Orleni and Karlee Slattery were guests at the wedding and they are also tourism officers with Oxford County.
"Udderly Ridiculous is good at catching you by surprise," Slattery said.
Orleni added that good tourism is partly about education. She said Udderly Ridiculous Farm Life takes events that could be surface level and instead uses them as opportunities to teach visitors about agriculture, sustainability and respect for animals.
Cheryl Haskett said local tourism in a time where people might want to travel more within Canada is about figuring out how to break out of the norm.
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