Kayla Helm and Bryan McComish stand in front of a waterfall, where they will be married in  her parents' back yard in a garden wedding near Litchville on Saturday. Plans have been ongoing for the outdoor wedding for more than a year. (Jean Schlegel/VCTR)

By Jean Schlegel
Valley City Times-Record

Kayla Helm always had it in her mind that when she got married, it would be an outdoor garden wedding.
She will get her wish on Saturday, July 26, when she marries her high school sweetheart, Bryan McComish at 5:30 p.m. in a garden wedding on her parents' farm near Litchville.
Kayla's parents, Darrell and Myra Helm, were married in a garden wedding in 1981 in her grandparents' yard at Turtle Lake. Kayla always liked that idea, and hoped some day she could do the same. The Helms moved to the farm near Litchville four years ago when they both landed jobs at John Deere in Valley City.
Kayla and Bryan, who are both 24, graduated in the same class from Underwood, N.D., in 2002. They have been engaged for a year and a half, and plans for the wedding started in earnest about a year ago.
The wedding area, where the couple will be married, is called the Shade Garden because there are stately trees that provide a lot of shade. Flowers are everywhere, and the couple will be married in front of  a waterfall...the perfect setting for an outdoor wedding, the bride-to-be said. There are also a couple of ponds in the garden to add beauty to the setting. Visitors have said it looks like a park.
Kayla's father said, “We've been working on the waterfall for about three years, and now it's all come together in time for the wedding.”
The June 11 storm that tore through the area, uprooted eight evergreen trees and four shade trees. The Helms had a massive job of removing the trees and cleaning up the area. “It was a big working day with people from John Deere coming out to help us,” Myra said. The Helms then planted flowers and seeded grass in that area.
Darrell has also been doing some heavy duty work in the past few months in preparation for the wedding. He sheet-rocked and poured a concrete floor in the shop building where the wedding meal will be served, and later where the wedding dance will be held. The meal is being catered by Sodexho Food Services from Valley City State University.
In addition to that, Kayla's father  has buried the wires in the back yard in their “Home Theater System,” so they can have music outdoors. They have also used this for their outside movies. Darrell says he worked on the sound system a year ago. It is in this setting where they will have hors 'd oeuvres served and music playing from the CDs.
Kayla said her ring bearers are the Stute brothers, Zac, 4, and Shaun, 9, from Mercer, N.D. Their parents are Barb and Gus Stute. Kayla was the Stute's flower girl when they were married 22 years ago, and now the favor is kind of being returned, Kayla said. She was only a year and a half.

For full story, see Friday's edition of the Valley City Times-Record.