Agency Report– Kate Cunningham, 38, said it was one of the best decisions she has ever made when she married a tree at Rimrose Valley Country Park in Sefton, Merseyside in September last year.
She celebrated her first year of marriage with two friends and some elderflower champers.
Kate Cunningham said: “Trees will always come first. They do keep us alive.”
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“Despite causing a little bit of embarrassment for my 15-year-old, he sees the bigger picture now and understands what it’s for.
“It’s something which has made me feel a bit more confident about myself. I don’t care about what anyone else says.
“Marrying the tree has given me a new purpose.”
“I’ve changed my name to Elder. So even that gives me a whole new feeling. It fits in with married life as well, I feel like a changed person.”
The ceremony was attended by dozens and the local musician and poet Davy Edge performed.
It was inspired by female activists in Mexico who held similar ceremonies as a form of protest to raise awareness of illegal logging and land clearing.
Likewise, she hoped the whacky tactic would attract attention to the campaign to save Rimrose Valley Country Park from being transformed into a bypass by Highways England.
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She has called for an annual ‘Marry A Tree Day’ and encouraged more Brits to wed their local shrub.
“Not once have I thought that I shouldn’t have done it. It’s something that I feel like happened at the right time.” Kate Cunningham added.
She added: “One day I was looking around tree hunting. I was like ‘oh yeah nice, nice, nice’ as I looked at the oaks, but as soon as I saw the elder, I thought ‘that’s the one’. “It doesn’t look like anything else around.”
“This one stood alone amongst the tree.
“Often I like to talk to the tree, I say hello and thank you for your good energy. I just feel like trees are people.”
“You know if you feel attracted to someone or smile at them as you walk past, there’s just a natural attraction.”
“Trees and flowers are the same. I like the story behind the elder tree.” Kate Cunningham said.
