Instead of cascades of white decorations in a church adorned with elaborate flower arrangements, they opted for a barn filled with hay, dirt and the occasional steaming pile of horse manure.

The only thing the couple needed to worry about was to make sure the nearly 40 horses in what organizers called Michigan's first entirely horse-mounted wedding went on without a hitch Saturday.

"That's what makes it so exciting, because it's the first," groom Richard Kaurich said. "No one has a scope of how big this is."

Kaurich and his bride, Donna Lytle are mounted deputies with the Lapeer County Sheriff's Department, and members of the Great Lakes Mounted Police Academy.

The couple met nine years ago.

The event was part of the Michigan Horse Council's Horse Expo at the Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education.

The groom was dressed in a black formal police uniform, and the bride wore a white uniform with a veil attached to her cowboy hat.

Aside from the hundreds of onlookers in the bleachers, the couple had about 60 friends and family join them in seats on the side of the arena.

More than 20 different police and sheriff's departments were represented at the wedding, all members of the mounted police academy.

Although there were only a few rehearsals before the ceremony, no major problems occurred - despite the fact that the bleachers in the Pavilion were crowded with clapping spectators eager to see the unique wedding.

"The only mounted weddings I've seen are the ones on 'America's Funniest Home Videos,'" said Tony Spiteri, groomsman and sergeant with the Macomb County Sheriff's Office.

Aside from a few slightly unsettled horses as the wedding parties made their way into the arena, the wedding continued as the bride and groom met together in front of a white canopy.

Their horses, standing inches away, playfully nudged each other as the judge had the couple recite their vows.

They pulled the animals even closer when they were pronounced man and wife and leaned over the sides of their horses to kiss.

"It's fun, but it should be only a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Thomas Noble, groomsman and sergeant with the Lapeer County Sheriff's Department.

"A lot of planning went into this."

Charlsie Cole, a 9-year-old Lansing resident who came to the expo with her mother, stopped to watch the wedding.

"It was fun," Charlsie said. "I liked it a lot."

Charlsie said she might even consider having her wedding on horseback - if she takes riding lessons.

"I would if I really wanted to," she said.