At Pentecost, the church bells rang in Hillerslev Church for the newly married couple Arne Overgaard and Camilla Overgaard from Thy, in Northern Jutland, Denmark. While the vast majority of newlyweds are transported from the church in a horse-drawn carriage or a shiny vintage car after the ceremony, the newlyweds had chosen to go in a completely different direction.
Arne Overgaard grew up in the countryside in Denmark, and today runs the farm Munkholm Landbrug I/S. By his side, is his wife, Camilla Overgaard, and their three children Filuca, Vitus and Tinus. After many years of dating, Arne and Camilla finally got married on a spring day in May 2024 in Hillerslev Church near Thisted.
The newlyweds had spent more than a year planning the special day, and when the talk turned to a wedding car, city girl Camilla was quick to come up with a good solution, says farmer Arne Overgaard.
‘I sit in a tractor every day, so Camilla thought it would be fun if we were picked up in the larger of our two Valtra tractors. The Valtra tractor was placed in front of the church during the wedding ceremony, so it was also a surprise for all our guests that the wedding drive would take place in a tractor,’ explains Arne Overgaard and continues:
‘For today's occasion, I handed over the wheel to Camilla, who otherwise never drives a tractor. We had practised the trip a few days beforehand, so she was ready for the big day. And it was a really good and fun experience - for us, for the guests and for our children.’
Getting dressed up for the day
It wasn't just the bride, groom and the three children who had to look their best for the big day. The Valtra was also given a big makeover for the occasion.
‘It's been a tough spring in the fields, so the tractor has rarely been dirty this year. It's therefore had a major overhaul because we didn't want Camilla's white dress to get dirty on the journey. It was also decorated with veils and hearts to make it look like a real wedding carriage,’ says Arne Overgaard and continues:
‘We had a signage technician make large hearts that could be placed both at the front and back, so there was no doubt that it was a wedding couple travelling,’ he says.
Some of the couple's friends who had helped decorate the tractor for the wedding gave them a small model tractor as a gift, which was decorated just like their wedding carriage.
After the ceremony, the wedding reception was held in the farm's tractor house. Then a huge wedding party was held for more than 120 guests in the workshop at the farm, the perfect place for a real farm wedding.
Tradition for Valtra
Arne Overgaard has always worked with agriculture, and together with his wife and children he now lives on his home farm, where he runs the company Munkholm Landbrug I/S together with his parents. They are slaughter pig producers and produce 16,000 slaughter pigs annually. They also farm 140 hectares of grain and rapeseed for the pigs.
Both Arne and his father have a long tradition of driving Valtras on their farm in Thy. So naturally they have two Valtra tractors - and not least an old Valmet 505 - to handle the tasks on the farm.
