Tavern hosts 'My Big Redneck Wedding'

WOODSBORO -- Woodsboro Tavern's owner John Wantz was skeptical when he first heard a couple wanted to get married in his tavern and televise it.

"I thought it was all a bunch of malarkey," he said last week.

It wasn't until the actual day of the May wedding, when a crew from Country Music Television set up equipment in his tavern, that he knew it was real.

"The bride, the groom, the preacher -- they were all here," Wantz said. It was filmed as part of an upcoming series featuring redneck weddings.

"The couple who got married live on a farm off of Md. 194. The camera crew was up there filming all week," Wantz said. "I can't wait to see it."

He's waiting to confirm when this episode will air. He expects it will be in October.

CMT's website describes the "My Big Redneck Wedding" series as giving "... a whole new meaning to 'for better or for worse.'" After scouring the country to find the most down-home country couples, CMT documents their journey down the aisle, as outrageous and over the top as it might be.

"Each episode, hosted by Tom Arnold, will feature a different redneck wedding, each with its own rustic eccentricities, whether it is a four-legged best man, a romantic beer can canopy, a celebratory shotgun salute or a reception filled with mattress surfing and mud wrestling."

Wantz, 61, bought Woodsboro Tavern on South Main Street in 2000. He'd worked for the previous owners starting in 1971.

"I took some time off, drove a tractor-trailer, then in 1995, I came down here and managed the tavern," he said. "We're known for our crab cakes. People come from all over for our crab cakes."

Copyright 2008 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.