CHARLOTTESVILLE — Wendy Winkler took down her wedding picture from where it hung on the wall in her living room, a small smile spreading across her face as she gazed at the image, reminiscing on the joyful occasion. “Oh my God, it was the most amazing fire ever,” she said. It’s not exactly how most people would describe their wedding day, but then again, Winkler and her husband, Kirk Conard, aren’t like most people — they’re fire spinners.
Ahead of their wedding Winkler and Conard constructed a 24-foot “temple,” fashioned out of scrap wood. “We found this oak tree that was hollow, and we took it apart in six pieces,” said Winkler. “We put it up on top and put it back together, so it was like this chimney.
And then, the bottom we made it super artistic looking like you were underneath the tree.” “So, when we got married, we burnt it down,” she said, adding that just as the flames reached their peak, the sky opened up and it began to pour. The water failed to dampen the fiery festivities as the newlyweds began “dancing in the mud” and twirled flaming staffs together.
Winkler’s wedding dress even briefly caught on fire. Christened the “KDub Unival,” the wedding celebrated unity in a broad sense. Winkler said she and her husband wanted to celebrate the community that “keeps us straight and supports us.
” Several of their friends in attendance took the opportunity to renew their own vows at the wedding. Another couple even got engaged. �.
