Wynonna Judd Marries Cactus Moser: Why Mom And Sister Ashley Were Not Invited To The Wedding

Judd married drummer Cactus Moser at her farm in Leipers Fork, Tenn., on June 10. She walked barefoot down the aisle in a Houri Barahimi dress, marking her third marriage, according to Us Weekly. The 48-year-old had been dating Moser, who is a drummer in her band, The Big Noise, since 2009. The two have been engaged since last December and their wedding was a milestone in Judd's life.

I felt a joy that hasn't been there before, Judd told Us Weekly of the intimate wedding ceremony. In attendance were her children from previous relationships, Grace and Elijah. Noticeably absent were her mother Naomi Judd and her sister Ashley Judd.

Why were Naomi and Ashley not invited to Wynonna's wedding?

Mom is at 11 o'clock, Ashley is like at 1 o'clock and I'm at 6 o'clock, Wynonna told Us Weekly of the distance between her and her family members. All three women have homes on the sprawling Tennessee farm but Wynonna was not even sure if either was home on the day of her nuptials. Or if either even knew that it was her wedding day.

Ashley's probably so busy with [husband] Dario [Franchitti] having won the Indianapolis 500, she probably doesn't even know, Wynonna said.  

The relationships within the Judd family have been notoriously tumultuous. Naomi Judd struggled to raise her girls as a single mother, oftentimes giving them second-hand clothing and living without electricity or indoor plumbing in a poor, rural region of Kentucky, according to ABC News.

In 1983, Naomi and Wynonna signed a contract with RCA Records as a mother-daughter country duo. Ashley was left out as a non-singer. In her book All That Is Bitter and Sweet, Ashley opens up about her difficult childhood and about being the victim of incest and sexual abuse. Both Naomi and Wynonna later revealed that they were victims of sexual abuse as well .

Wynonna had success singing with her mother but, in 1991, Naomi was forced into retirement as her health declined due to chronic Hepatitis C, according to ABC News.

Wynonna carried on alone but her life succumbed to a downward spiral. She divorced her first husband Arch Kelley III after two years in 1998. She married her former bodyguard, D. R. Roach, in 2003, but three years later he was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor under the age of 13. This shocked and devastated Wynonna. That same year, she was arrested for driving under the influence.

In 2004, she revealed to Oprah Winfrey that she had a severe dependency on food. Her struggle with food and weight gain was a heavy burden for Wynonna. 

Despite these struggles, the Judd family has enjoyed immense success. They continue to try and heal their broken relationships.    

We're getting ready to sit down with our life coach and re-evaluate what we want out of this relationship, Wynonna told Us Weekly. We just don't have a lot of contact right now, if any, because we're all doing our own thing.

But on her wedding day, Wynonna wanted to focus on happiness and not allow anything cloud the shining joy of her moment.

I didn't want it to be about anyone but Cactus and me, she explained. Because to me, at the end of the day, it's the children, Cactus, and me... I was so concerned about making this feel special for them, everything fell away.

She said that she did not want to feel self-conscious with Naomi and Ashley in the mix.

If I know Ashley, she would have re-positioned my dress, or Mom would have given me a Kleenex to stuff in my bra, or told me, I have something in my teeth. I just didn't want that. I just wanted to get married!