Category Archive

backyard

These posts are all about getting married in backyards — sometimes the couple’s OWN backyard, and sometimes the backyard of a friend of family member. You may also want to check out our archive of at-home weddings.

A tropical California backyard wedding with palms & fire dancing

A tropical California backyard wedding with palms & fire dancing

It may be Winter around here, but it’s summer in our hearts with this wedding dazzling us. Tatiana and Chase’s California backyard wedding was a mix of Hawaiian style, tons of performances (because both of them know so many talented people!), fire dancing, tropical flower crowns, gold shimmery dresses, palm fronds, and so much gorgeousness.

Let’s see how this tropical paradise wedding played out…

A backyard garden party wedding with yard games & cocktail recipe cards

A backyard garden party wedding with yard games & cocktail recipe cards

When we started planning our wedding, we quickly discarded a lot of traditional elements. What we did want in a wedding was an opportunity to celebrate with our loved ones, to gather around a table and enjoy a meal together, to welcome our people into our home, and celebrate as a group. So we focused on the most important stuff to accommodate our vision: a small event in our backyard, a menu and cocktails that reflected our tastes, handmade décor, yard games, and a non-religious ceremony officiated by a dear friend.

Our hearts warmed upon seeing this homegrown backyard woodland wedding

Our hearts warmed upon seeing this homegrown backyard woodland wedding

We wanted a forest-themed wedding because of our shared love of nature and the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in which we live. We also wanted to focus on our friends, family, and community. We sought out vendors we knew, the caterer used produce from the farm where Adrienne volunteers. The favors (goat’s milk soap) and the flowers both came from vendors at our farmer's market.

A casually elegant BBQ wedding in their own backyard

A casually elegant BBQ wedding in their own backyard

Shortly before Matt and I got engaged, we bought a house with a stunning park-like backyard, complete with an arch for the ceremony. We planned the wedding in just three months. Our focus was celebrating the new family we were creating with my three sons from my first marriage. To keep it casual, we held a catered backyard barbecue on a Friday evening.