10 Tips For Your Backyard Wedding

After photographing and attending my fair share of backyard weddings, especially over the last two years, I’ve learned a few things. So I’ve compiled a list of ten ways to help ensure your backyard wedding will be everything you want from your special day. To help me illustrate I’m using photos from my most recent backyard wedding with Katrina and Nick.

1. The perfect person to spend the rest of your life with… Want more? Okay here are the other nine.

2. The setting - A family home is ideal for this.  Somewhere that has memories and sentiment of the past and who you have come to be. Being able to walk down the hall and see photos from you or your fiancé’s past is a wonderful reminder of the journey that led to this moment

3. Personal Photo Setting - Take photos somewhere local/nearby that you’ve had a special moment or shared memories. For example, Katrina and Nick lived in Boulevard park for years early in their relationship. It's a stunning area with breathtaking tree coverage and the photos are sure to bring back many memories that will last a lifetime.

4. A Nice Chair - Ideally next to a big window. Window light is always flattering and a nice chair gives you many ways to pose with family, friends, your fiancé or on your own.

5. Keep it Small - Trying to keep up with everyone you’ve ever met on your favorite social media site can seem overwhelming when thinking about who to invite. Don’t feel like you need to invite anyone you wouldn’t want to go away with on a camping trip would be my metric. Although I’m sure you’ll have your own vetting process. The point I’m really trying to make is  weddings should feel personal and everyone at the wedding should feel close to you.

6. Personal touches - Find things that are personal and special to you and your partner. Things that you really love or maybe something silly that guests will surely connect with. Katrina has a love for certain types of glassware and plates. So she made sure that she was able to share that by decorating every table the way she’d set it up for any other fancy dinner party she might have at home.

7. Season - I’m a huge fan of spring weddings, in California the weather is always perfect and if does rain, its more of passing shower rather than a whole day of downpours. Katrina and Nick picked the week that they knew all the flowers would be blooming in the backyard and it lead to a perfectly whimsical setting.

8. Wedding Officiant - Finding one can be tricky, but when you have a good one, it makes all the difference. For being a wedding photographer you’d think I’d say the photographer is the most important and you’d be right! But right after that it would be who you choose to perform the ceremony. Finding a mutual friends with a poetic sole and who is a decent story teller is usually the best choice.  It gives your ceremony a personal touch that cannot easily be replicated. For my own ceremony my wife came upon a officiant who is absolutely incredible,  Lauren Snead. She spent hours getting to know us and learning about our love story. She put together a ceremony script that we still read every year on our anniversary and it makes us emotional every time! She made everyone laugh and then cry and then laugh again. So find the best person to tell your story because nothing will make you want to say YES more in that moment than hearing about how and why you chose the person you did.

9. Crowd Sourcing - Ask your friends and family to be a part of your special day and maybe offer a little help. Katrina and Nick asked everyone to bring their favorite dessert. This gave everyone a sense of community while not over reaching with asking too much.  Another good idea for a small wedding would be to have everyone bring a picture of you and the couple to pin on a board but I’m sure you’ll bring your own style.

10. Connect - Hug everyone! If you did everything right you’re going to be so overwhelmed with love and now is the best time to share it back. Tell everyone how happy you are that they are there and then hug them again! What ever you do make sure everything comes back to love. However big or small your wedding is, let it all come from a place of love first. The people who love you will be there no matter what, they are looking to see you smile and know you couldn’t be happier.