I’m a huge fan of back yard weddings and how they really allow a couple’s personality to totally shine through. And this backyard wedding, captured brilliantly by Kate Drew Miller Photography, is certainly no exception. This adorable couple truly embraced the location of their big day and sourced pretty much everything from local mom and pops and we love that. Oh, and we love their furry, little aisle attendant too. See it all right here.
From the Bride… A month or so after Matt proposed, I asked him, “What kind of wedding do you want?” He replied, “One where we get married and you’re my wife.” Well, as simple as that sounds, it still left the door wide open for ideas. Having lived together in Colorado for almost seven years, we thought about having a small wedding in the Rocky Mountains with us skiing down the slopes in a wedding dress and tux. But one day while visiting my parents, I gazed out across their backyard and got that feeling that it was the right place. Once we’d figured out where we wanted to be married, we began to focus on how we could make our wedding unique to us. Having met nine years ago in Australia and then having lived in Colorado and Vermont, we knew we wanted our wedding to be a lot of fun (Australia) with a rustic (Colorado), New England (Vermont) elegance.
On the morning of the wedding, we hiked into my parents’ woods and pulled out fallen birch tree limbs that were turned into a huge rustic chandelier running the length of the tent. Our caterer, Dan Mathieu of MAX Foods, put together a menu based on all local foods, which included an incredible native tomato table with caprese skewers, homemade gazpacho, crostini with yellow tomato relish, and individual chunky heirloom tomato salads in votives. Our flowers came from a local family farm, Taft Farms in Great Barrington, which my younger brother worked at for a few summers between college. The bouquets, boutonnieres, and flower girl wreaths were all seasonal, local flowers as well and were created by Annie Whalen with Bella Flora at our locally-owned Guido’s Fresh Marketplace. Matt, my dad and I made the archway we were married under out of driftwood I had collected in Burlington, Vermont — much of which was a result of Hurricane Irene. Our gift to our guests was a “country store” table filled with local breads, jams, apples, chutney and candies from Richmond’s local, family-owned Bartlett’s Apple Orchard.
We could not have asked for a more bucolic fall day. With vibrant colors of summer melding into fall, we had a perfect wedding day surrounded by the people we love. Thankfully, the sun held on long enough for us to have an outdoor ceremony overlooking the rolling hills. After a fantastic dinner, we had everyone up and dancing under the tent as the rain poured down … and when the rain subsided, we lit a bonfire and continued to dance the night away. It really was more than I could have asked for in so many ways. And yes, at the end of the day we had a wedding that ended with us being married and me as Matt’s wife. :)
Wedding Photography: Kate Drew Miller Photography / Wedding Venue: The Home of the Bride’s Parents in Richmond, Massachusetts / Decorative Flowers: Taft Farms / Bouquets, Boutonnieres, Flower Girls’ Wreaths + Doggy Ring Bearer Collar: Annie Whalen of Bella Flora at Guido’s Fresh Marketplace / Catering: MAX Ultimate Food / DJ: Winslow Turner Porter / Rentals: New England Country Rentals / Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston Vineyard Collection (Now Closed) / Bride’s Boots: Old West / Bride’s Hair Flowers: Sweet Wedding Details / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Watters (Color Navy Blue + Fabric: Dupioni Silk) / Bride’s, Bridesmaids’ + Mothers’ Hair: Mark Johnson + Staff of Seven Salon and Spa