Andrew & Jen had an incredible backyard wedding in San Jose this summer. (You might remember their faces from their Manhattan Beach Engagement Session in the spring). It was small, intimate, relaxed, full of laughter and brightly lit with warm sunshine bursting through garden roses and all sorts of DIY details.
The ladies got ready at a good friend's salon, ate In-N-Out and caught up on memories and "remember-whens"...
Andrew + Jen chose to have FIRST LOOK moment primarily to make sure they could truly enjoy each other for some private time...and THEN take a lot of relaxed pictures with wedding party, family...
Wedding Party caught up with them at the park and the timing was perfect. There was a breeze, their was leisure, there were picnic blankets and grown men playing on swings and see saws. Just couldn't have been better.
While the rest of the wedding party made way to Jen's aunts house where the festivities were being hosted, Andrew & Jen stayed behind for a few sweetheart portraits...
We were able to snag a few more relaxed family portraits pre-ceremony with Jen's fam...
And then the bride hid with dad while guests trickled in to sit on fold up chair under a picnic awning laced with branches and burlap, hemp string and garden flowers...The ceremony began and...I am again so tickled by how no FIRST LOOK or anything can take away from a groom watching his bride come down the aisle. It is special in and of itself... They incorporated several special jewish traditions into the ceremony, the audience participated, bride giggled, groom beamed, they stomped on glass and everybody cheered!
Conveniently aunt owns two homes side by side. A garden door leads from one ceremony backyard straight into a stunning modernized bohemian / understated alice-in-wonderland kind of patio. They hired a catering company to serve and keep the wine flowing. It was a simple sort of family affair. The perfect kind. Where laughter meets dancing at the intersection of newlywed.
While guests partied freely, A + J skipped out for a few minutes to grab some casual neighborhood sweetheart shots. We captured them on the sidewalk where sunbeams were sending their fareawells. We walked down the street that they'd remember as their wedding day street. They kissed fiercely. Loved exhuberantly...and then went back to join in on more dancing. Happy Wedding Day folks. This one was a favorite. | lkm
VENDORS
....while most all details seen and captured were DIY or borrowed from friends and family, here is a working list of some of the paces and resources for A + J's detai
Location: Aunt's Backyard // Flowers: Costco // Bride's Shoes: Toms & Ross // MakeUp: Paizleys Salon & Spa // Bridesmaids Dress: Davids Bridal