If you’ve ever dreamed of having a perfect wedding at your childhood home, look no further, Allie & Eli did just that. From getting ready in her room to dancing the night away in the backyard even when the weather refused to agree with our plans, this celebration last May will go down in history as one of my absolute favorites. So. If you have ever muttered, How can I plan a backyard wedding? You are in the right place.

The Set-Up

May brought a LOT of showers the week before the wedding so while Allie & Eli always planned to have a tent for their reception, they had to quickly pivot and redesign their space to accomodate the option to be completely covered for ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. They connected three tented spaces and create a DREAM venue right in her parents’ yard. A medium sized tent housed their gifts & cards table, welcome signs, and guestbook with plenty of open space for guests to grab drinks before the ceremony and during cocktail hour. Their ceremony took place in a narrow and long tent that create a perfect atmosphere for their walks down the aisle. Chairs were four across total and worked really well with the see through walls letting in tons of natural light. And of course their reception tent was perfectly designed with flooring, lighting, and greenery. They included a riser stage for the head table and decorated with plants Allie’s mom grew and cared for specifically for the wedding day. Luckily the weather was perfect on their wedding day and we were able to spend lots of time outside of the tents as well but I loved how thoughtful and thought out this design was which leads me to the number one secret to a perfect backyard wedding…

The Team that Brought the Day to Life

The details put into this day made it what it was and A&E made the best decision by bringing in a wedding designer and coordinator to make the magic come to life. Untamed Events brought Allie’s dream wedding to life and helped with pivoting plans and redesigns as needed. Not only did they hire the perfect wedding planner, but they also built a STRONG vendor team. A backyard wedding takes a LOT of work and while some of us are blessed with family and friends who have event coordinating in their blood, most of us would DROWN with this much work. So hire an 11/10 vendor team. Alongside Untamed Events, McCarthy Events for the tent rentals, Rockcastle Florist, MArquee Events, The Hitch and Swill Mobile Bar, and a TEAM of catering power houses: Pats Pigs, Wegmans, savoia, and Cheese & Chardcuterie Club. woof. A big team, but exactly what this day needed.

The Day

and I would say, it was all well worth it.

Allie wanted to get ready in her childhood home which made the morning feel calm and energetic all at the same time. She put her dress on in her old bedroom and shared the moment with her mom & sister before stepping out the front door to see her dad for the first time after putting on her dress. Afterwards, Eli suited up with his parents before the couple shared a first look together.

Unfortunately, the rain did dampen Allie’s dream to get married under the willow in the yard but we were able to spend most of our portrait time there beginning with their first look so it got the moment it absolutely deserved.

Afterwards, they snuck into their tented spaces to have the grand reveal and saw their dream come to life for the first time.

We then collected their wedding party including the Dog of Honor, Zeke for portraits before the ceremony, freeing up the rest of their day to focus on the celebration & PARTY.

And boy, did we party…