Adrienne + Matt tied the knot on April 30, 2016 in a one-of-a-kind backyard wedding at Adrienne’s grandparents’ home in Aberdeen, NC.
When Adrienne first told me they would be tying the knot at her family’s house for their backyard wedding in the Piedmont of North Carolina, I didn’t envision the backdrop of their day including rows of elegant pine trees and a historic 100-year-old mansion that could be a full-time wedding venue. There were so many details unique to the location that made for a really fun wedding to photograph!
Read the Q&A with this fun couple, featured below, to learn more about their North Carolina backyard wedding inspo and photography experience!
1. What are some of your favorite things about your partner? How were these attributes expressed during or leading up to your wedding?
Matt somehow manages to be one of the nicest people on the planet AND someone that sticks to his guns and knows what is important to him. I can be a bit of a people-pleaser, so it was incredibly helpful to me to have him by my side to reign in those impulses, and keep us on track. He was also great about making a decision and letting it be the final decision– I would’ve worried and fretted and retraced my steps on a lot of things without his determination.
Adrienne is kind and considerate. She spent a lot of time thinking about ways to make the wedding fun and enjoyable, and how to make everyone feel included and welcome. I also loved planning the ceremony together, because all the ways that we get along and all the things we celebrate about each other really stood out during that process.
2. What was most important to you in planning your North Carolina backyard wedding?
That it was fun! We wanted to show our appreciation to all our friends and family who have supported us, both as individuals and in our relationship, and a party with food, drinks, dancing, and games seemed a great way to do it.
We also wanted to be intentional about our ceremony. Neither of us are religious, and our friend officiated for us, so we got to build the ceremony exactly to our liking. We incorporated readings and words from close friends, we asked our brother and sister to stand with us as our “wedding party,” another dear friend played the banjo for our ceremony music, and we wrote our vows together. We also made a concerted effort to lose the bits of wedding ceremonies that can be patriarchal. Making little changes in wording (like “I give you myself” instead of “I take you”) and focusing on celebrating equal partnership made it special to us.
3. Are there any details or moments from your wedding that are particularly special to you? (E.g., you wore your momma’s dress, your partner unexpectedly serenaded you, there was a double rainbow all across the sky…).
Our wedding had a lot of family focus. Matt gave me his grandmother’s ring when we got engaged, and we chose my grandfather’s house as our wedding location. The house was built by my great-great-great uncle in the early 1900s. It meant a lot to us to host our wedding here, because all of our prep energy went into fixing and cleaning a space that mattered to us, and that would continue to be a part of our lives after the wedding was over. We got so much help from our families and friends to put the house right, and that time together was also lovely.
My mom and dad, aunt and uncle, and cousin all had wedding receptions and/or ceremonies at the house– it felt incredible to get to carry on that tradition. Additionally, my granddad passed away in May of 2015, and he is sorely missed, so being in his home was a great way to have his presence at our wedding.
4. Now that you’ve tied the knot (and survived!), what advice would you give to other folks planning their wedding?
Figure out what matters to you about what you’re doing, and focus on that. But also recognize that you are going to have to deal with other people’s expectations, so spend some time thinking about how to handle that in a way that reduces the stress. To put it colloquially– know when to pick your battles. Having a handle on what is truly important to you about the day will help.
5. What is the first thing you want to do with the images? Wallpaper the hallway? Internet fame?
Look at them! We want to see what moments you captured that we missed!
6. What is next for you as a couple? Any big plans?
We’re taking some time to not plan anything, and to focus on things we enjoyed doing before the chaos of the wedding began, which is pretty fantastic.
7. Anything else you’d like to add about your North Carolina backyard wedding?
Huge thank you for being such a competent, warm presence during our day! We talked to some photographers before we found you that had expectations about our wedding and our needs before they even met us. But you totally heard our desires, and respected our wishes (like our short list of posed shots!) while making us feel comfortable and content. We’re so grateful!
Are you planning your own unconventional backyard wedding? I love photographing DIY weddings and would love to help you better envision your day. Shoot me a message, and I’ll send you my wedding photography brochure!
