It has been a while since I have photographed an intimate backyard wedding, but after Mary Elizabeth and Douglas’s wedding, I’m hooked!  Their wedding was the day before Halloween and I knew to expect lots of pumpkins.  However, my heart literally skipped a beat when I arrived at the house and saw the long dining table adorned with flowers, tiny white pumpkins, candles, and place settings for each of their guests.

After Douglas proposed to Mary Elizabeth in San Antonio, they went shopping and found a beautiful jade ring.  Within the next hour, they found a long jade necklace that perfectly coordinated with the ring from a completely different shop!  Mary Elizabeth’s sister, Jessica, later converted that long necklace into a shorter necklace, bracelet, and earrings.  If you’ve seen the Disney movie Mulan, you may remember the part where Mulan is getting ready to meet the matchmaker and her grandmother gives her beads of jade for beauty.  Mary Elizabeth loved the idea of wearing beads of jade for beauty on her wedding day and she made it a reality!

Their ceremony was short and sweet, but definitely memorable.  Moxy, their sweet dog, decided that she needed to be part of the ceremony too.  She sat in front of them for the entire ceremony, jumped for joy at their first kiss, and walked back down the aisle with them.

In the spirit of Halloween, the fun-loving couple snuck away immediately following the ceremony to slip into their Halloween costumes.  They left as husband and wife and returned as T-Rex and triceratops.  It was a fun surprise for their guests!

They quickly changed and snuggled up by the fire for a few photos.  The hot cocoa bar and cozy seating with cuddly blankets and pillows were the perfect touch to their intimate backyard wedding.  I’m currently adding that setup to my wishlist for our backyard!

Mary Elizabeth and Douglas, thank you so much for asking me to photograph your intimate backyard wedding!  It means so much to me that you prioritized wedding photography in your planning and that you wanted me to be the one to capture it all.  It was so refreshing to photograph an intimate wedding where all the focus is on spending the day with each other and your families.  I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together!  Thank you again for allowing me to be part of your special day!