Kristen & Tom

Backyard wedding

Kristen and Tom have been together for 10 years, and were friends for 5 before that. They started young. People change and mature and grow a lot between their teenage years and mid to late twenties but they’ve done it all side by side, supporting and guiding and influencing one another along the way and coming out the other side as strong as ever. That alone is worth celebrating.

They had planned a wedding at a their favourite country venue down the coast. Booked suppliers, organised themes and settings, paid bills, and no doubt daydreamed about what it would look and feel like.

Then, you know, 2020 happened.

So, after a small amount of time lamenting and questioning and prioritising, they got to work. A group of them set to sanding and painting and fixing up the back porch of Kristen’s parents house while her dad set about transforming the backyard (..at one point getting 15 cubic metres of mulch in to spread around, a small mountain’s worth).

They both said that, despite the heart ache and stress and uncertainty, they wouldn’t have changed a thing. Yes, it was hard and yes, they had to almost start from scratch, but periods of stress tend to be clarifying, and throw into sharp relief what we really value and what’s important to us.

With large swathes of family and friends overseas they started a zoom call before the ceremony, and then had a friend organise everyone into small break out rooms afterwards so they could spend some time with everyone.

Was it different to what they had originally envisioned? Of course.

Was it any less meaningful or important? If anything, it was the opposite.

And now every time they visit Kristen’s folks they’ll have a tangible reminder of the promises they made, of what they felt. They’ll see where they stood when they made promises to one another, be reminded of the community that rallied around them to support and celebrate them when they needed it. What more could you want out of a wedding day?

Enjoy

Dane