NJ Backyard Micro-Wedding: Jessie & Steve

Oh Jessie & Steve, how I adore these two!! When they asked me to photograph their wedding I knew we were a match made in heaven when we gorged on all-you-can-eat sushi for our initial meeting! Their big venue wedding was another casualty of the pandemic, but they decided to say eff it and get married in Jessie’s parents’ backyard. Let me say one more time how I loved every single backyard micro-wedding of 2020!

Here are a few words from our handsome here, Steve:

When planning your wedding, what were you most looking forward to?

The Food. If you know one thing about us, it’s that we long sharing delicious food with our friends and family. When we couldn’t have it at the venue, we thought the whole thing was going to be scrapped. Aunt Carol came through by putting us in contact with her friend who is a caterr, and they did a GREAT JOB and we really loved everything. The photo of me scarfing is still one of my favorites from the day!

And of course… marrying my best friend

What were some of your favorite moments from your wedding day?

Mike falling into the pool.

Everyone crying while we recited our vows
Playing games
Sinatra impersonator
And of course taking wacky photos with Danette & Todd!

If you could do it all again, would you change anything?
Not a single thing. Having a big wedding at the venue would have been fun, but what we did was perfect. We had the people who really mattered, and the day was so much fun. Less pressure, more fun and intimate, and everything was perfect. Honestly, if we knew then what we know now, we would have started smaller from the beginning! It ended up being everything we could have hoped for, and much much more!

Any advice for future couples planning their weddings?

During COVID? do your own thing. Make it your own. You don’t need to do it for the ‘gram. You don’t need a big expensive wedding venue. You don’t need 500 people to be there. It’s not about the decorations and the tradition, it’s about the people and the experience, and your love for each other above all.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
For a lot of people, 2020 has been the worst year of all. All we can focus on is what we’ve lost, where we should have been. Those we lost. We have to turn that around and flip that narrative on its head. This year isn’t about what we lost, it’s about what we gained. Courage. Strong friendships that lasted through a lockdown and separation from people we’ve seen daily. This is the year we overcame. This is the year we fell in love and got married. This is the year that kicks off the rest of our life together. in 20 years when we look back and sing “started from the bottom now we here” this is where that was. This is the bottom. This is when we rise.