Backyard weddings are typically not a good idea unless your backyard is as beautiful as this bride from one of my weddings in 2006. The reason I am thinking about backyard weddings and this is my photo of the day is because I am scheduled to shoot a wedding in someone’s backyard this weekend and thought about the last wedding I shot in someone’s backyard and how this wedding will differ. The attached wedding photo was from a bridal shoot in my brides backyard which sits on Lake Norman. I remember my client telling me she wanted to take the bridal photo in her backyard and I kept trying to convince her to shoot in Freedom Park. Obviously that is not what we did and when I got to her house I can see why she wanted the bridal photo in her backyard. Ironically this was one of my favorite wedding photos for years even thou I dislike backyard wedding or bridal photos.
As a wedding photographer I have learned to expect the unexpected with some weddings regardless if it is in a back yard of a mansion or of someone’s middleclass home. Personally I have seen some really amazing weddings in the homes of the average Joe but in most cases it is not that spectacular but I have also seen some less appealing weddings in lake side mansions near Lake Norman so that basically means I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I will say as a wedding photographer I always hope to cover the best and make sure the bride is happy with all we do.
Most wedding photographers would agree, when someone mentions the word backyard to most the idea of beauty and class is not what comes to mind but this weekends wedding will be different. It will have beauty and class because it is in the backyard of a mansion that belongs to the grooms parents. With that said some backyard weddings are good as long as the location is set up well which again means it is not always the location but how well you decorate the venue you are using.
