Chris and Bonnie’s backyard wedding was nothing short of perfection! Bonnie knew that she wanted to have an intimate gathering of family and friends to celebrate their wedding, and the perfect place for that would be at her parent’s home in Athens, Ohio. For months before the wedding, her parents cleared out brush from the backyard, creating the perfect space for the ceremony. The guests surrounded Bonnie and Chris in a circle as they said their vows among the wildflowers. Their pad thai and curry dinner was served under the trees on wooden picnic tables adorned with wildflowers, candles, and chopsticks. Even the pouring rain, thunder, and lightning couldn’t stop their guests from laughing, celebrating, and literally cutting a rug on their dance floor (it was an oriental rug!) I think my favorite part was how family and friends joined together to make this day possible. Bonnie’s hair and makeup was done by a close friend who was also their officiant. Cookies were made by her mom, and all of the chairs and tables for their dinner under the stars were borrowed from family friends. The whole day really was a testament to how many people adore this couple and wanted to help their dream wedding come to fruition!

I love the words Bonnie used to describe her relationship with Chris, so I decided to just share word for word what she told me below!

“When Chris was moving to Brooklyn from Asheville, a mutual friend of ours thought we should meet. When we did it was clear she knows us both well as we have basically been inseparable since our first date. That was almost 8 years ago.

When we first met, Chris was pretty insistent that he was never going to get married. I knew that wasn’t true. As life happened Chris softened on this, and we found ourselves talking about marriage. We were on vacation last summer in Maine and decided to check out shops in Bar Harbour since it was raining and we could go hiking. We walked into an awesome antique shop on a side street near where we were staying. Inside there was a case full of beautiful antique jewelry. We looked at each other and started trying on rings. When we found the ring that seemed right, the shop owner told us to go outside and look at it in natural light. We both immediately decided it was perfect. After leaving the store, we walked along the water, found a spot under a tree (it was raining), said some nice things to each other and I put the ring on. It was all so fun.

We’re both so excited to have so many of our family and friends gathered for our wedding. People always tell you how great that is because it’s basically the only time is ever happens. We’re looking forward to enjoying every second of that.

Our favorite things about each is other is that we challenge ourselves to do better and also, how much we enjoy exploring and adventuring. In our life together we challenge ourselves a lot. We push back on each others ideas and ask each other to broaden the way we see things. We work hard to make the world around us better, both personally and professionally. While this can sometimes be exhausting, we also have a lot of fun. We love experiencing what the world has to offer. We do this in our life in Brooklyn and through our travels. Our adventures fill us up!”