Swansboro Backyard Wedding

Sometimes you just can’t beat the intimacy of a backyard wedding – especially when it’s captured by the talented Jenna Trapasso of Red White & Green Photography. They’re all the more irresistible when filled with handmade goods by the bride herself, who has her own etsy shop. Let’s jump in:

From the bride, Heather: I knew I wanted our wedding to feel like just that… ours. From day 1, I knew I didn’t want to do anything just because it was traditional or expected… I wanted it to be a representation of us individually as well as a couple. Garrett and his groomsmen had their favorite superheroes pinned in their boutonnieres. All the decor aside from our flags and our cake topper were either designed and handmade by me over the course of our year and a half engagement or were vintage pieces I’ve collected since I was little.

It was a fairly small wedding of our closest family and friends. We were married in Garrett’s Grandmother’s backyard on the water in Cedar Point, NC. There was an 80% chance of rain the whole day and the rain never came. It made for a beautiful “gray day” as my photographer called it and everything just fell perfectly into place. Garrett’s brother became ordained online so that he could marry us. Everything just felt so intimate and nothing felt forced. I had so many people tell us how much the whole day screamed “us” and how much fun they had. I even had several people say it was the best wedding they had ever been to… can’t ask for much more than that! I can honestly say it was the best day of our lives.

I’ve always been a lover of vintage decor, clothing, furniture, etc. 90% of the decor in my house is vintage so I was able to use a lot of my own collection to decorate the wedding. The rest of the decor I designed and crafted myself with the exception of our flags hanging in the tent and our cake topper. Those items I ordered from some very talented artists on etsy. Working full time, I spent a lot of nights and weekends for a year and a half tackling dozens of DIY projects from the invitations, to the cupcake toppers, to the wedding signs and all things in between. Crafting and designing all the decor actually inspired me to open my own etsy shop 2 months before the wedding.

Our arbor was made by close family friends which ended up being so beautiful. I know that vintage-inspired weddings are so popular now that most of it is sort of “been there done that” so I really tried to make our wedding unique in its own little way. I think by incorporating personal touches like my collection of assorted salt and pepper shakers on all the tables, our ninja turtle peeking out under our tiny wedding cake, the straws I made with every guests’ name on the little flags, it really helped set the day apart from any other wedding you’d see on Pinterest.

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Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? My number 1 piece of advice is to stick to your guns with what you envision your wedding to be. It’s hard sometimes to not try to make others happy, but at the end of the day it is your wedding and if you’re lucky, you only get married once. Try to let the groom have his piece of the wedding too… It was so fun to see Garrett’s nerdy touches and my vintage style mix together to create a ceremony and reception that was truly and uniquely our own. No one could have left there saying that we didn’t stay true to our style and personality. Most importantly, have fun! Don’t let all the stress take away from what the day is about… marrying the love of your life. I let others do the stressing for me. Also, another thing I’ve noticed at weddings these days is the toasts are often skipped. One of my favorite and most memorable parts of the whole day was when our family and friends got up at the reception and told stories and talked about how perfect Garrett and I were for each other. We all laughed and cried and it was so special to see how happy everyone was for us.

Wedding Music:
Our ceremony music was played by a wonderful violinist. I found the sheet music for some of our favorite songs and even though probably only a handful of guests knew what songs they were, Garrett and I knew what they were which was all that really mattered.
Pre-ceremony Songs: “Grow Old With Me,” John Lennon; “I’ll Be Seeing You,” Frank Sinatra; “When I Fall In Love,” Nat King Cole; “No One’s Gonna Love You More,” Band of Horses
Bridal Party Processional: “Somebody Loved,” The Weepies
Bride’s Processional: “The Book of Love,” Magnetic Fields
Recessional: “Friday I’m In Love,” The Cure
Our first dance song (which was also our processional song) was “Somebody Loved” by the Weepies. It’s been “our” song ever since we first started dating so it naturally had to be the first song we danced to as husband and wife.

Wedding Location: Swansboro, NC / Photographer: Red White & Green Photography / Wedding Venue: Private Residence / Wedding Dress: ModCloth / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: ModCloth and Ruche / Groomsmen’s Outfits: JCPenney, Converse shoes / Wedding Caterer: Strange & Sons Catering / Violinist: Lisa Gatusso / Vintage Plates and Centerpiece Rentals: Heirloom Vintage / Tent and Table Rentals: Crystal Coast Event Rentals / Wedding Invitations and Paper Goods: Bride, Somebody Loved