Laura & Andy’s backyard wedding was personal, unique, and super pretty. They live in Portland, but decided to have their festivities take place at Laura’s parents’ house in Brimfield, Illinois. Every year for the last 10+ years, there has been a large music festival that takes place at Laura’s parents’ house. This year, the music festival didn’t happen … but there was a music festival that day specifically for Laura & Andy and their guests.
In the bar area in the backyard, there was a large banner with the Princess Bride quote about “twue wuv”. There were also cups provided as favors for guests with the “twue wuv” quote on them. So fun! During the ceremony, Laura & Andy not only lit a unity candle, but jumped over a broom (a first for me to photograph) and started their own custom of releasing rubber ducks into a wading pool. Their family and friends were given the opportunity to speak during their ceremony, and it was beautiful to see all of the love that was shared.
The food was not only colorful but delicious, provided by A Matter of Taste catering. I highly recommend them! The flowers (which were absolutely gorgeous) were arranged by Laura’s cousin, Heather Lied. The vases were all provided by Laura’s mother! Amazing. The wedding coordinator, Amy, did a fantastic job keeping everything running smoothly all day. Brokentree Coffee, a local coffee shop in Peoria, IL, set up a coffee bar in Laura’s parents’ yard and kept everyone’s coffee needs met during the reception.
Music was a theme throughout the entire day, as Andy is a talented barbershopper (singer in a barbershop quartet) and Laura and her entire family are quite musical. Andy & some of his friends sang barbershop quartet songs during the happy hour in the backyard. The Packway Handle band made a stop on their tour for Laura & Andy’s wedding and played throughout the day. They are fantastic! Bluegrass/folk/I am not good at describing music, but I loved it. Another band played during the happy hour time, a duo called Powerkompany. Both of these bands are on Spotify if you would like to check out their stuff! The last band of the night is the Peoria-favorites, the Amazing Kill-o-watts. Both of Laura’s siblings, Marsha & Tom, play in the Amazing Kill-o-watts. They have named Laura as their honorary cowbell player though, and they provided bride & groom cowbells for both Laura & Andy so that they could play along and rock out. Laura’s dad, Larry, also got to sing with the band on one of the songs.
This wedding was so much fun, and I hope that you can see that reflected in the photos below. Thank you, Laura & Andy for allowing me to document and celebrate your wedding day.
