Canadian Backyard Wedding By Brittany Mahood

By Magnolia Rouge

Teri Lynn & Casey didn't want your typical cookie cutter wedding. Choosing to hold it in the brides parents backyard, they planned an intimate, simple and relaxed celebration. Their goal was to ensure that everyone ate delicious food, drank more than they thought they were capable of, and danced until their feet hurt! And on all accounts they accomplished just that with a party that ran well into the morning hours, an amazing taco buffet dinner, and bonfire with hotdogs and s'mores to close out the night... all surrounded by their closest friends and family!

Tell us about your proposal: I'm not much of a romantic, but I always said that I wanted a proposal to be a surprise...and preferably not on a "special occasion". So true to Casey's (my husband) style, I had a pretty good guess he was planning something, and on Christmas for that matter! He kept telling me that my Christmas present was so big that he had to leave it at my parent's house. Anticipating a proposal, I assumed that was his way of distracting me from thinking such. On Christmas morning, he brought me down to the laundry room in my parent's basement to reveal an antique Singer sewing machine! Ok, maybe he did fool me! Until he mentioned there was something in one of the drawers. I rifled through them all until I found the little box. I opened it to find a beautiful sterling silver ring with small turquoise stone, and then he popped the question! It was perfect. And, contrary to my belief, getting engaged on Christmas was the perfect way to spread our news and excitement with all our friends and family!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Wedding dress shopping for me was just short of a nightmare! I knew what I wanted, but it was nearly impossible to find. I fell in love with a dress by the designer Volan Cris (based out of Barcelona, Spain), but it wasn't a tangible option. My criteria: simple, yet unique, no sparkles, no fluff, affordable (under $1000), and most importantly, comfortable! I tried on dress after dress, but there was nothing that I was satisfied with. Then one day I remembered seeing a Vera Wang white dress at David's Bridal (the last place I ever thought I'd buy my dress from!) while shopping for bridesmaid dresses for my sister's wedding. I went back with a few of my bridesmaids, and surprisingly, almost 2 years later I still loved the dress as much as the first time I saw it. Tried it on, and made a purchase! It's a beautiful dress with subtle details, unfinished raw edges and allowed me to dance the night away!

Any DIY/Budget elements? Basically everything was DIY. I made the backdrop for the head table out of scrap wood with the help of my dad, the seating chart made from old windows found in our garage painted with chalkboard paint, scarves and vases for the tables were from local thrift shops, succulents we propagated and transplanted over six months before the wedding, my sister (maid of honour) and bridesmaids spent hours helping glue twine to recycled jars for candle holders, making the feather/craspedia centre pieces, and knotting and beading yarn for the decorations about the guest book table. Even uur podium was made by my dad and close family friend the day before the wedding! Guests even took part in the diy experience by taking instant photos with our fuji instax camera and taping their photos with little notes In our guestbook/scrapbook.

Describe your wedding flowers: I met with the lovely Britney of Fache Floral Designs about a year before our wedding, with one request: no flowers!! She nailed it! Beautiful bouquets with eucalyptus, wheat, succulents, feathers, lavender, etc.
Favourite detail of the day: having all of our closest friends a family under one "roof" to spend our incredible day with us

Most memorable moment? Definitely walking down the aisle, with both parents by my side. Seeing Casey for the first time with a tear in his eye, standing up with 12 of our best friends (our wedding party). Amazing feeling!