Wheaton, IL Intimate Backyard Wedding Photography | Jake & Christina

Wheaton, IL Intimate Backyard Wedding Photography

It feels a little redundant to say that 2020 weddings haven’t been what anyone had planned with every wedding I post this year, but it’s true more than a thousand times over and Jake and Christina were no exceptions. They had originally planned a San Diego wedding overlooking the ocean this past May, then pushed it back to July when everything shut down. When it became clear that just wasn’t going to happen, they chose to still get married but drastically change and downsized to an intimate wedding in Christina’s sister’s backyard in Wheaton, IL. Christina will tell you all about it throughout this post, so be sure to read what she’s shared! You especially don’t want to miss the story of how they met!

How they Met:
I (Christina) studied abroad in London in college where I started dating someone in my program who was from Omaha, Nebraska. We continued dating after returning to the US, and a couple of years later I moved to Omaha. But, we broke up a few weeks after I moved. A couple of months later, I was swiping through a dating app for the first time in my life, while joking around with my roommates. Jake popped up and the only thing visible in his bio was "Studied at City University London," (the same school I attended in London). I messaged him immediately! As we found out on our first date, it turned out that Jake went to the same school in London as I went to, lived in the exact same house I lived in, and in the exact same room as my ex-boyfriend, exactly one year before I was there. Now, Jake and I lived five blocks away from each other in Omaha, where neither of us were from. I will never forget the week of finding and meeting Jake when it felt like the entire universe was conspiring in my favor, and welcoming me to the beginning of the rest of my life. Jake proposed to me two years later in front of the house we both lived in in London! That was the first time we were there together :)

The Dress:
It was the first dress I tried on! I went in to dress shopping with a completely open mind. When I tried the first dress on, my mom cried as soon as I walked out. I looked in the mirror and said "whoa, I feel like a bride!" I tried on several after, but just couldn't wait to get back into the first one. I loved the unique details, sparkles, and the back of the dress!

The Suit:
I loved the color of my suit and how it fit, it made me feel confident!

The Photographer:
We love Chrissy! Chrissy photographed my sister's wedding and a recent family photo shoot. We were so excited that coming back to the Midwest meant we could work with Chrissy again!

Fun fact: Jake and his dad made that arch!

Sweet Stella!!

The Venue:
We were originally going to get married in San Diego, but that couldn't happen with the pandemic. After our original wedding day had passed and we were approaching our rescheduled date that we knew we'd have to cancel too, we started thinking outside the box. We Facetimed with my family saying that we wanted to get married with them and Jake's family present, and that we'd drive to the Midwest from San Diego to make that happen. The people who owned my sister's house before them had actually landscaped the back yard to host a family wedding. That became our new, perfect venue!

The Decor:
We mix and matched my mom's, sister's, grandparents', and Jake's mom's china! My mom picked up succulent centerpieces with Jake and I on Facetime, and my sister found fun vintage glasses.

They Ceremony:
The entire ceremony was unexpected! But in my opinion, it was far more special than any of our original plans could have been. I always thought my wedding would be unique because of the location, having it out by the ocean in San Diego. But, my wedding turned out to be unique for even better reasons-because of the incredible love and support it took from our families to make this happen for us.

The Party:
So fun! Even though we couldn't all dance together like a typical wedding, it felt so great to be able to catch up and connect with our family and friends. We had missed everyone so much!

Anything you would have changed?
Not on the day of, but I would have let go of our original wedding plan a little bit easier. It was hard for me at first, because we had just spent a year working on our wedding plan together, and I was so excited for it! I was afraid of what we were losing at first by letting go, but I had no idea at the time what we would be gaining: an incredibly special, heartfelt, every detail meaningful wedding ceremony surrounded by the people who love us the most.

Advice for couples planning their wedding:
Love is truly all you need for a wedding day to be perfect. Embrace the unexpected and remember what the wedding day is all about! Sometimes when things don't go according to plan, it makes room for something even better to come. You just have to let it in :)

The Honeymoon:
We stayed in a couple of fun AirBnBs on our road trip back to CA. But, we're holding out for our original honeymoon plan of Bali whenever the pandemic is over!

Hair & Makeup : Deb Gillett

Florist: Succulent Artworks in San Diego

Wedding Dress: Maggie Sottero purchased at Something old Something New Bridal Boutique in San Diego

Shoes: INC

Caterer: Moveable Feast

Cake: Eye Candy Bakery

Ceremony Arch: Built by Jake & his dad