Congratulations Latoyia & Chris!

It was sweltering - temperature in the mid 90s and humid. I started sweating the minute I stepped out of my car - yuck! But despite the heat, a good time was had by all.

Latoyia and Chris had their wedding in the backyard of the Latoyia's parents' home. It is definitely an advantage to having an event on private property. You can have things delivered early and have few restrictions. They provided a shuttle bus for the guests from a nearby parking lot so as not to anger the neighbors. Latoyia's Mom, Debbie, is the ultimate DIY-er and was the mastermind behind the decorations for the event. Photographer Tya Anthony of Eyeni Photography and her assistant were a pleasure to work with. We had a great DJ, Ken Rochon from Absolute Entertainment who kept everyone dancing and was totally low maintenance. The party continued on with a 2nd DJ with several people taking a dip in the pool. At the end of the night, even I got to take a seat by the pool and chatted with Debbie. It was the only time we had to chat and get to know each other and not talk about wedding stuff. We found out we were/are all government contractors at one point in our lives. Of course.

A view of the tent and ceremony area by the patio. Yellow, yellow everywhere! We even floated some wooden yellow hearts in the pool.

The cute DIY centerpiece arrangements, table #s and favors made by mother of the bride.

We strung up lights around the perimeter of the tent. Note the pale yellow tablecloths. Chris made a slideshow of pictures of he and Latoyia and we projected it onto the inside of the tent liner. The guests loved it!

eaTip #1: If you are considering an outdoor wedding in the summer time (anytime between May-mid September), please be considerate of your guests and either have all the events indoor or start your events no earlier than 6pm (the sun usually sets late enough that you will even have enough daylight for the outdoor ceremony). If you do end up having it outside, consider providing umbrellas, tons of water, or have fans. Find a shady spot if possible. If using a tent, consider getting tent walls and provide air conditioning. If having an outdoor reception, think about what will happen to your cake. Although fondant holds up better in the heat than buttercream icing, our cake started to sweat and some of the fondant ribbon started to peel away from the cake due to the extreme heat. Instead of putting it under the tent for display, we had to store it in a fridge until it was time to cut the cake. We had no choice.

eaTip #2: If you are having your event at your home, where will the guests park their cars? Does your neighborhood have a noise ordinance? Do you want guests to have access to your house? When it gets dark, will guests be able to see their way towards the toilet?
Contact us and we can make sure that having your event at home won't drive you crazy!