Frankie & Liz

A La Mesa Backyard Wedding at Home

I love when a wedding feels like a family get-together the second I walk in the door. Frankie & Liz chose her dad’s home in La Mesa for their day, and it was perfect in that simple, beautiful way that no venue can imitate. Tall windows, soft light everywhere, a backyard dressed for a ceremony & reception, people moving through the house with flowers in their hands and happy nerves in their eyes. As a San Diego wedding photographer based in Chula Vista, days like this are why I do what I do.

Getting ready where she grew up is beyond poetic

Liz got ready to be given away in the bright window of the home she grew up in. We hung her dress in the windows she stared out of during rainy days. They didn’t choose her dad’s house purely for sentimental reasons. Honestly, they would have been happy to be married at a courthouse – their love was that genuine. But it was available, it had the space and it was perfect. There was a romance to it I’ll never stop gushing over.

Ceremony in the backyard, surrounded by family

Chairs lined the lawn, florals everywhere, and the people who raised them watched with that look only family has. There were grandmothers in the front row, cousins leaning in, friends wiping their eyes. But it was family – family family, the kind that it really doesn’t matter if you mess up your vows or can’t even make it through them. After the I do’s, we took the sweetest big family portrait under the pavilion so they could remember who stood there with them.

Portraits with their pups

Frankie & Liz love their dogs, so we made time for portraits with them on the lawn – not of their parents house but of theirs. Frankie and Liz had recently moved into their new home, so it was like a transition from leaving the old – her parents – and moving to the new, their new. The dogs did their job by being themselves, which is my favorite. There were even custom cocktail napkins with little drawings of their pups that said “We do too” and I can’t handle how cute that is (details like that belong in a photo forever).

Details I loved

A vintage buttercream cake with scalloped piping that looked like it came straight from a dream. Stacks of coupe glasses waiting for toasts. Rings held up to the last of the golden light. Later, a kiss by the cake that had everyone cheering, and then dancing that turned into hugging and laughing and holding on. Those are the pictures that feel like home to me.

Why at-home weddings in San Diego are so special

When you celebrate at home, the stories live in the walls already. You can feel it in the way guests settle in and in the way couples breathe a little easier. If you’re planning a La Mesa backyard wedding, an intimate home wedding in San Diego, or anything that feels like family first, I’m your girl. I’ll take care of the light & the timing & all the tiny things you shouldn’t have to think about, and you can be yourselves.