Callie & Daniel’s Backyard Seaside Wedding

A private seaside residence on a perfect May day with a small group of family and friends? Sounds like a pretty pleasant way to get married. 

While this wasn’t Callie and Daniel’s original plan, they—like so many other couples over the past year—had to be flexible. They had to change venues several times, as their planned locations cancelled all events due to the pandemic. In the end, the couple booked a lovely Airbnb on Kent Island where they could hoist a tent and have the waterfront wedding they wanted. Adaptability is key!

This gorgeous event at a private residence in Stevensville, Maryland was personal and intimate, with about 30 family members and close friends in attendance. Just the wedding party, their dates, and the couple’s immediate family were there to celebrate with Callie and Daniel. One of the benefits of a limited guest list is that it opens up so many venue opportunities, and makes sweet backyard weddings a possibility.

We’ve worked with a lot of wedding photographers over the years, and they each bring their own unique talents and vision to the way they see a wedding. Baltimore-based photographer Hannah Mink’s special gift has to be lighting. Her photos from Callie and Daniel’s wedding make it look like the whole day was aglow, and they’re truly wedding mag-worthy. 

Stevensville wedding DJ Steve knew that the ceremony music for this wedding would be string covers of some famous pop songs. So he decided to go with that same theme for the pre-ceremony music. Highlights included string covers of some songs by Dr. Dre which set a fun mood without being distracting.

The bridal party entered the ceremony site to a cover of Stand By My by the Stringspace Orchestra. If you’re looking for string covers for your wedding, Stringspace has lots of great ones! Callie then made her grand entrance to another cover, this time of Ed Sheeran’s Perfect by Brooklyn Duo. And after the vows were said and the tears were shed, the couple’s recessional song was to the upbeat guitar of I Will Always Find a Way by Sheffield.

For cocktail hour, some couples have very specific requests, and some just go for DJ’s choice. Callie and Daniel were somewhere in the middle. They requested music “along the lines of The Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, [and] John Mayer” to keep the mood folksy and relaxed. This gave DJ Steve plenty of info to work with to make sure the vibe was right.

After cocktail hour, Callie and Daniel entered the reception tent to Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede. Then they had their first dance as husband and wife to Make You Feel My Love by Adele. After that, the party was off! This may have been a small group, but they sure didn’t lack energy or enthusiasm for the dance floor. 

For the last song of the night, they went with the ol’ classic Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. Good times never felt so good (so good, so good, so good)!

We are currently booking weddings for the 2022 wedding season, and we’d love to be at yours! Fill out our online form to check about date availability and start planning the soundtrack to your big day.

All photos by Hannah Mink Photography