My son, Tyler, and his fiancé, Robyn, had planned to get married in our backyard this summer. Original invitations included over 100 people however, in April, when the coronavirus pandemic changed our lives, they cancelled their reception, still committed to a small ceremony in the back in August 2020.

They’ve been busy since early spring creating a beautiful ceremony space in the woods, by the creek, at the edge of our property. They have also been working with us on the backyard for the past couple of months. We’ve built a beautiful garden and they even planted sunflowers. They are so tall now but still not quite burst forth. We hope they will be in time for the wedding. We have also done some work to extend the deck and the some landscaping to create a new fire pit area.

As the rules have evolved, and most recently we are in Stage 3 in Ontario, there will be 25 people for the ceremony and dinner (including wedding party and dates). We are hosting a bonfire after the dinner and have invited people on the original guest list who live in the area. At this point, by 9pm, we expect there will be 40-45 people in our back and it’s large enough that we will be able to create 3-4 distant spaces to hang out. We will have hand sanitizers and masks but we hope with respectful social distancing, everyone will feel comfortable. It’s not practical to include people who would need to stay in a hotel for only a late evening event. We are praying it will not rain but of course, a week away, and there is rain in the forecast… we will see. If it rains, we will have to postpone the bonfire part of the evening but have some plans for managing the earlier festivities.

Enjoy these photos of the work that was done for the ceremony space as well as some drone shots as it has evolved.