Backyard Wildfire Wedding in Sonoma California

K + D’s property in Sonoma was so close to being burned in a wildfire, but luckily their home was safe and they were able to have their backyard wedding as planned. Their Glen Ellen property has been in D’s family for years so getting married there was very special for them.

I absolutely loved the way they planned their ceremony — it was so unique! First, K + D’s family and friends lined up on either side of the pond on their property in two lines. Then K + D individually went down each line and hugged and greeted every guest before each leading their line of guests into the ceremony. They met in the middle (at the ceremony platform D built) symbolic of their lives coming together in marriage.

In a weird twist of fate, after their property so narrowly escaped the previous year’s wildfire, another wildfire started on the day of their wedding. It was far away enough that there was no need to consider evacuating or moving locations, but close enough that a giant plume of smoke became visible just as the ceremony was about to start.

More dogs at weddings please! It was so cute having a bunch of dogs roaming around during the ceremony. K + D’s dog even joined them on the platform to say hello — so sweet!

I highly recommend personalizing your wedding ceremony whenever you can. At K + D’s ceremony, their friend who officiated told the story of how D proposed to K: after a long and challenging hike (tough trail, forgotten food back at the car, a really bad splinter), D surprised K by proposing with a ring pop. So after hearing this story at the ceremony, when it’s time to take out the rings, D takes out a ring pop from his pocket and everyone (especially K) start cracking up. It was one of the cutest ceremony moments I’ve ever seen!

Grandma got an extra fun ride back to the house and reception!

Just before sunset, we snuck off to the western most point on their property for golden hour portraits. The wildfire damage was especially visible here; you can see the burned trees all around them in the photos below. Even with the extensive burn damage, the regrowth was also very much in abundance. It was so amazing to see how quickly nature bounced back even after such a terrible fire. What a unique moment in time to capture their wedding portraits!