A Backyard Wedding Celebrating a Christ-Centered Marriage | Gloria and JD

When Gloria and JD told me their biggest hope for their wedding was “to have God's presence in the ceremony, and when we look at the pictures, to be able to feel gratitude for God's abundant mercies,” I knew immediately what mattered most to them. And their wedding day reflected that to a tee. 🥹

They were married on Gloria's family property, tucked beyond a little path in the woods and overlooking a pond surrounded by marsh grass and summer greenery. Their families helped bring nearly every piece of the day together, their ceremony was filled with worship and prayer, and Gloria and JD remained so laidback through all of it—present and focused on each other, the people who gathered to celebrate alongside them, and the beginning of their Christ-centered marriage. 🤍

It was intimate without technically being a microwedding, DIY without losing an ounce of intention, and in tandem, gave me allllll the Anne of Green Gables vibes. 🌿 But what made their backyard wedding even sweeter was knowing just how far Gloria and JD's story had traveled before bringing them here.

From Guatemala and the Philippines to a Christ-Centered Marriage

Gloria and JD are both children of missionary families, but they were raised thousands of miles apart—JD in Guatemala, Central America, and Gloria in the Philippines.

Their paths first crossed at a church service in 2021, but they never spoke again. Then in 2023, they ended up at the same youth camp…except Gloria had a boyfriend at the time. 😂 So once again, life carried on. Fast forward to 2024, when Gloria was visiting Guatemala and just so happened to find herself at JD's church. Like…what?! 👀 And this time, the timing was finally right. 🙌🏼

They dated for the next year before JD proposed at Watkins Glen State Park, and now after growing up on opposite sides of the world and crossing paths again and again, these two are finally MARRIED and building their life together in HONDURAS! 🥹 I don't think either of them could have imagined where those first few (seemingly insignificant) encounters would eventually lead, but my heavens, what a great reminder of God's timing.

A Faith-Filled Backyard Wedding Ceremony by the Pond

Gloria and JD's ceremony took place on her family's property, through a little wooded path that opened up to a pond lined with wispy marsh grass, trees, and sooo much lush greenery.

It was earthy, romantic, and unfussy—and I, for one, felt completely at home within the atmosphere of their wedding. Add in a hand-painted, antique white rowboat floating along the pond and the handmade wooden cross where Gloria and JD would exchange their vows, and I was sent! 🙌🏼

And then there was Gloria! FULL. STOP. Her bridal look couldn't have fit the setting more perfectly. Her gown was simple and elegant, with the sweetest puff sleeves, a soft neckline, smooth crepe-like fabric, and a delicate row of covered buttons down the back. Instead of a traditional veil, she wore a floral wreath in her hair, which added just the right amount of whimsy to complement the greenery. But as beautiful as the setting and details were, what I'll remember most about their ceremony is how intentionally Gloria and JD wove their faith into it.

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Keeping Christ at the Center of Their Wedding Ceremony

JD's dad, who is a pastor, married them beneath the wooden cross, while Gloria's dad shared a short message of his own, too. 🤍 Gloria and JD took communion together, sang a worship song side-by-side, and were prayed over by their parents and grandparents as they stepped into marriage. Then Gloria's siblings surprised them with a song—and considering Gloria is one of EIGHT siblings, you can imagine how sweet that was. 🥹 (Her little brother, meanwhile, quite literally WEPT through not only their song, but basically the entire ceremony, and I don't think there was any hope for the rest of us after that. 😭🤍)

Their ceremony was such a beautiful example of how personal a Christian wedding can be. Faith doesn't have to show up through one specific tradition or formula—it can be woven throughout the day in ways that reflect your relationship, your families, and the foundation you're choosing for your marriage.

And that's one of my favorite things about photographing Christ-centered wedding days—no two couples incorporate their faith in exactly the same way. 🤍 From Olivia and Myles' nature-inspired wedding to Dean and Mackenna's Christ-centered Jersey City wedding, I've gotten to witness so many beautiful examples of couples intentionally making their relationship with Christ part of their wedding day—and every instance hits distinctly special and unique from the last!

I've actually put together an entire guide with some of my favorite Christian wedding ceremony ideas for couples looking for meaningful ways to keep Christ at the center of their wedding, from worship and communion to Scripture readings, prayer, and other faith-filled traditions. 

Photographing the Moments Gloria and JD Wanted to Remember Most

Gloria and JD’s wedding wasn’t technically a microwedding, but their photography coverage looked a little different from my typical full wedding day—and lowkey, I loved how intentional they were about it! We custom-designed four hours of coverage around the photographs they knew mattered most to them: their ceremony, family portraits, and newlywed portraits (or, as I like to think of them, the core “mantel-worthy” photographs 🤗). I also grabbed a few images of their reception setup before scooting out. 

There’s something really beautiful about knowing what matters to you and building your wedding photography coverage around that. Your wedding doesn’t have to fit into a specific mold, and neither does the way you choose to document it. Family portraits felt especially meaningful on a day like this when, for Gloria and JD, their families weren’t simply guests watching them get married—they had prayed over them, participated in their ceremony, arranged flowers, decorated the reception tent, and poured so much love into making the entire day happen. 🥹 These were the people Gloria and JD wanted standing beside them in the photographs that they’ll have framed in their home decades from now.

And once we had those family photographs documented, it was time to get Gloria and JD out by the pond for their newlywed portraits—which gave me the PERFECT opportunity to combine two things I love: landscape-forward wedding photography and one of the newest additions to my work…DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY!! 🥲🙌🏼

Psst… in case you haven’t noticed, awkward photos aren’t really my vibe.

My goal is to get you feeling comfortable and yourself, so you can enjoy personality-driven imagery for years to come!

If you’re looking at this gallery, thinking, “YASSSSS!”, then we need to talk… like yesterday!

Keep scrolling to see more of Gloria and JD’s backyard wedding↓

Photographing Their Backyard Wedding From an Entirely New Perspective

If you've followed my photography for any amount of time, you probably already know how much I love pulling back and allowing the landscape to speak in a couple’s gallery. I want you to see more than what you looked like together—rather, I want photographs that remind you of where you were, what surrounded you, and what that particular little corner of the world felt like.

And this property gave us sooo much to work with! After their ceremony and family portraits, we wandered around the property for Gloria and JD’s portraits, photographing them among the greenery, along the water, and—OBVIOUSLY—in that hand-painted rowboat. The softness of Gloria's gown against all of that green, the movement of the marsh grass, the reflections on the pond…I could've photographed these two out there foreverrrrr.

But the rowboat also gave me the chance to pull back farther than I ever could from the shoreline. Enter: the drone. 🙌🏼

From the ground, I could photograph Gloria and JD interacting inside the boat—the movement, laughter, and little moments between them. From above, I could show the entire environment surrounding that moment: the pond, shoreline, layers of marsh grass and greenery, the tiny boat, and the two of them right in the middle of it all.

THAT is what excites me about incorporating drone photography into my couples' galleries. It's not about throwing in an aerial photo just because it looks cool. It's another storytelling tool—and such a natural extension of the landscape-forward photographs I've always loved creating.

Sometimes the location itself is an intimate part of your wedding day, and being able to photograph it from an entirely different perspective gives you a way to remember not only yourselves within that place, but the scale and beauty of everything that surrounded you.

And considering JD proposed to Gloria at Watkins Glen State Park, I have a feeling these two already understand my obsession with putting tiny humans inside reallyyyy beautiful landscapes. (Cough: can see another example of that approach in Elena and Joseph's Watkins Glen State Park wedding photos! 😂🤍)

Gloria & JD's Christ-Centered Marriage

From two missionary kids growing up in Guatemala and the Philippines, to crossing paths at church, finding each other again years later, getting engaged at Watkins Glen, and finally standing beneath a handmade cross surrounded by their families…what a story these two already have.

And now, their next chapter gets to unfold with them together in Honduras. 🥹

Cheers to Gloria and JD—to God's perfect timing; a family who came together to create the sweetest backyard wedding; worship songs and tearful little brothers; prayers spoken over a brand-new, sacred covenant; rowboat adventures; and a lifetime of continuing to choose Christ and each other. 🥂🤍