Lord of the Rings Inspired Magical Backyard Wedding in Quinte West

Mary and Erik

This backyard wedding in Quinte West was hosted by Mary and Erik. Mary and Erik are such a sweet, outdoor-loving couple. And not gonna lie, I love following their adventures on instagram! They met while in College – Mary was taking Ecosystem Management and Erik was taking Fish and Wildlife. It’s no surprise that they connected and spend their time going on adventures together, hiking, and being outdoors. Erik proposed to Mary while fighting altitude sickness on the Inca Trail in Peru – I can’t think of a more adventurous way to get engaged!

Mary and Erik have an amazing sense of humour and that was evident in their wedding day! Their first look is one example! Erik was a bag of nerves waiting for Mary to arrive. His nervousness changed to confusion when he heard the “galloping” (spoons), then about 292891738 emotions at once when he saw Mary coming up to him in a unicorn head. It was absolutely precious.

Backyard Wedding in Quinte West

Mary and Erik chose a backyard wedding in Quinte West to celebrate in the same place where Mary’s parents celebrated their wedding! Her backyard has a lot of meaning since she grew up there, and she made many early connections to the outdoors.

The day was sprinkled with some subtle and obvious Lord of the Rings themed things! The main thing is that guests were encouraged to dress up like LOTR characters! There was a great variety in costumes, like Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, Eowyn and even a Ringwraith! Erik and Mary had amazing capes that matched their wedding party. It also made for a great idea to keep everyone warm in the evening!

For photos we explored the local area before returning to an evening filled with musical speeches. The evening ended off with not so much a Lord of the Rings reference, but a definite nod to their sense of humour – a black forest cake toss!

I love how personal Erik and Mary made their wedding day. Every element was so uniquely them and it was such a pleasure to capture it for them!

Thank you to W.J. Smith Photography for being my second shooter for the ceremony and especially for capturing that epic wagon shot!

Other details – Mary’s dress was from Opportunity Bridal and Erik’s suit was from Value Village. Their beautiful rings were from etsy and the other details were DIY!