Annapolis, Maryland · On the water

A backyard wedding on the water

An October afternoon in Annapolis — portraits under the oak, vows at the end of the dock, and the sun going down over the creek.

Autumn on the water

214 photographs

The day

A backyard wedding sounds simple until you shoot one. There is no venue coordinator, no bridal suite, no rain plan built into the contract — but there is a house someone grew up in, a lawn that runs down to the water, and a dock that turns out to be the best ceremony site in Anne Arundel County.

This one ran a little over three hours on an October afternoon, and it used every part of the property. Portraits happened under the oak by the shoreline while the light was still high. The ceremony was at the end of the dock, under the pavilion, with the creek on three sides. Cake was cut under the pergola, and the last frames are the two of them on the dock while the sun dropped straight down the middle of the water. What follows is the whole afternoon, in order.