Backyard Minimony Wedding in Dublin, Ohio

Robin + Bill

We've all been using new words and phrases in 2020 that previously weren’t in our day to day communication such as social distancing and quarantine, but I’ve recently learned a new one that I absolutely love and can totally get excited about and that is “minimony!” You may be wondering what a minimony is and it’s exactly what it sounds like— a mini ceremony with 10 people or fewer. The guest count may be downsized, but the sentiment and emotions are full scale!

Robin and Bill got married in their backyard where Prema Designs and Aiden and Grace completely transformed the patio into a romantic fairytale scene with a gorgeous floral installation as the backdrop and modern chairs for their families to sit. Bill and Robin have two daughters each and they were perfect bridesmaids for the celebration.

The couple got ready together in their bedroom and then walked out the backdoor and down the flower covered aisle where they had a family friend officiate. It was a ceremony full of extra meaning, considering the uphill battle they had to face to get there. Robin was diagnosed with cancer in February and had recently finished her last chemotherapy treatment. You can imagine the extra stress Covid-19 has had on her with a severely compromised immune system. They didn’t want to delay their marriage any longer than it already had been, so they found a safe solution to make it happen.

Robin and Bill’s love for one another is so precious and I was honored to capture their wedding day. I asked Robin’s daughter Tara to tell me a little bit more about her Mom and Bill’s incredible love story. I think it’s so wonderful hearing it from her perspective— I got goosebumps when I first read it.

LOVE STORY

“My mom and Bill met on match.com and their first date was the Ohio State vs. Oklahoma game (OSU lost- but I’ll take that versus no football season.) They bonded over their love of wine, football, and having two girls each! Bill proposed to my mom over Christmas Eve almost two years ago with all of us present. He promised my sister and I that he would do everything he could to give my mom the life she deserves and to always be there for her and us.

Flash forward to Feb of 2020 (the year all of us would come to hate lol) and my mom underwent a routine “hysterectomy” where they discovered stage 3 ovarian cancer. Bill had to call me and tell me over the phone (I found out before my mom did, because she was waking up from surgery). He was the best care taker for my mom and did his best to keep her positive.

When COVID 19 hit she felt really isolated because she couldn’t see anyone due to chemo, so Bill organized weekly zoom calls with all the girls and his parents to cheer her up. They wanted to get married over Memorial Day weekend, but she wasn’t done with chemo yet and COVID restrictions were still incredibly strict. She knew she wanted to keep it small (under 20 was prob smaller than she thought), but we made the best of what we had! She left planning the wedding up to me and I had less than a month to pull it together.

Her one *must have* was getting family pictures of all of us during and after the ceremony. You were definitely a highlight of the day, as you couldn’t have been more perfect for our all girl squad. I only wish we had you come to dinner because Bill samurai sworded the top layer of cake and it fell.”