Amanda & Dan’s backyard wedding

In a very special location on Belle Island, in the heart of the Georgia Lowcountry, where the Spanish moss almost always glows in the soft light of a setting sun, Amanda Peterman and Dan Veneski made a promise to love one another forever and always. Their backyard wedding was the perfect reflection of southern grace and vintage charm. From the unstructured bouquets and flower crowns to the vintage furniture and monogrammed details, every part of their day was infused with meaning and personal touches.

When it came time to plan their wedding, they knew they wanted something intimate, somewhere that felt like home.

So, Amanda’s parent’s backyard on Belle Island became the perfect venue—a place filled with her childhood memories and now, new beginnings with the love of her life. Their wedding day was everything they had dreamed of: barefoot dancing under the stars, surrounded by only those who they knew by first, middle and last name; there were hand-dyed linens and dream catchers made from heirloom doilies Amanda’s mother had saved from her grandmother. It was a celebration not just of their love, but of the journey that brought them to that beautiful day—every detail deeply personal and intentionally selected for its meaning.

Their story begins in San Francisco, where a chance connection on Match.com brought them together for a first date. As two traveling nurses, living adventurous lives on the West Coast, Amanda and Dan both say they weren’t looking for anything serious. “We met for lunch at Pacific Catch (the irony of the name makes me laugh) in the Marina neighborhood of San Francisco,” Amanda recalls. “We discovered during our first date that her mom, who was working as a consultant at a Bay Area Hospital, was actually serving as my manager in the Emergency Room where I was slated to begin work the following morning,” Dan explains.

For the first few months, Amanda says they pretended they didn’t really want a relationship. “We were two young adults living a fun life in a great city and we didn’t necessarily want to be tied down. We would hang out on our nights off, go for bike rides around the Bay Area, and he would take me exploring on the back of his Triumph motorcycle.” About two months into seeing each other, Dan took Amanda along on a road trip to Denver to visit his sister, Sarah, and a few of his friends. Amanda says that it was during this trip that she began envisioning a future with him.

About three weeks after that road trip, Amanda was scheduled to visit her parents in Richmond Hill for St. Patrick’s Day, when she realized it was love. “The night before I flew out, I was having some concerning pain in my chest that took me to the emergency room. Dan went with me, and stayed by my side the entire time.” As it turns out, Amanda had a pulmonary embolism that would land her in the hospital for several days. “He came to the hospital every day, kept me company, brought me food and treats, kept my family updated, and made a scary situation that much more bearable. I was a goner after that…I was head over heels.” She laughs as she recounts the action that truly solidified to the world she was in love—she gave up her coveted parking spot near her apartment. “It’s silly, but anyone who has lived in a big city will understand. I was spending so much time at his apartment that it didn’t make sense to keep paying $400 a month for a parking spot at my apartment that I rarely visited.” The waitlist to get that spot back was 6 years!

Fast forward to Christmas Day 2015. Dan and Amanda were living in Seattle after spending a year traveling up and down the West Coast in their RV (traveling nurses can do this). Dan, being Jewish, didn’t mind that Amanda traveled back to Richmond Hill every Christmas to be with her family, so she had no idea what was coming. “We were preparing for our usual pre-dinner booze cruise on my dad’s boat when Santa and an elf showed up at the dock on a golf cart,” Amanda says. “Santa handed out gifts and then passed me a red envelope with a note. I recognized Dan’s handwriting immediately, and when I looked up, there he was, dressed as Santa, down on one knee!” A fun little surprise was that Santa’s elf was his sister, Sarah, who had traveled from San Francisco to help him execute the proposal! “I love that it happened on that dock…the same dock that we used to jump from as kids, boat from my whole life, swim and crab from…it just makes the memory that much sweeter. The final time we visited my parents home in Richmond Hill, I took my girls (our son was in my belly) down to that dock and we sat and I told them lots of fun stories. We made sure to take the wedding photographer down to the dock to capture some photos on our wedding day.”

could see them coming into the backyard from the window in my parents room. I got emotional thinking of all the stages of my life that had taken place in that home and all of the people there that had witnessed those moments. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would get to marry my best friend right there, in that same backyard that I grew up in, mingling a new family with old history. My parents, ever the gracious hosts, were so excited to help us pull off our vision.”

The last few years have been a wild and beautiful story for Amanda and Dan. Shortly after they married, they decided to start a family. Amanda decided to move forward in her career and become a nurse anesthetist. They moved back east to be closer to family and for Amanda to go to grad school in Scranton, Pennsylvania, just minutes from where Dan’s parents lived. Since then, they have welcomed three precious children to the 13-acre Pennsylvania farm they share with their dogs, chickens, turkeys and geese. Amanda’s parents have since sold their Belle Island home and moved to be closer to her sister, Mallory, traveling as often as possible to see the grands!

Amanda and Dan say the best part of their day was that they were home. “We spent the morning lounging by the pool, getting ready in the comfort of familiar surroundings, and had a relaxed afternoon with friends. It was exactly how we wanted to feel—comfortable, connected and surrounded by love,” says Dan. “After we returned to Seattle, we got matching tattoos with the coordinates of the spot where we stood and said our vows. It is a constant and perfect reminder exactly where we were on that day and all that it meant to us.”