When Fair Lawn wedding photographer Alex Kaplan arrives at a home wedding, the difference is immediate. There’s no venue coordinator checking the clock and no restrictions on where family can gather. It’s simply people celebrating in a space that already holds their memories.

Rob and Ruby’s Heights Ave home in Fair Lawn became exactly that kind of place, where Jewish and Chinese traditions merged in their own backyard without compromise.

This Northern New Jersey home wedding proved something important. The most powerful celebrations happen when you strip away the elaborate venue and focus on what actually matters: family, culture, and the people you love.

Getting Ready at a Fair Lawn Home Wedding

Coverage started on the first floor where Rob and his groomsmen were already suited up in charcoal suits with light blue accents. No rushing between hotel rooms and venues – just guys hanging out in Rob’s living room. Upstairs, Ruby and her bridesmaids finished hair and makeup in the same space where she gets ready every morning. That lace wedding dress with cathedral veil featured intricate details and a dramatic train that would catch the afternoon light perfectly in their backyard.

Rob and Ruby did their first look as a family of three, including their dog GriGri in his blue suit jacket. Watch a couple see each other for the first time and you learn everything about their relationship. The way Rob smiled when Ruby turned around, the way she laughed when GriGri tried to jump up for attention – that moment told their whole story.

A Fair Lawn Backyard Ceremony Blending Jewish and Chinese Traditions

Rob walked down the aisle with his parents Andrew and Sylvia, plus GriGri leading the way. No venue coordinator told them the dog couldn’t be in the processional – this was their home, their rules. The bridal party took their places under the floral arch decorated in blues, pinks, and whites – hydrangeas and roses creating that ocean-inspired aesthetic Ruby had envisioned.

Ruby walked down the aisle with her parents Fandi and Ling, that cathedral veil flowing behind her. About 80 guests gathered under the white pergola strung with cafe lights – neighbors probably wondering what all the beautiful chaos was about. Two families, two traditions, one backyard in Fair Lawn transformed into exactly what this couple needed.

The ceremony brought together the Jewish Breaking of the Glass and the Chinese Jiao Bei Jiu wine ritual. Most venues have rules about glass breaking and wine ceremonies. Home weddings don’t.

When Rob and Ruby drank from the shared cups during the traditional Chinese ceremony, both families leaned forward. No one wanted to miss that moment.

That’s what happens when you’re ten feet from the couple instead of fifty rows back in a ballroom.

They walked back down the aisle as husband and wife, GriGri trotting alongside them. The sound of 80 people cheering in a residential backyard – that’s a sound you don’t get anywhere else.

Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony at a Northern NJ Home Wedding

After the ceremony, Ruby changed into a traditional red Chinese qipao. Burgundy velvet with gold embroidered details and intricate lace sleeves. The complete wardrobe transformation from Western white lace to traditional Chinese red created a visual timeline of the day. Showing respect for both sides of this multicultural celebration.

The tea ceremony happened inside their home in the clean, modern living room. Ruby and Rob knelt before their parents, serving tea to honor both families. These are the moments that don’t work in a busy venue with the next wedding waiting. This needed time, this needed quiet, this needed to happen in their own space.

Fandi and Ling received tea first, then Andrew and Sylvia. Watch parents’ faces during a tea ceremony and you understand why some traditions survive generations. The emotion in that room wasn’t about the tea. It was about children honoring parents in the most profound way their culture knows how.

Fair Lawn Home Wedding Family Portraits

After the tea ceremony, we moved into family portraits in their backyard. Ruby stayed in her red qipao. The traditional Chinese dress contrasting beautifully with the blue and green wedding colors filling their yard.

Ruby with her parents Fandi and Ling, her mom in that beautiful blue dress with floral details. No awkward moments trying to find a pretty spot at a venue. They knew every corner of this yard and exactly where the light would be perfect.

Ruby’s extended family – cousin Qiang and his wife April, sister, plus nephew Daniel who’d been their ring bearer. That little guy in his suspenders and bow tie, probably already wondering when he could go play on the ping pong table in the backyard.

Rob with his parents Andrew and Sylvia. His mom in the lace overlay dress, dad Andrew, along with sister Michele and fiancé Jimmy, grandmother Agi. Multiple generations celebrating in the same backyard where Rob probably had birthday parties as a kid.

The group portrait with both families showed everyone in their various looks. Ruby in red, Rob in black suit, the mix of traditional and contemporary. This is what Northern New Jersey looks like in 2024. Families from different backgrounds coming together without losing what makes each of them unique.

Northern New Jersey Home Wedding Bridal Party Portraits

Ruby’s bridesmaids wore dusty blue dresses in different styles. Her maid of honor Jessie, along with Allison, Lu, William, and Evan. The mix of necklines and silhouettes gave everyone their own look while staying cohesive with that ocean-inspired color palette.

Rob’s side had best men Derek and Dave (yes, two best men – home weddings mean making your own rules), plus groomsmen Fykeson, Stuart, and Alex in charcoal to black suits with light blue ties.

The full bridal party shot captured everyone’s excitement – the entire wedding party cheering while Rob and Ruby kiss in the center, fists pumping. That kind of spontaneous celebration doesn’t happen when you’re following a venue timeline. It happens when everyone’s relaxed enough to just react.

Fair Lawn Backyard Wedding Reception with Chinese Traditions

By the time cocktail hour transitioned into dinner, the backyard had transformed completely – that same space where they’d exchanged vows now filled with long tables under a white tent, guests moving between the bar and the ping pong table Rob had insisted on keeping out. Ruby stayed in her red qipao for the entire reception, that traditional Chinese dress moving through the crowd as she greeted guests.

Three heartfelt speeches during the reception. The bridesmaids and groomsmen shared stories that only make sense when you’re talking about people you actually know, not performing for a crowd in a ballroom. Ruby clearly moved by the words, Rob laughing at the stories only close friends would dare tell. Guests at nearby tables leaning in to hear better, that kind of intimate connection you only get when 80 people can actually see and hear what’s happening.

The dessert spread included miniature pies – apple crumb, bruleed pumpkin, s’mores. Because when you’re not restricted by a venue’s preferred vendor list, you can serve exactly what you want. Home weddings mean freedom.

Parent Dances at a Northern New Jersey Home Wedding

Ruby danced with her dad Fandi, still in that red qipao. Father and daughter moving together in the same backyard where he probably taught her to ride a bike or throw a ball. That history adds weight to every moment.

Rob danced with his mom Sylvia in her blue lace dress, her hand on his shoulder the same way it probably was at every important moment in his life.

Rob and Ruby’s first dance as husband and wife happened under the same pergola where they’d exchanged vows hours earlier. That’s the beauty of a home wedding – every space holds multiple memories from the same day, layers of meaning building on top of each other.

Fair Lawn Home Wedding Cake Cutting

The cake cutting happened with Ruby still in her traditional red Chinese dress, that beautiful contrast of burgundy qipao against white frosted cake topped with fresh strawberries. Rob and Ruby cutting their cake together, both families gathered around, nephew Daniel definitely wondering when he’d get a piece – these small moments tell the real story of a wedding day.

Rob and Ruby’s Fair Lawn home wedding on Heights Ave captured what happens when you stop worrying about impressing guests. With an elaborate venue and start focusing on honoring the people and traditions that shaped you.

Their Northern New Jersey backyard became exactly what they needed it to be – ceremony space, tea ceremony room, portrait location, reception venue, all without driving between four different locations or watching a clock. From the outdoor ceremony blending Jewish Breaking of the Glass and Chinese Jiao Bei Jiu rituals under a floral arch to Ruby’s wardrobe transformation into traditional red qipao for the tea ceremony, from family portraits that didn’t require finding “the pretty spot” at some venue to parent dances under the same pergola where they’d said their vows – this Fair Lawn backyard wedding proved that the most powerful celebrations happen in spaces that already hold your memories. Two families, two traditions, one backyard, zero compromises.