About us

Our Mission:
Making your wedding stress-free and perfect!
At Back Patio, we know you want your wedding to be amazing and perfect in every way. But the problem is, you may not know where to begin, and the process of planning and executing a wedding can cause an unnecessary amount of stress. We are very sensitive to this, and we want you to know that it doesn't have to be this way! By choosing us as your wedding planning partners, we will work closely with you to understand exactly how you want your wedding to be, and then we will plan and execute it for you. The result is a wedding you can enjoy to the fullest instead of worrying about the details. When your special day arrives, you won't have to lift a finger to make sure everything goes according to plan because we will have your back!
We'd be honored to learn about your vision and how we can help you plan your perfect wedding day.


Who are Laura & Kayla?
A yin-yang, one - two punch! Coming from different but complementary backgrounds, together we pull from over 17 years of event planning and design experience to create an amazing wedding experience for you. With combined experience focused on hospitality, marketing, business and event management, we love applying our skills to all types of wedding events.
Back Patio at a glance
2017
Established
57
Weddings & counting
100%
Client satisfaction
Why is our name Back Patio?
Growing up, we learned one very important lesson from our families: surrounding yourself with the love of family and friends is irreplaceable. Where we're from, gatherings and celebrations always took place on the back patio. Here everyone felt welcomed, loved & we never wanted the day to end. At Back Patio, we bring that same spirit to your wedding event. To create for you a warm, amazing experience and memories that you will cherish for a lifetime.

Your Team
Laura Harrelson
Operations Powerhouse and Design Extroadinaire.
With a background in business management, event planning, and account management, Laura brings a rare and powerful arsenal of skills to your wedding. Before launching Back Patio with Kayla, Laura worked for major brands and businesses including Lily Pulitzer, Omni La Costa Resort and Spa, and Club Corp.
As a Key Holder Store Manager for Lily Pulitzer, Laura creatively managed visual merchandising, and developed a knack for executing eye-catching, immaculate displays and designs that she now uses to create unique, immaculate wedding displays that capture attention and impress with detail.
As member relations and area account manager for Club Corp, Laura was a lead event planner for an annual calendar of over 100 events per year in harmony with 4,000 club members, intricately balancing the wants and needs of members with the manifestation of exquisitely tailored and comprehensive events.
Today, Laura pulls from this background to offer you the confidence and assurance of being able to pull off your grandest vision for your wedding with perfect execution. The result is a fun and stress-free experience that allows you to relax, because as a previous client loved to say, "Laura's got this!"

Kayla Portillo

Client satisfaction and perfection - obsessed.
With eleven years experience in member concierge and event planning, Kayla not only has a heart for creating warm, memorable events, but the experience and dedication to meet a high standard of expectation and go above and beyond for your wedding.
As part of the membership, events and accounting team for private, member-only clubs including The Texas Tech club and Club Corp., Kayla developed a talent for matching ambitious client experience expectations and event goals with careful attention to detail and logistics to make sure events and member experiences were blown out of the water.
As a seven-year lead concierge for UDR, one America's premier luxury apartment communities, Kayla became a key part of UDR's strategy to exceed the member experience and amenities for residents, including making sure all client needs are met and community events are creatively executed with impressive attention to detail.
You will love her desire to make sure your wedding planning experience is a stress-free, amazing experience where your deepest desires and hopes for a memorable wedding are met and exceeded!
Some of our favorite reviews...
"Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more."


"Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more."
"Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more."

Check out some of our favorite recaps from our past wedding events




Our promise to you
When it comes to planning your wedding, we offer three customizable packages to choose from depending on your vision.
And there are two things to keep in mind when working with us:
1. We will make your wedding memorable and amazing.
2. We will execute it flawlessly so you don't have to lift a finger or worry about a thing!
How can we help you?
We would love to become acquainted and discuss your wedding vision.
To get things started, please click the button below to fill out a short form which will help us get to know what type of wedding you're looking to have.
After you submit the form to us, we should be able to get back to you within 24 hours, and most times even sooner.
Thanks for stopping by and we hope to connect soon!
