Martina + Kirolous || Bernardsville, NJ Engagements
We are thrilled to be sharing images from our engagement session with this fun-loving couple. Both Martina and Kirolous were a riot to be around. Their laughters are incredibly contagious, and their ability to put each other at ease is something we noticed right away.
Out of all the potential locations we considered for their engagement, we really had our eyes on this garden. For generations this was a privately owned garden estate, complete with a stone water tower + 23 room private mansion. According to their website, the property’s history dates back to the turn of the 20th century. The estate was eventually acquired in the 1970s by the National Park Service, and opened to the public very recently. The garden has a lot of unique features, from wisteria-laced pergolas to a couple dozen flower varieties. Our favorite part of the garden was… the shaded areas, as it was pretty sunny during our time there… just kidding! It was actually the wriggly branch shrubs surrounding a pathway beside the mansion. We can’t remember what type of shrubs they were exactly, but they look pretty similar to the manzanita shrubs found all throughout Yosemite National Park.
Thank you Martina + Kirolous for your adventurous spirit, and for making us laugh throughout your session. We can’t wait to celebrate your marriage later this fall!
Qynn + Larry || The Palace at Somerset Park Weddings
Others always ask us what it’s like to be around happy people + day-long celebrations for a living. “It’s great” we always reply. To be frank, it is pretty nice… yet thankfully, our job is so much more than that.
Some of our favorite moments ‘on the job’ are when our couples share their stores with us… missed connections, first dates, leaps of faith, the stuff that makes our job REALLY worthwhile. It is in those stories that drive us to celebrate alongside with each couple on their wedding day, because stories are made of moments, and moments make the most precious of memories.
Larry + Qynn’s story is as sweet as they get. Having met at their workplace, they kept their relationship down low for a while. A couple of dates later… and their hearts were set. Prior to their New Jersey wedding day, they had the opportunity to visit the incredible city coastal of Shanghai (where Qynn’s family roots are established) to have some really cool portraits done in + around the historic district of the city.
On their wedding day, we prepped at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriot Somerset . Portraits were taken on the lightly forested property of RCCC, followed by a really pleasant ceremony in the sanctuary. Their evening reception took place at the spectacular (and must we say, one of the finest venues in all of Central Jersey) The Palace at Somerset. Having been there many times before, we enjoy it more and more with each visit. A special thanks to Josh, our maitre’d for the evening, for keeping the schedule running smoothly as expected.
Perhaps our favorite event of the evening was during the speeches. One of Qynn’s closest friends couldn’t make it to the wedding, so in lieu of her speech, there was an incredibly creative “speech presentation” shown on the projector. Using a light box, sand, and near endless creativity, this sand show combined both stop motion and sand to illustrate our bride and groom’s love story.
A big congratulations to Qynn + Larry on their wedding day, and we wish you many more hikes + adventures + memories together! Thank you for helping us kickstart the 2017 wedding season in a wonderful way.
