Danny + Sherry || Weddings At The Venetian
Making photos is our job, but celebrating stories is truly what brings us so much joy in this profession. For Danny + Sherry, their long distance love story started a few years back. Being separated by the entire expanse of the eastern seaboard of the U.S. did not stop their love for eachother from growing and flourishing. Fast forward to this day, when their families came together for an unforgettable celebration.
Everything about Danny + Sherry’s wedding was just as we hoped for. The October weather was favorable and void of rain for most of the day, and loved ones flew in from all over the world to join the celebration. Thankfully, we are no strangers to Sherry’s family, having already photographed her sister’s wedding just a few years earlier… seeing her family + church friends felt like a mini reunion on so many levels.
Having already photographed their engagement session earlier this summer, we already knew how easy going this bride + groom would be on the day of. Sherry and her gown certainly stole the show at their church ceremony, while the ring bearers charmed the crowd every step of the way. Thank God the stormy weather held back the precipitation all the way until the end of the evening, just as we wrapped up our portraits in the garden of the Venetian.
Our favorite part of their wedding? Definitely the reception party. We love, love, LOVE being witnesses to the wedding party unwind on the dance floor– there is always so much personality to capture when all the formalities have concluded. From the LED thunder sticks to watching the newlyweds conquer the dance floor, it was most definitely a party to remember.
Many congratulations to our newlyweds, Danny + Sherry!
Last but not least, our warmest thanks to the other wedding professionals who helped make this day possible:
Hair/Makeup: @AngelfaceNYC https://www.facebook.com/angelfacenyc
Video: @TheBleuStudio https://www.facebook.com/TheBleuStudio/
Florals: Dee’s Flower https://www.facebook.com/DeesFlowersAndGifts/
Reception:The Venetian https://www.venetiannj.com/
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!
Patty + Andrew || Westmount Country Club Weddings
What an unforgettable wedding celebration! We present to you, the lovely (and newly married) Andrew + Patty.
What an honor it was to celebrate with these two. From start to finish, our job was non-stop… and that is exactly why we love our jobs so much. Moments upon moments upon moments– from the tight-knit feel being surrounded by their bridal party the morning of, to cherishing the moments where mom and dad help with the finishing touches of their wedding day attire, to the first time Andrew sees Patty entering the wedding ceremony– there were so many images that helped encompass the emotions of the wedding day. This wedding was the first time we had a proper “confetti shower”, and we were so stoked to hear that there was some more at the reception.
Our favorite moment? Definitely when Patty + her father are honoring the father-daughter dance, and their family looks on with teary eyes.
A million congrats to you both, Patty + Andrew!
George + Martina || The Tides Estate
What an incredible way to wrap up our 2016 wedding season with George and Martina’s wedding.
After an exciting morning filled with laughter, singing, thoughtful gift exchanges and stunning wedding details, our bride and groom had their first look at Kakiat Park in Montebello, NY. Admittedly, the weather was bone chillingly cold. We are both grateful that our large bridal party was brave enough to battle the cold for a quick portrait session at the park.
George and Martina got married at St. Mary & St. Pachomious Coptic Orthodox Church in Stony Point, NY. Over the last few years, we’ve had the privilege of photographing quite a few Coptic Orthodox weddings. If you’ve never been to one, then surely you are missing out. From a visual perspective, there so many beautiful aspects that make up the wedding ceremony. Between the crowning of the bride and bridegroom to ceremonial robes draped upon the couple, to the anointing and reciting of scripture, the many traditions seen at a Coptic Orthodox Ceremony highlight the sanctity of marriage within the Christian church. Although the entire ceremony is performed in Arabic (of which neither one of us speaks), we’ve thankfully been invited to enough Coptic weddings to know how it flows. Although we know the routine, we love the challenge of seeking out unique wedding moments— whether it be candid or emotional or just plain comical— and thats really what we love about photographing weddings.
Immediately after the ceremony, we headed towards one of the most elegant venues in New Jersey, The Tides Estate. Their wedding reception was packed with a whole lot of celebrating and fun details. We especially enjoyed their miniature-house gift card holder, and the decadent wedding cake featuring fresh orchids. Right after dinner, the bride led her bridesmaids in a surprise dance performance for the groom; the rest of the evening was spent on the dance floor.
George and Martina, thank you for allowing us to pop a champagne bottle during our final portrait session that evening hours. We hope that image captures the emotions you felt that day as two became one.
Paulette + Mena || New Jersey Botanical Garden Engagements
Just three weeks before their wedding day, we met up with Paulette + Mena for their engagement photos. The brilliantly colored fauna of the botanical gardens made for a stunning location for their engagement session…. sadly, we’ve never heard of this place until our couple mentioned this place to us.
For a late September afternoon, we encountered a quirky mix of sunny weather and cloud coverage. However, we had a great time learning more about their story; how they knew eachother in highschool, but Mena kept getting friendzoned for the years that followed. Paulette said that there was one time in English class that she got paired up with Mena. She had no idea what was going on in that class so Mena had to explain the subjects about advanced synonym. And Paulette then started admiring of how much effort Mena did.
In the end, everything worked out, and here we are today, celebrating their engagement. Congrats to you both, and we look forward to your wedding this October!
Mark + Mariam || Coptic Wedding Celebration at the Tides Estate
Mark + Mariam’s wedding celebration is finally here on the blog. We really enjoyed working with this super friendly, slightly goofy and very much down-to-earth couple. From their early morning engagement session at Lambert Castle a few months back, we learned just how easy-going and humorous this couple was.
On their wedding day, we felt like we were hit by a hurricane. The beautiful blend of culture + faith was very much evident in their traditional Coptic Orthodox wedding ceremony, followed by an elegant wedding reception at The Tides Estate, and topped off with seemingly endless amounts of dancing. Sandwiched between the festivities was a bridal party like no other. The twenty bridal party members surrounding our lovely bride + groom were certainly memorable. To say that they too were excited, wacky, outrageously funny and ready to celebrate this new marriage would have been a great understatement. All twenty of them were a riot to be around— full of enough energy, jokes, and antics to keep us on our feet all throughout the evening.
Our favorite part of the wedding day was definitely the reception. The entire evening of celebration– dancing, slideshows, numerous speeches, and surprise flash mob (led by the bride herself)– was so much fun to be a part of and document. Weddings, after all, are all about the celebrating and honoring of a covenant, and not simply just one big checklist and fancy clothes… and the way this couple celebrated their wedding, surrounded by a sea of loved ones, was very much proof of that covenant.
Congratulations once again to our newlyweds, Mariam and Mark !!
Veronica + Mina || Bridgewater Marriott Weddings
We are incredibly excited to start off our 2014 season with images from Veronica and Mina’s wedding day.
No matter how many times we are invited to document Coptic Orthodox weddings, we will always be amazed by the beautiful blend of biblical tradition, culture and visual aestheticism that comes with a Coptic wedding ceremony. Their Sunday wedding at St. Mary’s Byzantine Church was full of much celebration, laughter, tears and a few really good surprises.
The groom executed an awesome dance routine with his mother during their first dance. Our gorgeous bride, Veronica, surprised her husband with a musical stage performance, backed by her band & her ukulele.
We definitely couldn’t blog about their wedding without highlighting all the details that they spent so many months working on. Since much of their relationship had been long distance, they made sure to pay proper homage to their coast-to-coast romance. From maps and globes to paper planes and luggage tags, every little nuance of their wedding day was a unique celebration of the long distance commitment they shared while 2,700 miles apart. But most importantly, we admire how much the bride + groom were a part of their wedding day. They didn’t just “show up” to their wedding, but they made great effort to mingle, dance, eat, and honor their loved ones (especially the folks who came from LA + Australia) throughout the day.
Thank you Veronica + Mina for letting us be there for your big day, and we wish you two the very best in your new lives together on the West Coast.
Be sure to visit our facebook page to see more images from their wedding day!!
Ingy + Peter || The Estate at Florentine Gardens
Peter and Ingy’s wedding celebration was the perfect event to cap off our 2013 wedding season. Even though we’ve documented Coptic Orthodox ceremonies in the past, each and every wedding that we photograph brings forth an abundance of fresh new experiences + stunning visuals.
We’re constantly in awe of the complexity of Coptic Orthodox ceremonies. The fusing of faith, tradition, commitment and culture is certainly one of the most unique experiences we have ever been witnesses to. The bride and groom were married at the Coptic Orthodox Church St. Mark in Jersey City, followed by portraits at Pascack Brook County Park. Their reception took place on the Estate at Florentine Gardens, a gorgeous venue that redefines what classy wedding receptions should be. If you’re in search of a wedding reception location that is a notch above, consider the Florentine Gardens.
Congratulations to our newlyweds Ingy + Peter, and thank you for allowing us to be a part of your big day!
