Karen & Anatoly, The Castle at Skylands Manor

We were excited to return to The Castle at Skylands Manor in Ringwood, NJ, a spectacular mansion in a beautiful state park with carefully maintained and aesthetically impressive grounds. The weather was perfect, with plenty of sun and a comfortable summer temperature, and we enjoyed working with all the varied settings that presented themselves through the day.

Our bride and groom were Karen and Anatoly, residents of West Hollywood, who returned to New Jersey for their wedding adventure. We had emailed for a while, and talked on the phone a bit, but we actually met them on their wedding day, and wow, these are a couple of nice people! Oh, and good looking too... So, we have all the ingredients: great couple, nice families and friends, perfect weather, and great location. We even had a couple of amazing flower girls, bringing their point of view...

The staff at Skylands always does a great job with planning, logistics and service, with Linda providing unobtrusive but effective management. Floral magic was provided by A Touch of Elegance, harp music for the ceremony was performed by Karen Stern, and DJ services were provided by LJ Productions.

We're presenting a lot of images here, but we thought it might be fun to show a complete story of this special day. Our photographic teamwork brings extra depth to the storytelling, since we are always capturing different angles and compositions. Shelley starts with the girls while Keith is with the guys getting ready, and then we come together for the "first meet" and onward.... We have a good time with this expanded coverage, and feel it makes a difference in the content of the pictures.

Enjoy the images, and please feel free to leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you, and so will Karen and Anatoly!

Jennifer & Sean at The Loft, Montclair

Since we live in Glen Ridge, it was very convenient to photograph Jennifer & Sean's wedding in Montclair. Their day was filled with beautiful and meaningful moments, and we enjoyed the chance to tell their story. We begin at Jennifer's getting ready location, where Shelley collected some details:

 

Jenn finished up her preparation, with an assist from her sister:

And Shelley made some quick portraits before leaving for church:

One gorgeous bride, definitely in the happy zone! Meanwhile, Keith was with Sean as his brother assisted:

and Keith got some nice moments as Sean awaited the ceremony:

They got married at Church of the Immaculate Conception, in downtown Montclair:

Here are some moments from their classic ceremony:

After the receiving line and some group photos at the church, it was off to Brookdale Park, where we had a little time to make casual portraits with our newlyweds:

That was fun! Next stop was The Loft, also in downtown Montclair, configured in a dark and dramatic setting with candles and lots of atmosphere:

Two nice moments from their first dance, with support from friends and family:

And it was party time!

And as the evening drew to a close, our couple returned for one last romantic turn:

All our best to Jennifer & Sean, thanks again for a great day!