Charlotte and Anthony were referred to me by their friend Amanda whose wedding I captured a year prior and was also a bridesmaid in the bridal party that day. Since then I have captured another wedding referred to me from Amanda as well. The relationships I build with my clients is very important to me and I am always grateful when they recommend me to their friends.
This wedding took place in August but the weather that day was perfect, not too hot and beautiful skies. Charlotte and Anthony are a very easy going and wanted to focus on their celebration, so we did a first look and group portraits before the ceremony to ensure that everybody would have fun afterwards. I love the central courtyard of The Olde Mill Inn because it provides the perfect back drop and shade for portraits, you never have to worry about the sun at that location. At night the string lights create an excellent backdrop as well, great for evening photos.
The Olde Mill Inn is the perfect venue for celebrating your wedding all in one place, I love working there. The bridal suite is enormous and great for photographing the preparations, with plenty of windows to let in the natural light. The entire building has many great opportunities to capture special photos to remember your day, especially the central staircase and upper levels with their enormous windows.
The couple and bridal party wore traditional styles that day, matching bridesmaids dresses and tuxedos. The color scheme for the wedding was very light, pink dresses and bouquets to match with the men’s ties. We had a great time at the portrait session, the first look ensured that everybody could focus on the group photos in a relaxed manner and also get to enjoy cocktail hour after the ceremony.
Charlotte & Anthony’s first dance took place in the clouds provided by DJMC Entertainment. It’s always a magical moment to capture! Dancing on the clouds, intelligent lighting and up-lighting always enhance your party, as a photographer I always recommend adding features like these to your wedding celebration.
I always tell my clients that I love taking pictures at night, and I love using color in my photography. Just after dinner time when there was a quiet moment in the celebration, I went outside to set up a couple of lights. When I was finished I went back in to grab the bride and groom for a fun and unique night time portrait. We grabbed the photo in just a couple of minutes and I sent them back inside to continue the celebration. I’ve photographed this spot at The Olde Mill Inn numerous times, but that night I decided to use a fuchsia gel in my Magmod kit to change the color of the building entirely.
I’m writing this blog post in February of 2021, but this wedding took place in August of 2019. The picture below reminds me of what I jokingly refer to as “The before times” when we could all party with a bit less concern. By March of 2020, the New Jersey wedding business changed drastically and receptions as we knew them would become a thing of the past for quite some time. As difficult as 2020 was, I am still grateful for the people who chose me to capture their weddings in their altered states, and I am very happy with the photos I was able to create with some very special people. Right now in early 2021, we are not a whole lot better off than we were a year ago, but things are trending in the right direction and we will hopefully be back to more care free days soon. Fingers crossed.
