Jacqueline & Frank [Battleground Country Club, NJ Wedding Photographer]

This was our LAST wedding of the year and what a way to end our season!! I could not have asked for a better couple than Jackie & Frank and I could not have asked for a better DAY for these two. When you think of November weddings – you might envision it being darker and colder and while most of the time that is true, this year we were SPOILED. It was chilly but it was sunny. It got dark early but my god, the sunlight before it set was spectacular! And we caught that sunlight during Jackie & Frank’s wedding portraits. THIS is the glow photographers dream of and Jackie & Frank got it! Not only that but anytime we thought we were done with portraits, they just wanted to keep going. A lot of that credit goes to their amazing Bridal Party. These guys were WILD but they also kept pushing that their favorite pair get all these amazing photos. To suck it up if it was cold and get the photos at night by the fire, get the photos without Jackie’s adorable faux fur shawl 🙂 I was very appreciate of them for this – we ended up getting some of the BEST photos of the night thanks to them! And some of those INCLUDE the Bridal Party. Just scroll down and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about 😉 But we HAVE to give a shout out before we even move on to Frank’s ADORABLE honorary Best Man, his dog Doug the Pug! What a cutie he is in his little tux. Jose grabbed some great photos of the two of them together. He will melt your heart!

Jackie & Frank booked me with less than a year to go for their wedding day and the excitement was always there. NEVER any nerves, just simply excitement. Right before Frank was about to walk out and see his bride for the first time, I asked him how he was feeling. And he said “I’m good! Everyone keeps asking me if I’m nervous but I’m not. I’m just excited to get things going.” I LOVED that. And not long after that, his Bride made her grand entrance into the church and what an entrance that was! What you don’t see when she walks down the aisle is the organ and trumpet players playing “The Prince of Denmark’s March” – brought tears to my eyes! There literally was a collective gasp as the doors opened for Jackie and her father. She was a stunning Bride and looking over at Frank to see the BIGGEST smile on his face was even better! It felt like their ceremony went by so fast and before we knew it, they were pronounced husband and wife! After their adorable bubble exit – where they stopped to kiss and EVERYONE went “Awww!” – we made our way to the Battleground Country Club. This is a venue we LOVE to shoot at over and over again. The staff is great, the food is delicious, the grounds are beautiful – there are never any complaints on our end about shooting here 🙂 Seriously, when we walked in Jose said “This venue’s the best!” Luckily for them, we knew all the great ins and outs of their venue since we’ve shot here so many times and were able to get through their portraits with plenty of sunshine left! We were racing not only losing sunlight but it was getting COLDER as we took their portraits. But these two are the best and it never seemed to bother them! Even after we were done with portraits, we went outside for some more shots with their Bridal Party. Maybe my favorites of the night. A HUGE virtual hug to their Bridal Party – they never ONCE complained about the cold, had constant smiles on their face and kept our Bride & Groom smiling and laughing all day – even during portraits!

The reception was such a BLAST but what really sticks out to me are the traditions of the night. I LOVED it all! I can not even pick a favorite. Maybe it was all of their Bridal Party coming out to different TV show theme songs and Jose and I smiling at each other each time one of our favorites played (Friends! Modern Family! Entourage!!) or maybe it was Frank & Jackie’s first dance… “Nobody Does it Better” by Carly Simon, a nod to Frank’s love of James Bond movies and I swear, the song I actually wanted as our own first dance!! But Jose didn’t like it. Pssh! Glad someone else got to do it 🙂 Or their sweet parent dances! They chose some of the BEST songs! Jackie & her father danced to “Blessed” by Elton John… ooh I LOVE Elton John. And Frank’s dance with his mother to “The Wonder of You” by Elvis Presley. Oh man, I LOST it when this song played. I could barely see through my camera. My father LOVED Elvis and always played this song to my mom. It gave me chills. Or their sweet and hysterical toasts by Jackie’s beautiful maid of honors, her sisters, and Franks best men! They were GREAT toasts. And all the fun they had dancing all night long. Of course their sparkler photos.. at that point in the night it was nearly IMPOSSIBLE grabbing everyone’s attention and I realized I just had to take the picture and hope for the best. lol But I think it turned out great 🙂 When we were done, I think Jackie & I hugged five times. We did not want to leave! We have SO much in common with these two that it was just a blast spending the whole day with them and we couldn’t have asked for a better couple to close out our 2015 season with then these two. SO many wonderful moments from this day and so many great photos to share – I hope you love them as much as I do!

Jackie & Frank – Have the BEST time on your honeymoon in Antigua!! We wish you both the very best in the many happy years to come and hope you love your photos! 🙂