Jackie & Todd – wedding – Mountain Lakes Club, NJ

From an emotional First Look, Jackie and Todd’s affection for each other was very clear. There was an easy relaxed way about them that made them wonderful to photograph – and it shows in the images. Working with their families and the bridal party, was one of those experiences as a wedding photographer that energizes me – makes me love this!

More about the wedding day – after the church ceremony we did the family photos in the garden surrounding the church. One of my favorite (and funniest) photos ever taken during the formal photos of the family, is shown further below – Jackie and Todd with their three nephews … and in the background is one of them running around at full speed. It turned out to be impossible to catch him, so that’s the best photo we have of the bride and groom and their three nephews. But that was the memory of the day – it is how it happened. Fortunately, everyone else cooperate the rest of the day.

Jackie and Todd, it really was a fun day, photographing your wedding. Congratulation, and best wishes for your life together.

I sent a Q&A set to Jackie and Todd, and here they are with a few words about their wedding day:

How did you first meet?
We were placed in the same dorm during our freshman year of college. Lafayette College was such a huge place it took us a whole week for us to meet.

Why did you choose The Mountain Lakes Club as your wedding venue?
What did you love most about it? We initially were interested in the Mountain Lakes Club because of its location on Mountain Lake. We ended up choosing it because the venue was much more than a typical ballroom wedding venue, it has character.

Tell us about your dress, shoes and other accessories!
I initially wanted a simple, no frills wedding dress. I didnt even want to go to a typical bridal salon and I certainly didn’t want a train. I was eventually convinced to go for something a little more bridal and my mother, mother in law and my maid and matron of honor, took me to a few salons near my apartment in the Washington DC area. After an overwhelming and unsuccessful weekend, my mom and I had a smaller, quieter trip to a NJ salon near my hometown. The dress I chose was Mikaela 1864 and although there was a train, I loved it because it was very light, comfortable, and simple.
I kept that simple mantra for my shoes and accessories. I really wanted a pair of shoes that I could wear again, so purchased a pair of navy wedges off of amazon (I didnt want to be aerating grass all day long in my wedding gown) and my other accessories were a pair of earrings my sister in law gave me to wear for her wedding, my great, great, great aunt’s ring, and a bracelet my parent’s purchased for my grandmother many years ago. I also purchased by veil off of amazon, 2 weeks before the wedding, as a last minute addition.

Describe some of your favorite wedding details and how you came up with them.
From the beginning we did not want to get carried away with extraneous details for the wedding. We wanted to keep us and our marriage in the foreground of our wedding prep. With that in mind, we wanted our wedding to be elegant, but keep it as simple and stress free as possible. For an example, our flowers were roses, carnations, and baby’s breath. Simple and elegant. We also wanted everyone in our wedding party to be comfortable and we wanted to limit the typical burden of being in a wedding party. We asked all of our bridesmaids rent their dress in the style of their choice from unionstation.com and we asked all of the groomsmen to wear a blue suit that they would wear again.

What song played for your first dance? 
Our first dance was to “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John. This has been our song since college, mainly from the scene in the move “Almost Famous.” Jackie and her dad danced to “My Girl” by the Temptations, and Todd and his mom danced to “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.

What was your favorite moment during your wedding day?
One of our groomsmen stepped in the covered pool and almost completely fell in before we started taking pictures. This is more of a silly moment, but we couldn’t stop laughing.

What advice would you give to future brides for their wedding day?
Don’t stress the small stuff. Keep the main thing in mind – its all about you and your future husband, the small stuff doesn’t matter.

What was the biggest surprise on your wedding day?
I can’t think of any surprises. Although not everything went as planned, everything went smoothly and I think all of our guests had a great time.

Why did you choose me for your photography?
We initially contacted Neil because of the rave online reviews and his portfolio. We felt at ease with him during our skype meetings and really liked his laid back personality.

What’s next on your calendar as a couple?
Our summer is full of more weddings for our friends and family, including one in Dublin. After the Dublin wedding we will be taking our official honeymoon through Ireland, England, and Scotland. We can’t wait! After that we plan to just take life a day at a time, and see what’s in store for us in the future.

Jackie +Todd