Justine and Jordan are MARRIED | Smithville Inn Wedding | South Jersey Photographer

SUNFLOWERS! Beautiful, perfect sunflowers put together by Black Eyed Susans were all grown at Bridesmaids Jessica’s family farm: Sikking Fams in Vineland. There are so many details I could have chosen to start this blog with. Justine’s vintage engagement ring from the early 1900s, the way she had her dress restyled, how much FUN this couple was. I could go on and on. Those sunflowers just melted my heart!

The entire day went smooth. This is one of the most relaxed couples I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The energy at their reception was off the charts! Justine and her dad did an awesome dance that would probably make you want to have your own wedding again so you could do the same. I am SO LUCKY I get to work with her sister next year for her wedding!

Now onto the fun stuff… The day from the bride’s point of view!

- Q. Where was your ceremony and reception held?
  
  A. Ceremony @ St. Thomas of Villanova in Surf City – the church I grew up in
  
  Reception @ The Historic Smithville Inn in Smithville, NJ
- Q. What made you decide on your reception location?
  
  A. We chose Smithville for a few reasons, but the deciding factor was that the Smithville Inn is a participating restaurant in Zone 7, a farm fresh-distribution service that connects farmers and chefs in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. At our request, they were able to source most of the chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, and fresh produce at our wedding through Zone 7 (and from organic farms). Serving only humanely-raised animal products and local produce was a non-negotiable for us.
  
  Home
  
  Another big reason was that at least half of our guests were coming in from outside of the state and/or country, so accommodations were very important. The Colonial Inn at Smithville offers such cute and affordable rooms and were unbelievably wonderful to work with (specifically the manager, Tracy). Also, they were the only inn/hotel that didn’t require a 2-night reservation in July (which was great since all of our guests needed only one night). After the wedding, it was so awesome to have most people just walk back over to the Colonial Inn with us and continue the party. The actual reception is a total blur to me, so I was incredibly thankful to have a few hours afterwards of relaxing with everyone. Oh AND, they put out a breakfast the next morning where we were able to spend even more time with everyone!
- Q. What was your favorite little detail you DIY’d for your day?
  
  A. The two personal touches I was most excited about were:
  
  – My veil was completely lined in lace from my mom’s wedding dress.
  – The sunflowers in our bouquets (arranged by Black Eyed Susans in Barnegat) came from Sikking Farms in Vineland, NJ – a farm owned and operated by the extended family of one of my bridesmaids.
- Q. How many dresses did you try on before you found the one? Who was the designer of your dress?
  
  A. I have no clue who the designer of my dress was.
  
  The dress I got was one of the first I tried on. I also tried 20-30 more after that at 3 different places, but went back to the first.
- Q. If you could change one thing, what would it be?
  
  A. I wish I had made it for all of happy hour to spend more time with everyone, but fixing the bustle of my dress took some time away from that 🙁
- Q. Do you have any advice for future brides?
  
  A. My dad’s friend video’d (or whatever the real word would be for that), for us and I am SO glad we have it! I didn’t want to drop $3000 on a videographer, so I am incredibly thankful to him for capturing those moments for us. I think it’s important to hire a professional photographer because you display those photos in your home, on your desk at work, etc. (where they are seen daily and by so many people.) But what my dad’s friend was able to film for us was perfect 🙂 And it only cost us a couple of cigars!
- Q. What was your favorite moment of the day?
  
  A. Favorite moment… yikes this is hard!
  
  Sentimental: Right before I was about to walk down the aisle with my dad and I felt totally calm (which was unexpected). I was with my dad, about to marry my best friend, surrounded by only our closest family and friends, in the church I grew up in and have walked down the aisle of a thousand times… I had no reason to be nervous, so I was just feeling really genuinely happy.
  
  Fun: Our entrance into the reception (parents, bridal party, and us) to Harry Belafonte’s Jump in the Line (made even more upbeat and awesome by DJ’s Jeff Menson and Cory Minto)! It was the kickoff to a great party!