Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
Alice’s Restuarant & Windlass, Lake Hopatcong, NJ – October 10, 2020
October 10, 2020, was the most popular wedding date of the year. Every photographer I know was booked for October 10, 2020. Jon and Kristina’s Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ was one of the plethoras of weddings on 10/10/20. Due to COVID-19, Jon and Kristina had to postpone their big party until next year. It was a great day overall, though.
I met Jon and Kristina back in December of 2019. They were sent as a reference from a mutual friend, and we hit it off great. I was excited to get to work with them for their wedding. We started the day with Jon’s groom prep. I normally don’t get a chance to do a solid groom prep, but Jon’s groom prep was awesome and simple.
When we arrived, he was already dressed, making life easier by having him do some simple detail work and portraits. He requested a cheer shot with the guys and simple portraits. Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
I love when groom prep runs really smoothly, and we get some really sick work with natural light and shadow work. For those who are worried about getting their photos taken for their groom prep, don’t worry, it is simple and easy to do, and we won’t keep you long. Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
Next, we went over to see Kristina and do whatever photo work we needed there. This year some preps haven’t been to their fullest extent, so it was nice to get back into the swing of things with a full prep for the bride. By the time we got there, she was already in the hair and make-up chair. Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
One thing I have been doing is making sure I get key points in the bride’s hair and make-up prep like the placing of the hairpiece, final hair sprays, eye-liner, and lip liner. Her details were very simple, and they even included some COVID-19 details like personalized hand sanitizer and masks for their family. They decided to keep this year very small and just have their bridal party and immediate family.
We got her dressed and finished off her bride prep. The hotel room had a beautiful window to work some back silhouette work and beautiful portraiture.
Next was their first look. Jon and Kristina had letters for each other, and they wanted to read them during their first look. All along, we expected Jon to be the one to tear up but instead, it was Kristina. I think it was her nerves finally being let out and reading about how much Jon loves her and how excited he was to marry the love of his life.
We moved on from the first look to some family group shots, and then off to the ceremony, we went to. Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
Jon and Kristina had a full mass at the church with their bridal party and immediate family. They did their ceremony at St. Cecilia Church in Rockaway, NJ. It was a beautiful ceremony and the priest did a fantastic job. Some aspects of the ceremony were incorporated from Phillapino tradition. The Cord, Veil, and Coins are symbols of marriage in Philipino culture.
Finally, it was off to the reception location. We traveled out to Lake Hopatcong to Alice’s Restaurant and Windlass for some photos on the dock. The location was fantastic and made for beautiful images. Docks aren’t locations that we usually get the chance to photograph. The sun was at the perfect height in the sky, and the cloud coverage allowed for beautiful diffused lighting.
We started with their formal family photos and then moved onto their bridal party. We tried to keep them all in one spot. I wanted to take advantage of shooting on the docks. We had some boats passing by and waving at us; Congratulating Jon and Kristina and I made sure we knew they were thereby waving at them with a smile 😉 Made some of them feel awkward at times. Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
As we were leaving to head to the other side of the docks, one of the boats that was parked in a slip was names Rinker, so naturally, Jon and Kristina wanted to stop and take a picture with it.
We ended with Kristina doing an outfit change and taking some photos on the balcony of the restaurant. All in all, this was a very successful wedding, and I am excited about the reception that our team is covering for them in May.
Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Rinkerman. Here is to many more years of happiness and love in your marriage. Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
A LITTLE Q&A FOR THE BRIDE AND GROOM
Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST ANTICIPATED PART OF YOUR WEDDING DAY?!
“Our first look at the Sheraton Parsippany (the exterior looks like a castle, so we felt like royalty), live streaming our ceremony for all of our loved ones who could not attend in person, taking beautiful photos on Lake Hopatcong, and having a delicious meal with our family and bridal party!”
DID ANYTHING UNEXPECTED HAPPEN?!
“If you want to get technical, everything about this wedding was unexpected! We were supposed to have a ~150 person wedding with full reception, and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After months of debating on whether or not to postpone, downsize, etc., we finally decided to keep our original date of 10/10/20 and get married in a small ceremony with only our immediate family and bridal party.”
“We have postponed our reception (with a vow renewal ceremony!) to 5/15/21, where we’ll hopefully have all the guests we originally wanted with us and hopefully a much safer, normal world where we can enjoy the day COVID-free.”
“The most unexpected thing that happened on 10/10/20 was when we were taking our couples photos on Lake Hopatcong and just so happened to walk past a boat with the name “Rinker” on it! We were completely stunned! It’s not even a very common name, so the fact that we found this boat on our wedding day was an unbelievable coincidence.”
“Luckily, the owner of the boat was kind enough to let us take a photo in front of it to commemorate our new last name (Rinkerman!).”
WERE YOU NERVOUS?!
“Kristina did not sleep, not one single minute, the night before the wedding due to the normal wedding day jitters, but with the added nerves of the fact that the wedding would be live-streamed to family and friends not only all over the country but all over the WORLD! Many of Kristina’s relatives in the Philippines and Jon’s relatives in Argentina were tuning in, and she just wanted everything to flow perfectly.”
“Jon was not nervous on the wedding day because of Kristina’s masterful planning. He was confident that everything would flow well because we had a rehearsal the night before. But even if there were some hiccups, he knew we’d be able to get through them because “I love you and even if things went wrong, it didn’t matter, because we’d be together.”
Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST AS A MARRIED COUPLE?!
“Being able to travel the world together again once it is safe to do so and going on more adventures together.”
WHAT WAS YOUR WEDDING INSPIRATION?!
“Rustic, Fall Colors”
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ANYONE GETTING MARRIED?!
“Always remember that you are a TEAM, and you should always be working together, never against each other.”
HOW DID YOU FEEL AT THE END OF THE DAY?!
“After the last of our photos, we felt HUNGRY… HANGRY… neither of us had eaten all day because of nerves/running around so much! 🙂
At the end of the actual wedding day –
Kristina – Overwhelmed with happiness that we had such a beautiful wedding with our closest loved ones despite all the challenges of COVID!
Jon – Excited about the future and happy we got to spend time with our closest family and friends!”
Wedding Lake Hopatcong NJ