Ryland Inn Wedding :: New Jersey Wedding Photographer
Ryland Inn Wedding Vendors:
Photographer: Susan Elizabeth Photography / Event Venue: The Ryland Inn / Entertainment: Ebe Entertainment – LA Starz / Floral Designer: Grays Florist / Hair Stylist: Top Knots by Aimee / Makeup Artist: Make Me Up Eva / Wedding Gown Store: Sposabella Bridal / Wedding Gown Designer: Essense of Australia / Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Bridesmaid Dresses: Revelry / Invitation Designer: Minted / Mobile Cigar Lounge: The Mobile Cigar Lounge/ Trolley: Jakes Trolley / Bakery: Sweet Passion Cakery
Photographed by : Susan Elizabeth and Alex
Tara and Andrew’s Spring Ryland Inn wedding was my first of the 2022 season! Tara is a Federal Agent, which I thought would be a little intimidating at first, but was she was soooo sweet through the whole planning process! Andrew is a firefighter and trains K9 dogs..what an awesome couple!
Unfortunately, it rained on their big day, but neither Tara or Andrew ever complained once! Luckily the hotel they got ready at had a really cool flower wall that was on a covered patio, perfect for a rainy day! Their bridal party was a lot of fun and we were able to use the Ryland Inn’s carport to get some natural light photos of the couple after the church, despite the weather. The ballroom looked amazing, as always! The band had the guests dancing all night, there was a cigar lounge for the men, and even a DIY wall that Andrew made with a neon sign of their last name attached. At the end of the reception everyone gathered outside for some sparkler fun! I’m so lucky to have had such a great couple to start off my season! Congratulations Tara and Andrew!
How did you meet?
We met on MATCH.com. Andrew messaged me one day and I saw he had a German shepherd in his profile picture with him so I decided to read his profile and message him back and the rest was history! We met at Cuban Pete’s restaurant for our first date and that’s when we figured out we really had a lot in common and kept going on dates ! Finally he asked me to be his girlfriend and 4 years later we are now married!!
The Proposal!Andrew proposed to me in Park City Utah on April 1 2021 (April Fools Day), we were walking across the snow/ town ski lift to go grab drinks at a bar before dinner and he stopped me mid walk on the snow covered ground with the beautiful town ski bridge and snow mountains in the back ground at sunset and got on one knee and proposed!! Little did I know he had a photographer off in the distance capturing everything! It was such a magical moment! We called our parents that night and they didn’t believe us because it was April fools day, they thought we were pranking them!
Why did you pick your venue?At first I was looking for a rustic venue so I scheduled a tour to see the coach house at the Ryland inn, I asked if I could see the ballroom just for shits and giggles and the minute I walked in I fell in love with it. Everything about it from the enormous fire place in the front of the ballroom to the extra large glass windows throughout, the beautiful courtyard with fire pits and just that elegant but fun party vibe you get just being in the ballroom itself! I asked right then abs there what dates were available for 2022 and I booked it that day! Also I had the most amazing event manager from the start, Danielle Gomez. She toured me around the Ryland and really made sure to go into depth about all the amazing details about the Ryland Inn. The grounds are beautiful with flowers planted all over, it just felt so perfect the moment I saw it I had to have my special day there!
We got married at St. Elizabeth Ann seton Catholic church in three bridges NJ. With all of our closest family and friends as witnesses. Of course you have to have a cute white trolley to take you to and from the church to your wedding venue! The trolley def makes it feel like a wedding! We had a beautiful “fake greens & flower” photo wall with a neon “ Heilmann” sign that Andrew had made himself (Andrew is so handy, making the wall 2 days before the wedding was no sweat at all to him!)and it looked phenomenal!
The Philly Band, LA Starz, performed at the wedding singing all our favorite songs and keeping the party going. We had a large black Metal “H” that was set up at the fireplace that my father actually hand carved, grounded and welded! We loved our beautiful 3 tier cake: Coconut cake with a key lime cream cheese filling onthe bottom and middle tiers, and the top tier was a strawberry chiffon. Such a delicious, amazing cake!
We had hand painted life size cutouts of our dogs hanging in the ballroom so that they could be a part of our day with us! Andrew wanted to sneak the dogs into the reception, but I had to talk him out of it!
Andrew arranged to have a mobile cigar lounge to come to the wedding as he loves a good cigar and whiskey.
“His” (old bay) and “Hers” (Carmel pecan) popcorn was served at the end of the night which was perfect for everyone waiting for the large greyhound bus to pick us up and take us back to the AC Marriott to continue the partying!
Favorite moment of the day?
I would say for sure our first dance together as husband and wife. I was so nervous once the song came on but the second I looked into Andrews eyes I was so relaxed and we just smiled and had fun and we nailed the dance! We did go to 2 dance lessons before the wedding and worked on a cute easy dance to our wedding song “with you I am by Cody Johnson”. Andrew surprisingly is a great dancer and he was actually leading me through the dance!
*Bonus* Second favorite moment would be right after our first dance was over the band/ DJ went right into an amazing live sung dance song and all the guests rushed the dance floor and we got the party started! Just such an amazing feeling having everyone we love dancing the night away! Just the smiles on everyone’s faces really made it a great night! We could finally all let loose after a crazy 2 years of not having social or large gatherings.
Where are you going on your honeymoon?
We are heading to Iceland for our honeymoon! We love colder weather and winter activities so we are going to Iceland later this year (2022) We love the outdoors so we plan to do some exploring, hiking, hopefully see the northern lights, and definitely relax in the blue lagoon maybe some spa treatments! Exploring the ice caverns , snowmobiling across glaciers , the Northern Lights and checking out the Iceland Christmas markets are our activities we have planned during our honeymoon!
NOW INTERVIEWING COUPLES FOR 2023 and 2024!
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Love this Spring Ryland Inn wedding? PIN the image below or any of the pictures in this post!
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