Tell us a little about yourselves!
We met through mutual friends four and a half years ago. I am a wedding photographer and Nick works in insurance. About 6-9 months into our relationship, Nick began second shooting with me so we could spend more time together during the weekends. Since then, we have been able to shoot together all around the world. Photography is now a hobby and passion that we get to share together.
From the beginning of our relationship, family has always been a priority. Nick has 7 beautiful nieces and nephews and they immediately welcomed me in as their aunt.
In October of 2021, Nick quietly proposed to me at my favorite place where we then met up with our entire families to celebrate.
After shooting over 100 weddings together, we had a list of trends and formalities we knew didn’t seem like us, but we didn’t have a single idea of what we actually wanted for our own day - until Nick’s dad offered his childhood home as a venue. From there, we created the most personalized wedding experience we couldn't have even dreamed of.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
Nick’s childhood home is so special to his family and our relationship. We love spending time with his family in the backyard and would have nightly dinners together while quarantining together during the pandemic.
How many guests did you have?
43 for a ceremony and dinner and about 90 for our after party.
Tell us about your outfits.
Sydney’s dress was designed by one of her favorite designers, Ines Di Santo. It was really important to me that I found a dress that I had never photographed before. I went to my friends at The Bridal Finery to find both of my wedding day outfits and they treated me with so much grace and respect. They listened to my requests and paid attention to every little detail to make sure I felt beautiful and comfortable in everything I was going to wear. The necklace I ended up choosing to wear was not planned originally. A few days before the wedding, my father surprised me with a Tiffany + Co necklace that I haven’t taken off since.
Nick’s outfits were both completely customized and designed by himself at Leonardo Fifth Avenue . Nick added a special custom lining to his second jacket to surprise his Nana during the after party.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
The utmost importance was family. Our family has been such a huge part of our relationship and who we are today that we wanted to honor them by creating an easy enjoyable guest experience including an intimate dinner filled with allergy free food, a private ceremony officiated by Sydney’s cousin, including our nieces and nephew’s as our bridal party in the ceremony, special cocktail drink named after our families favorite places and small gifts for our parents to wear during the wedding day.
Looking back, there were so many decisions with family in mind. We knew it would be a special day for us no matter what but we wanted our families to feel just as included in the celebration.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
A few important elements included design - with both of us being in the industry and seeing the same elements over and over again, we wanted our wedding to reflect our personalities and uniqueness. Sydney was very heavily involved in the design of the day, carefully choosing vendor friends she trusted with the vision, including photographer Jenna Powers, florist The Wilding Collective and planner Woven + Revel.
Another huge element to the weekend was music. We both have a huge love for bluegrass music and wanted to incorporate that into the weekend. Sydney’s mom hired a bluegrass band for our welcome party who then played Sydney’s grandparents favorite song to celebrate their anniversary.
Our other favorite type of music is funk which we played throughout the after party. We were so happy that the music was something each of our friends and family said they truly enjoyed throughout the weekend.
Any tips for couples getting married?
As photographers and a newly wed couple, we strongly recommend couples to let go of expectations and prioritize their relationship over everything. When we started planning, we were very overwhelmed by the endless options and plans. But once we prioritized the foundation of our relationship, we realized our community was such a huge part of that - including all the places and people that played a part in our story. We do not regret choosing our relationship over what’s trending or “normal” for a wedding.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
We’re so thankful for all of the vendors we got to work with. Thankfully we were friends with most of our vendors prior to our wedding day, which honestly made it even more special that they were all there on our wedding day.
Photographer : Jenna Powers @jennapowersphoto | Videographer : Colin + Lakin @colinandlakin | Ceremony + Dinner Location : Nick’s Childhood Home | Celebrant : Sydney’s Cousin Dane Harding | Entertainment : Blast Productions @blastproductions | Styling : Sydney created moodboard, executed by vendors @sydneymarie.co | Day Of Styling, Planning + Coordination : Woven + Revel @wovenandrevel | Tablescape Rentals : Glasshouse Rentals @glasshouserentals | Furniture : The Heavy @itstheheavy | Custom Bar : Build An Adventure @buildanadventure | Bar Sign : Designed + built by Sydney, Sydney’s mom and her sister law | Flora : The Wilding Collective @thewildingcollective | Makeup : Sydney's sister Paige | Hair : Sydney Tribou @sydneyclairehair | Catering + Beverages : Arthurs Catering @arthurscatering | Cake : Morgan Hunter Desserts @morganhunterdesserts | Sydney's Dress : Ines Di Santo @inesdisanto from The Bridal Finery @thebridalfinery | Party Dress : Sareh Nouri @sarehnouri from The Bridal Finery @thebridalfinery | Nick's Suit : Leonardo Fifth Avenue @leonardoffifthavenue | Engagement Ring : Stone is from a jewelry store near Nick’s family’s cabin, setting by Henri Noel @henrinoeljewelry | Wedding Rings : Nick’s ring is his grandpa’s, Sydney’s ring Messika @messikajewelry | Shoes : Jimmy Choo | Necklace : Tiffany + Co @tiffanyandco- a gift from Sydney’s dad | Earrings : Chan Luu @chanluu