Park Chateau in the Snow. The perfect Winter Wedding

My Actual Instagram post the morning after went something like this…

Sheesh. New Jersey shows off. I popped into the feed of Park Chateau after my first meeting with Kristina and David to see what I was in for. It took like two seconds to spot images from friends like @vanessajoy , @chris_antice , and @charmipena and I was pretty sure then that this place would be a knockout. Fast forward a year, a few more Jersey venues under my belt, and a realization that there’s a weird thing going on in the industry right now with venues.

I’m not sure if the problem is uptight obnoxious photographers or venues that script every last cheesy second for their couples but I’ve been to a few that just did not know how to handle our super artsy but still very much go with the flow vibe. I don’t want somebody to fluff the dress every time she pauses, some one to fix her hair between every breath, every imperfection to be removed. Truth : inside the little authentic moments is where the most emotion, the most memories, and the most art hides.

Anyway I toured Park Chateau the day before the wedding, saw the sheer number of staff and scale of logistics baked into their wedding packages and honestly - prepared myself for a street fight. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was met at the door with smiles, hospitality, excitement that I was there, and a super collaborative perspective on the entire day. At one point we walked back through the gardens absolutely frozen toward the mansion and I hear one of the attendants (who were amazing all day btw) say over their walkie talkie “please call the elevator for the bride and groom”. As we walked closer to the mansion the doors opened in front of us, staff was waiting for drinks, the elevator was open, and everybody had a smile as though they weren’t asked to stop whatever they were doing and turn and serve the moment. My mind - was blown.

That little moment was one of a million like it. At 10:30 the lead bridal attendant wandered out through the cold parking lot to hug us and thank us for a fun day working together. Every detail curated but not stiff and in the middle two of the most in love, kind humans just dancing their faces off.

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The dream New Jersey Wedding covered in velvety snow with a golden sunset.

So if that’s all you read, my goodness it’s probably enough. The truth here is that this place, this quaint little town, the hospitality was amazing. The flowers, the DJ, the lighting was amazing. The dinner, the cocktails, the dress was amazing. But beneath it all, beyond the story I wrote that next morning with snow on my shoes on tired feet is the real story. The story of Kristina and David. She’s this knockout big personality Italian girl with a huge laugh and the biggest hugs. He’s a practical down to earth dude with quiet sarcastic comments that had me rolling all day long and a way of just melting her in the moment. If ever there was this dream wedding day, with the dream weather, and the dream location, and the dream details it should absolutely go to a couple like this. Two people hopelessly in love and yet totally planted on the ground. From the first hug by the bar at the Park Grande hotel next door to the last hug on the dance floor surrounded by smiling faces of new friends and dance partners this day was remarkable and one I’ll absolutely never forget. A HUGE thank you to Kristina and David for trusting me with so much on this amazing day, to their families for taking us in and making us a part of every moment, and to Mark from This Insane Idea for saving a special weekend to grab his camera and come shoot along side me. I can’t wait to come back to the Park Chateau again but I’ll fully admit it, I’m not sure anything could top what we saw on February 17th, 2024.