Their Wedding Day: Rutgers Gardens, East Brunswick, NJ

What I loved most about Paola and Nick’s intimate Rutgers Gardens wedding ceremony was that it honed in on exactly what a wedding is all about – marriage. Sometimes, through all of the big wedding planning, the ceremony ends up being a second thought and we forget a bit that it is the whole reason why we are here in the first place. Paola and Nick focused in on every detail that mattered most to them and scrapped the parts that they didn’t need, which I absolutely love.

My heart in all of this is to always encourage my couples to do their wedding their way and make it entirely their own. Paola and Nick had a beautiful, emotional, powerful wedding ceremony followed by a lunch with their closest friends and family before they headed off on their honeymoon! Paola said, “I want the day to just be about us wanting to spend the rest of our lives together and the people that love us most witnessing it.”

They put so much thought into their beautiful details, which was so much fun to document from their gorgeous wedding invitation suite to the engraved cufflinks and tie clip! Getting ready in the morning was so much fun – it was so special getting to see Paola get ready with her mother and grandmother. I remember there was one moment where Paola realized she was actually a bride and she had the cutest, most excited reaction ever! That moment when it finally hits you that you’re actually getting married is the sweetest ever!

Their first look was one of my favorites! They both cried and laughed and cried some more. It was the perfect way to kick of their wedding day and spend the entire rest of the day together. Portraits blew my mind because these two are adorable and make each other laugh so easily, and Rutgers Gardens was looking beautiful as ever in the middle of the summer! Then we hopped into family photos where their loved ones gathered and got excited for the ceremony to come!

Once it was ceremony time, booooy were there some tears! This ceremony had me choking up just seeing and feeling the love surrounding Paola and Nick. They couldn’t stop crying as they looked at each other and realized that they finally were getting to vow to forever with one another! It was stunning, emotional, and perfect in every way.

Their Love Story

Paola and Nick met when she was interviewing her for a position in his department! They clicked from the start and started seeing each other months later! Paola adores how devoted Nick is as a person. She said, “I guess that’s just the best word to describe the kind of man that he is. He Is present and willing to put all his effort into whatever he’s doing. You don’t need to ask Nick to give 100%, he just does.” and Nick said, “My favorite quality about Paola is also one that frustrates me sometimes! She’s so damn nice. She wants to do right by everyone and just loves people. She’s good at self-reflecting and acknowledging her wrongs, and wanting to right them.” Their love for each other is SO apparent once you see them together. They seriously light each other up!

They got engaged on a trip with her family in Portugal! Nick proposed on the second to last day that they were there. They saw plenty of sights that were ‘proposal worthy,’ but Nick proposed to her in her grandparents’ hometown on top of a spiral staircase that overlooked the whole town. The sun was setting and Paola was completely caught off guard. It made her grandma so happy, which made Paola so happy, too. Even though her hometown may not seem like much, Nick knew it would be extra special for Paola’s family that it was there and she says, “that’s just another reason why I love him.” MAJOR chills! Check out their Cross Estate Gardens engagement session here for all the puppy love and fiancé cuteness!

Paola and Nick,

You two are something special. Like, SO special. I can’t even begin to explain how moved I am by your love. You two have such huge hearts and it shows in everything that you do. You’re the sweetest dog parents, and I can’t wait to see where life takes you both next! Thank you for being so incredible! Congratulations, love birds!! Xoxo