Their Session: Mansion at Natirar, Peapack and Gladstone, NJ

Zoë and Pete’s summer Natirar Mansion engagement session was truly the photoshoot of the summer! Despite the intense summer heat, these two love birds embraced every moment of their session with laughter and romance! Within a moment, they could go from cracking up as best friends to Vogue models, which helped us create so much magic during their sunset session!

They started their session with drinks to loosen up, which made for such playful and sweet interactions! I always recommend a cocktail or beer together before pictures start so you can feel more comfortable in front of the camera! Natirar’s restaurant, Ninety Acres, is surrounded by gorgeous gardens and ivy-covered brick facades that gave us so much to work with! Then, we ventured over to The Mansion as the sun set – the views are UNREAL. Zoë brought the cutest lace parasol as a prop, which paired beautifully with her cream silk dress and Pete’s light tan suit. Light colors are your best option on a 90-degree evening, and they nailed the chic vibes perfectly! With some fun sunnies, a statement purse, the parasol, and champagne to pop, I felt spoiled for choice when it came to props!

Speaking of spoiled, the gorgeous backdrops, the golden sunlight, and this stunning couple were ALL giving me LIFE as a photographer. Truly, my excitement (aka giddy squeals) was on another level with these two! Seriously, you just have to scroll through and admire alllll this goodness. To round out the night, we cooled off inside the wine cellar and took some fun flash photos before they enjoyed a little date-night dinner to celebrate!

Their Love Story

This Hoboken duo has been together for around 7 years! They were introduced to one another through a mutual friend after college! They love to enjoy a glass of wine with a walk to local restaurants, and then head back home early to cozy up on the couch to watch their shows together!

The Outer Banks is somewhere Zoë and Pete both grew up vacationing with family. During the summer of 2023, they spent a week with Pete’s family and a week with her family on back-to-back trips! They were sitting on the beach together just talking about their future when the conversation organically led to a mutual decision that they were ready to take the next step!

With a busy few months ahead of them full of marathons, a Master’s graduation, and the holidays, they knew it made sense to start planning their big day! At the time, they had been working with a family jeweler to create a dream engagement ring! I love how organically their engagement came to be and that it was a mutual decision on both of their parts!

A few months later, on a chilly day in Hoboken, Pete popped the question with the beautiful ring in the city that means so much to their love story!

Zoë and Pete,

I mean, there aren’t enough words to describe how in awe I am of you two and your love!! Your connection is unmatched and I love seeing how you both light up together! Thank you for sweating through this session, I think the results were well worth the heat! 😉 I’m so incredibly honored to be your photographer throughout this special time in your lives!This was such a freaking DREAM! I’ll never get over your sunset Natirar Mansion engagement session, and I can’t wait to celebrate your marriage this fall! Congratulations! xo