Their Wedding Day: Grand Marquis – Old Bridge, NJ

Mary and Charles had a wedding day full of love, laughter, and so much fun. I absolutely adored all of the special details that they incorporated like the dried leaves of the roses Charles had gifted to Mary, the earrings Mary wore, which were her mother’s first piece of jewelry when she came to America, and the special gift that Chucky gave to his parents of a canvas image from their wedding day! The rose has spayed a significant part in their relationship, so when they started their first dance, their bridal party all held up one single light-up rose as a surprise to Mary. She cried and held the love of her life so close in that moment, it was so incredibly special!

When I first met them, they were adamant about telling me their full love story in person. I’m so honored they shared such intimate details with me about the love and loss they’ve experienced over the years. The hardest being the tragic loss of their furbaby, Ryder, who they honored with an image on their memory table alongside their past family members! Mary and Charles prepared so many special moments throughout the day, like Chucky getting to hang out at the bowling alley with his guys in the morning, Chucky’s choreographed surprise dance for Mary, and then a choreographed surprise dance WITH Mary that they had prepared for their guests! Charles is a dance team coach, so their family and friends really knew how to break it down on the dance floor! Everyone was such a blast to party with for the night, and I’m so thankful I got to be there to document it all!

Their Love Story

Mary told me about the first day that they met: “I had such a bad day that day and my best friend was hoping to cheer me up and asked if I wanted to come out with her and the dance team she was apart of. She said that Chux, the founder and director of the team, will pick us up (Charles has many nickenames lol!)

We arrived to this half restaurant half dance party place called Fiesta Grill. I remember one particular part in the night when he was standing across the table from me, all gross, sweaty, and laughing; time froze still, and I couldn’t hear anything else around me, and I said to myself “you’re going to be something special to me. Whether it is a really good friend, or something more.” Word for word. And mind you, I am NOT that person to believe in love at first sight, or swoon over a guy the first time we meet.

From then on, we were just really good friends. Then a couple of months passed by, on a windy night, as we were reclined in his car, he asked me to date him. A couple of months after that, we made it official as girlfriend and boyfriend!” <3

Take a peek at their Philly engagement session to hear more about the emotional proposal story and see the adorable photos of them exploring the city and cheering on the Eagles back at their Airbnb!!

To Mary and Charles,

Your wedding day was so truly YOU two! I love that you incorporated pieces of your story that meant so much to you, like the single red rose. Thank you for bringing me into so many intimate and special parts of your love story. I am honored to know you, call you both friends, and the be the one who got to document this milestone for you! I love you both dearly and I’m so happy you’re finally married! Congratulations to the sweetest couple ever! <3