Nicole and James’ winter Ryland Inn Coach House wedding was supposed to be a very rainy day. Nicole and James had opted for my Michelle Arlotta Photography good weather guarantee (jk, i’m not that crazy). While it started off rainy… just when we were ready to take portraits using the last bit of winter daylight, the rain stopped. Just as we were losing light, the sun peeked itself through the clouds to create not only some beautiful sun flare, but a lovely sunset as well. And to top it all off, Nicole and James and their guests were ready to party! There was so much intensity on the dance floor for this winter Ryland Inn Coach House wedding.
I started off at Nicole and James’ condo for a groom prep…
Figuring out the bowtie…
I headed to the Ryland Inn for Nicole’s bride prep…
Amy from Beauty on Location NJ doing her thing…
Winter wedding details…
Gorgeous.
First look with dad…
James watches as Nicole walks down the aisle…
James’ parents watch as Nicole walks down the aisle…
I love laughter during a wedding ceremony…
Hah! 
I’ve photographed several winter Ryland Inn weddings and each time it looks so different…
And here’s that moment when the sun peeked out!
Love the happy!
TRUTH: I feel like the interweb is screaming at me to post this sunset pic, but I’m not into doing the cool thing to do or what everyone expects me to do. It’s like a syndrome or something and if you know me, you know this to be true. I’ve never cared about being cool and the irony of this is that it drives cool people crazy. When you are confident to go your own way with integrity, disrupt the status quo and be true to who you are- it actually pisses a lot of people off, but I can’t help it. Posting a sunset pic feels very status quo in this situation, but this moment was so organic and that is what my wedding photography is all about. I don’t just say it to garner business and use buzzwords of the industry, I live it.
The forecast called for a very high percentage of rain for Nicole and James’ wedding day and the rain wasn’t supposed to let up until we were scheduled to be done with pics…. but the rain did let up…just when we needed to do pics. And the crazier thing…a day that had nothing but clouds in the forecast, granted us a few minutes of the sunshine beaming through the clouds just at the last moments when the light had really faded away… and just when we turned to head back in, I saw this fantastic sunset and said to myself- ‘This sun was a gift today, the sunset is an even bigger gift, embrace the gift, even if all the cool kids are doing it.’ Nicole and James didn’t request a sunset pic or ask me in that moment to take one, but they gladly obliged. And while it feels very unlike me to post a typical sunset wedding pic on the web, the miraculous change in weather at the perfect time, with the sun peeking through for just a few minutes, one of the best sunsets I’ve seen on a wedding, all with a super chill couple who didn’t even feel the need to take the typical sunset pic… well…that’s what made me do it.
Party time!
Love the synchronicity of laughter!
These are the moments weddings are made of. So much of the industry is focused on taking the same staged pics and pics of stuff, but the true story lies in moments like this when James’ sister reached out to Nicole’s mother during the father-daughter dance…
This crowd was ready to party!
Have you experienced the latest rage in wedding bands? Silhohuette saxophone players. Great music by “The All About Me Band”…
After 15 years, I’ve never been kicked in the head during a reception. Ninja skills!
I love the phone with football on it, hah!
So much intensity on this dancefloor!
A romantic sparkler exit shot is cool and all, but I prefer the much more candid ones…
Such a fantastic day from start to finish with Nicole, James and their friends and family at their winter Ryland Inn Coach House wedding. Thank you to Marianne and Traci for working with me to create a timeline that allowed us to capture it all! Thanks to Kelsey Davis for assisting me. And always great working with Jose and Brandon from Delia Studios wedding videography.
