As much as I love Hoboken and all of the incredible locations I get to photograph, I was really excited when Christina and Nick chose a unique engagement photo location – Asbury Park! I always do my best to capture unique engagement photos for each one of my couples. Your photos should reflect who you are as a couple – and you ARE unique. It’s so important for me to connect and get to know each couple before I show up and take photos. I can’t just show up on their wedding day to capture some of the most important memories of their lives and meet them for the first time!
I have always aimed to capture the natural chemistry that already exists between each couple. This is true for me whether that’s for engagement photos or on your wedding day. I want to document the “real” in your lives and love stories. With that in mind, I can’t wait to share Christina and Nick’s engagement photos with you today!
A New Jersey Proposal Story
Christina and Nick got engaged on August 15th last year. They were one of those couples who realized that if the world was going to end, they’d rather be with each other! My kind of couple. If you love a good proposal story as much as I do, you’re going to love this one!
Nick reached out to Christina’s family to have them “trick her” out of the house. Then, together with her sister (and his 3 sisters!), they decorated the foyer of their house into the perfect proposal spot. He made an arch with flowers, rose petals on the floor, and lots of candles for the foyer. He knew what he was doing!! Throughout the relationship, Nick made Christina photo books and for the proposal he made one filled with quotes from her favorite poets and The Nightmare Before Christmas (they both love Halloween)! At the end of the book, it said “you are my best friend, my soulmate, my life. I want to ask you, will you be my wife?”
After she (obviously) said yes, they headed downstairs which had also been decorated for a surprise mini engagement party! There they enjoyed a champagne toast, brunch, and some cake! To top it off, he dressed their dog in a “my humans are getting married” bandana which was just the icing on the cake.
Behind the Scenes of their Destination Engagement Photos!
When Christina and Nick told me they wanted to take their engagement photos along the coast of New Jersey (Asbury Park), Matt (my husband!) and I decided to pack the car and make a weekend out of it. It was a good old fashioned road trip. Christina and Nick wanted their engagement photos in the evening. If you’ve checked out this engagement photo planning guide – the evening is one of the best times for photos by the way! Since we had the day free, Matt and I drove down early Saturday morning. Then, we spent the day on the boardwalk and booked an Airbnb for the night. After Christina and Nick’s engagement photos, Matt and I ended the day with dinner and drinks at the Bonney Read and dessert from Confections of a Rockstar in downtown Asbury Park.
I have to say, as someone who gets to check out different New Jersey photo locations quite often, I had fun just being a tourist! It was so nice to have Matt with me since I usually travel and shoot alone. Having company before and after the photo shoot was a game changer – I may need to bring him along for weekend getaways more often! We spent time at the beach, enjoyed our Airbnb, and took touristy photos in front of the Stone Pony (where Bruce Springsteen was discovered). If you look closely, you’ll see my favorite cocktail – Aperol Spritz!
A few quick iPhone pics to make you excited for your own summer road trips!
Making their engagement photos personal!
Okay enough about me! Now let me rave about Christina and Nick who were a DELIGHT to photograph. I love when couples take my advice and try to make their photos more unique. And when I say unique, I don’t mean it in the overused, maybe cliché at this point, kind of way. Truly, every couple has unique things about the way they love one another, the things they do on Saturday nights, the different parts of their love story. In order to capture unique engagement photos, we just need to bring that out!
Christina asked for my advice on choosing a New Jersey location for her engagement photos. We ended up with Asbury Park because they spend a lot of time there and love the shore! They mentioned that one of their favorite things to do together is explore smaller cities and towns and just walking around getting coffee. It was a natural fit to bring that energy into the engagement photos. And it was worth the time thinking about the location because it turned out to be the most incredible day. We started their engagement photo shoot at Dunkin’ Donuts because they are both OBSESSED. Who else loves a coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts? This was a super fun way to start the session!
Asbury Park Photo Locations
The fun didn’t stop there! Yes, engagement photo shoots are FUN (don’t let anyone convince you otherwise). I always try to book my engagement sessions for two hours so we have a chance to have some fun and whenever possible, explore multiple locations. For Christina and Nick, we were able to capture all of the Asbury staples: the brightly colored murals, the classic carousel, the boardwalk. I really felt like I had the chance to see Asbury Park through Christina and Nick’s eyes. You could tell they love the location so much and it was so charming. I can’t wait to explore more seaside New Jersey locations this summer!
Booking Your Engagement Photos
As a wedding photographer, I truly believe you should aim to book your engagement photos with your future wedding photographer. Truthfully, I was already excited for Christina and Nick’s Halloween wedding this year. After spending time with them during their engagement photos, I can hardly wait to see their love story unfold. One thing that has stuck with me the most was when I asked them how they like to the spend the weekend together, Christina said that Nick calls it the “minutia”. They enjoy spending time together doing day-to-day tasks like running errands, getting ready, doing laundry. I think it’s safe to say they have found “their person” in one another. As a photographer, it’s a beautiful thing to see on the job. If you are looking for more details, or are ready to book your own wedding and/or engagement photos, reach out by clicking the button below!
