An Elegant Garden Party Wedding at Skylands Manor

Erin and Germano met after he went on a terrible first date with her roommate. Not an auspicious beginning, but once they really connected everyone around them (including the roommate who ended up becoming Matron of Honor) knew that they were meant to be together.

Erin had been dreaming of her wedding ever since she was a little girl and would run around her parent’s home in her mother’s dress and “marry” her father in their backyard. Once she saw The Skylands Manor in the New Jersey Botanical Garden, she knew it was the perfect place to make her dreams come true.

But first came the actual ceremony. Germano’s family attend a Greek Orthodox church in Roseland New Jersey. A bit of a drive away, but Ss. Nicholas Constantine & Helen’s was absolutely worth it. The walls are covered in murals painted by monks the church flew in from Greece, and when I first walked into the sanctuary my jaw actually dropped.

Erin planned a garden party inspired reception behind the manor, where they would have a gorgeous view of the Hudson Valley’s rolling hills in the distance, with an open air concept so they could dine under the stars. Unfortunately the weather gods laugh at our best laid plans, and the forecast called for heavy rain. It held off during the formalities of the first dances and speeches during the salad course, but all the guests were ushered back inside for the rest of dinner.

After they cut the cake, and Erin made a change into her second look of the night, she and Germano lead their closest friends back outside and they danced the night away in the rain.