A Lakeside Summer Wedding at Brooklake
Jessica & Michael
There is a moment I look for at every wedding, and at Jessica and Michael’s it came before the ceremony had even started. They had just seen each other for the first look, still holding on to each other, and then they read private vows — just the two of them, out on the grounds at Brooklake, before 145 people ever laid eyes on them. Everything that happened afterward was built on that quiet minute.
Misericordia, 2017
Jess and Mike met in the freshman dorms at Misericordia University. Mutual friends, then friends, then more than that — and they have been together ever since.
“We have a very fun relationship. We both played sports in college — I played softball and Mike played football — and we spend a lot of our time at baseball games and many other sporting events. We enjoy the adventures and having lots of fun together over the expensive meals.”
That line told me everything I needed to know about how to photograph them. This was never going to be a still, formal day. It was going to be loud in the best way.
A sunset proposal at Sandy Hook
Mike planned it around the water. The family went out to Sandy Hook to watch the sunset and do some fishing, and during that last gold hour he pulled Jess up out of her chair and asked her by the shoreline. Her family was already there — and he had quietly brought his parents up from Pennsylvania to surprise her.
“Perfect evening with my family being able to be there. It was perfect.”
Why Brooklake
Jess said the search was hard because so many New Jersey venues are beautiful. What pulled them toward Brooklake was the scenery and the sheer room to breathe — 150 acres of lake, lawn, and old trees in Florham Park, with a ballroom whose windows keep the water in the frame all night.
For Mario and me, a property like that is a gift late in the day. When the light started to go long over the lake, we pulled Jess and Mike back outside for a few minutes on their own. Those are the frames they will hang.
The day itself
The bridal suite was full of people — sisters, bridesmaids, mom zipping the dress. Down the hall, Mike and his groomsmen were doing the shoes-and-bow-tie routine and pretending to be calmer than they were. The ceremony was outdoors, and Jess’s dad had made the décor himself, which is the kind of detail that never photographs like a decoration — it photographs like love.
Mike’s uncle officiated. Both sets of grandparents were there and we made sure of those portraits, because those are the photographs that get more valuable every single year. The couple also set aside memory areas for the loved ones who could not be with them — a table where absent people were still counted in the room.
Then the ballroom, and the fun they promised us: entrances, speeches that landed, a t-shirt toss with the DJ, a college-friends group shot that took three tries and one referee, and a dance floor that did not empty.
What they wanted to remember
“I want to feel the happiness and joy of being together. That every moment from the wedding is captured for the memories, and all of the people who took the time to come and celebrate with us. Want to feel the authentic joy.”
They asked us to chase the laughter and the authentic side of them, and to make sure the family who traveled to be there was in the story too. That is exactly the way we shoot — documenting the day as it actually unfolds, with just enough guidance to make the portraits timeless.
Jess and Mike left for Hawaii, for hikes and beaches in equal measure. Congratulations to both of you, and thank you for letting us hold the camera.
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Photography & video by MC Productions NJ, Roselle Park, New Jersey. Planning a celebration at this venue? See our Brooklake Country Club wedding photography page. View our wedding photography & video collections · More real weddings