Real Long Island Wedding: Jocelyn and Ben

Both Ben and I are not originally from Long Beach. When we made the choice to move in together we decided we wanted to be on the beach. Therefore the city itself holds much meaning to us; it's the place we first shared the same home. 

Choosing to have our wedding in this location was easy and the same goes with St. Ignatius Martyr, the gorgeous church right off the boardwalk. For the reception we wanted something non-traditional, neither of us are 'ballroom' people. When we found out that our favorite seasonal restaurant Coyote Grill in Island Park was available for weddings we were ecstatic. The southwestern, laid back feeling of the restaurant was perfect for our ideal celebration. 

If I had to pick a theme for the wedding, I could say it was nostalgic yet eclectic, a combination of vintage and country with a 'Jocey' twist (Jocey being myself). I studied apparel design in college and now have been designing handbags for 6 years. I've always been very astute with style. Deciding the wardrobe for the wedding party was what really made our pictures shine. I truly went into the planning with a vision, hoping that on the day it would all come together. The small details, like the shoes and the headbands for my bridesmaids, really came to life on that day and were so special! I have always loved color so we really played that up on not only the girls but also the guys. Further, we asked our guests to refrain from wearing black and white. We wanted to add to the color & really bring out the celebratory feeling in all photos. This was a success! 

The nostalgia piece of the wedding comes from the crochet and eyelet details. Crochet & eyelet fabrics will always be a wonderful reminder of my grandmothers, who are no longer with us. Each bridesmaid dress had eyelet details, as well as my own dress. With the help of our florist each bouquet was wrapped in an eyelet doily. Our florist also really helped pull together all our colors with the amazing flowers. The guys had ties with handmade screen printed ties with the pattern of 'cottage lace' from Cyberoptix TieLab- on Etsy. To continue even more with the crochet, I made our centerpieces by painting them in our colors & decoupaging ivory and gold doily designs on to them (along with many other little handmade details). The stars hanging above our dance floor really were the cherry on top. That's where the theme became a bit eclectic, but barn stars and southwestern somehow work together. 

Ben and I love country music and I have an obsession with cowgirl boots; in the same way women love their red bottoms or Jimmy Choos'. That's the reason that I changed into my very special wedding party boots, which I splurged more than ever for! I had to do some boot stomping, of course.

Last but not least, the combination of our styling and the photographer’s artistic eye produced photos that are absolutely AMAZING. We couldn't have been happier with the memories Michael from North Island Photography captured.