Rachel and Dr. Frank are the sweetest!!! They love all things beach, boardwalk and family! For their engagement session (which I never got a chance to blog 🙁 ) we met at Ocean City too and captured some fun moments for them. And just a few days ago we all got together at the Flanders Hotel in Ocean City to now celebrate their wedding! It was second coldest day this fall season but this brave bridal party and bride and groom all stayed outside for their photos. But not just the Ocean City moments were the ones that I loved. The whole day was filled with wonderful moments starting from getting ready to the last dance on the dance floor. A definitely unique moment was when Rachel and her family stopped by the cemetery where her grandma was buried this past August. It was such a real reminder that life is fragile and feels short and even on the happiest of the days we need to remember about it. The tears that were shed on the cemetery were not the only ones for that day though! Lots of people cried throughout the day but all those tears were the tears of joy for the newlywed! Check out Rachel and Frank’s wedding day moments and read the rest of the story!
Getting Ready at Flanders Hotel
Rachel and all the girls had their hair and make up done at the Salon Exuberance in Newfield, NJ which is 3 minutes away from her parents home. The girls enjoyed the quite moments, being pampered and some peanut butter bagels :). I didn’t even know those existed! Now I am tempted for look for one and try it out! Rachel’s gorgeous red hair was so prettily curled and styled with a little diamond hair piece. Her wedding day glow was on and I was simply in love with the way she looked. After everyone was ready, we headed to her parents home and finished getting ready. Rachel wore a wedding gown from Bridals by Cyndi. They also had patched a piece of her grandma’s sailing pants on the insides of her dress – that was her something blue. So beautiful! Her bridal purse had a special meaning as well. Her grandma used to call her lovely all the time, and when they were shopping she accidentally found a purse that said ‘HELLO LOVELY’. She couldn’t not get it.
Oh how lovely and gorgeous you are, Rachel!
On the way to church, Rachel and the family stopped at the cemetery and laid the pink poses on their grandmother’s grave. So sad, so meaningful, so real. I didn’t get a chance to meet her here on earth, so I will have to meet her in heaven and tell her what a wonderful family she was a part of <3. The photos won’t make it to heaven probably but I will definitely remember this lovely family <3.
In a mean time Frank was getting ready with his family and his groomsmen at the Flanders Hotel. The suit looked stunning and spacious. It looks like they had a great time and once everyone was dressed they hopped in the limo/bus and headed to church to get married!!!
Wedding Ceremony at St. Rose of Lima
St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church was the church where Rachel grew up and listening to the priest talking about Rachel made me a little nostalgic. Just the thought of her sitting on these pews as a little girls was fascinating to me. And as a part of our preparation for the wedding Rachel sent me a few photos that she wanted recreated from her grandparents’ wedding. Can you imagine the thrill of getting married in the same church as your grandparents?! Some serious legacy here!
And here they are – married and united forever!
Wedding Portrait near Flanders Hotel
We traveled to the Flanders Hotel in Ocean City, NJ and got the bridal party photos and bride and groom photos on the boardwalk. It was cold, but these guys were determined! Lots of memories that Rachel and Frank has already associated with boardwalk now have an overwhelmingly awesome part of their story together captured there too. And unless they have their first child on the boardwalk, I am pretty sure this is going to be the highlight event that they had happen to them on the Ocean City boardwalk :).
And do you see that Rachel is barefoot?! After we went to the beach, sand and boardwalk got the best of the high-heeled shoes and they had to go. I wonder how cold Rachel was because she said that being barefoot didn’t matter to her much :O!
And here is another awesome memory for them! For their engagement photos they got ice-cream on the boardwalk, and here they stopped at Manco and Manco pizza for the bathroom break, and the guys at the pizzeria treated them with pizza. Well, check a photo right after the cake cutting and you will see, that Manco and Manco actually catered extra ‘dessert’ for Rachel and Frank 🙂 – there was PIZZA for extra dessert!
And once we were ready to actually go back to Flanders, we saw this most awesome-looking sunset! Look at those colors!!!!
The photos were done, and now we were ready to fully celebrate Rachel and Frank!
Wedding Reception at the Flanders Hotel
When we went inside the hotel, the gush of hot air met us right be the door. All the guests just started enjoying the cocktail hour and I started photographing the most fun and gorgeous wedding decor. The cake and cupcakes created by …, the floral arrangements by amazing …, but importantly the signs and table numbers by the bride herself!!!! The Redhead Design Shop made those stunning pieces on glass using the mot beautiful calligraphy. I am a little jealous of the skill and taste to be able to create it. But I guess now I have pretty photos of it that I can enjoy too, so it’s okay :). The set up was happy and romantic but pretty wedding decor was not even close to being as beautiful as the people who were there to celebrate Rachel and Frank. Wonderful family and friends surrounded these bride and groom and celebrated them well! What a great evening it was!
What an amazing day it was! I feel so honored to be a part of Rachel and Frank’s wedding day! Thank you so much guys for having me and God bless you!!!
Vendors:
Wedding Photography | Yana Shellman Photography
Wedding Venue | The Flanders Hotel
Wedding Ceremony | St Rose Of Lima / Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
Hair and Make up team | Salon Exuberance
DJ | Dance Party DJs
Flowers | Savannah’s Garden
Cake and cupcakes | Blue Dolfin Sweets
Wedding Gown | Bridals By Cyndi
Invitations | Wedding Paper Divas
Tuxes | Sarno and Son
Reception Decor and Table Numbers | The Redhead Design Shop owned by the bride <3
Pizza!!!! | Manco and Manco
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All images are copyrighted to Yana Shellman – fun, sweet, energetic photographer serving as a South Jersey and Philadelphia Wedding Photographer. She adores photography that shows natural and loving relationship of people. Clear instruction, genuine laughter, and long-lasting sweet memories is what you will get with Yana as your wedding photographer.
http://www.yanashellmanphotography.com
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If you have questions or would like Yana to record your special event, please drop Yana a note at yana@yanashellman.com or contact her through the contact form.