Sabrina + Nick | Handcrafted Jersey Shore Wedding

Sabrina and Nick have always been “adventure buddies.”

During one of their many adventures, volunteering to rebuild historic cottages in the Grand Tetons, Nick asked the love of his life to accompany him on their greatest adventure yet: marriage and family.

Their love story encompasses conversion, Padre Pio, the Jersey Shore, and beehives--all part of their extraordinary, summertime wedding bathed in sunflowers and God’s grace. And it all began in a college architecture class.

From the Bride: Our Catholic relationship was not a typical one. I am a cradle Catholic who started to grow deeper in my faith only after college. Nick's mother is Lutheran, and his dad is Catholic. He was raised primarily in his father’s faith, but he did not receive any of his sacraments beyond baptism before dating me.

Nick and I met during our first year of college at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2010. He had transferred from Hartford, and I had just graduated from high school. Looking back, I almost attended a different college.

God’s plan is perfect, though, and we both chose to attend NJIT in 2010. We were placed in the same studio room for our architecture class and quickly became good friends, especially since we were both commuters. Nick would wait for my dad to pick me up on his way home from work. He would even miss his train ride home to wait with me.

We supported each other through late nights in studio, and he always kept me laughing. We became good friends but didn’t start dating until our fourth year of college because I had been in a previous relationship until then. Nick was quick to seize the opportunity.

Three and a half years later in August 2017, Nick and I found ourselves in the Grand Tetons National Park. For the past three years, we had volunteered a week of our time annually with the National Park Service in the Grand Tetons to stabilize historic log cabins in the park. Nick proposed in the barn we were working on for the week in front of all the volunteers. It was like a dream.

We decided to get married a year later on the anniversary of our engagement. As we prepped for the wedding, Nick went through RCIA with me as his sponsor. He would come to my bible study group, and our faith grew deeper. We attended holy hours together, and I knew I was growing in my faith along with him.

We planned to get married at the church by his family’s shore house that we attended all the years we dated: St. Pio’s. After our engagement, my friend Gabriella found a St. Pio rosary and gave it to me. I prayed on it every week at adoration leading up to the wedding. I even wrapped it around the stem on my bouquet with a miraculous medal.

Nick and I developed a strong devotion to Padre Pio. We prayed his novena and asked him to adopt us as his spiritual children and be the patron saint of our marriage. We also prayed St. Josemaria Escriva’s novena in the days leading up to the wedding, which we loved.

Throughout it all, I petitioned God for Nick’s full and deep conversion to the Catholic Church. And although we both have more room to grow, I’m so proud of how far we have come, especially Nick.

The night before the wedding we went to confession with the priest who would be celebrating our nuptial Mass. We wanted to receive the marital sacrament with pure hearts, and I’m so happy Nick and I made sure we did that. Before going to sleep we called each other and said the last day of the St. Josemaria novena. It was such a beautiful way to countdown to the wedding.

The weather on the big day was hot but not too humid, and I felt like God was smiling on us the whole time. My friend Gabriella said a quick prayer as we walked into the church, but I told her it had to be a quick one because I would be too emotional. I’m such a happy crier!

I kept asking God and Padre Pio to be with me because I was so nervous to walk down the aisle. When they opened the doors, I tripped a little on my dress. This helped me focus on not falling, but I also think it was God’s way of giving me something to think about instead of becoming a crying mess. When I looked up at the end of the aisle, Nick was crying hard. He was so happy, and I felt such peace knowing I was marrying him.

As the ceremony went on, I strongly felt Padre Pio was with us as well as our guardian angels. Nick and I had picked all of the music and readings for the Mass, so it was very meaningful to both of us. When we presented flowers to the Blessed Mother, we prayed a couple of Hail Mary’s and then a prayer we had written together. It was such an intimate and special moment.

Our wedding programs included all the parts in the Mass and a beautiful quote by St. Thomas Aquinas: “The Eucharist is the sacrament of love; it signifies love, it produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.”

With that in mind, we received the Body and Blood of Christ together for the first time as a married couple. All I could do was look at Nick and thank God for giving me the man of my dreams and allowing me to lead him closer to Christ.

We had worked so hard on planning the wedding, but the work we put into our faith life was worth more than anything else that day.

After the ceremony we left on a trolley to Smithville to party! The theme of the wedding was “adventure” because Nick and I always say that we are adventure buddies. And we handmade everything for the wedding. We are both architects, so we knew we could do it.

Our invitations, made by hand, included a map of the Jersey Shore with all the significant places to the wedding and to us. Our favors were honey jars made from our own honey that we harvested the weekend before the wedding from our beehive. The table that displayed the honey also displayed birdhouses that Nick had made for me when we were dating.

I wrote all the table assignments on panes of glass from old windows, and the tables were named after different national parks. Nick and his dad built wooden crates for the centerpieces,  and we filled them with flowers and fresh peaches. We told everyone to take home a peach with their honey.

Our sweetheart table had handcrafted signs that I painted as well as more crates. Nick’s mom and I made a quilt together that had Disney’s Up house on it. That became our “guest quilt,” where everyone signed in on a balloon. And finally, we painted a mailbox like the one from Up where guests placed their cards.

My favorite flowers are sunflowers and succulents, so there were plenty throughout the whole wedding. We took photos all over Smithville, a cute, historic town with many photo opportunities. And our wedding band kept everyone dancing all night.

In short, our wedding day was amazing, and I thank God everyday for it. I couldn’t wait to live life with Nick and build on the foundation we built on Christ.

For our honeymoon a month later, we travelled to Rome and Switzerland after my friend Gabriella’s wedding with her and her new husband. In Rome, we attended the Sposi Novelli blessing at the Pope’s general audience. Again, I was praying to Padre Pio that we would get to meet the Pope, but there were so many couples there that it seemed unlikely.

They started gathering all of the couples, and we found ourselves in the wrong spot. It seemed like we wouldn’t get to meet him. I told Gabriella and our husbands that we should stand on a shorter rail that I spotted. I thought even if we wouldn’t meet him, we could at least get a better view.

That short rail ended up being the gate to let all the couples into the main area for everyone to gather. So we were the first ones through! When we got our spot, I realized I had lost my Padre Pio rosary. Gabriella told me not to worry, that Padre Pio was with us anyway. But when we looked down, I saw the rosary had somehow landed in the spot we were going to stand in!

When we met the Pope, we told him we were praying for him and that he needed to rebuild the church. Gabriella and I got pretty emotional about this, so he spent a long time with us saying that he would, and that we needed to keep praying too.

It was one of the most special experiences of our lives to receive the Pope’s blessing. Nick and I have had the most incredible year, and it is all because of God and his perfect plan.

Without a Christ-centered relationship, our entire wedding day and our marriage would've been completely different. It would never have been as fulfilling. You could feel our love for each other and for God that day. Everyone said that is what made the wedding so special.

Photography: Maryanne Photography, Kevin and Aly Photography, Meyer Photo and Video Group | Mass: St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Lavellette, NJ | Reception: The Smithville Inn, Absecon, NJ | Engagement Ring: designed by the groom, via Salt and Stone

Julie + Rudy | New Jersey Trail Club Wedding

In 2011, Julie was a nursing student at Villanova University who’d just signed up for a summer in Europe, including World Youth Day in Madrid. Her neighbor, who’d attended a previous World Youth Day with the Salesians of Don Bosco, recommended she travel with the Salesians’ group for her trip. Rudy was living in community in Chicago, on mission with...the Salesians of Don Bosco. At the conclusion of his service, Rudy's parish gifted him with his own ticket to World Youth Day, one that would take him to Europe with the Salesians and, ultimately, to his future bride.

Before their first conversation during the flight, Julie assumed Rudy was a seminarian. The girl from New Jersey and the young man from Miami landed in Fatima, Portugal with their group shortly before the Feast of the Assumption, where they spent the next three days with pilgrims from the world over, joined in humble prayer to Our Lady.

On the second night, following candlelit prayer in the town square, Julie decided to partake in a practice common at the holy ground of Fatima: crawling on one’s knees, the length of a football field, to the sacred spot where Mary appeared in 1917, on the day the sun danced. Rudy asked if he could join her.

For the next 45 minutes of pain and anguish, Julie and Rudy experienced the love of Jesus and Mary, through each other, in a profound way. This love between the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts became the foundation for a friendship, then romantic love, and, seven years later, for a lifetime of marriage.

From the Bride:

Little did I know that what started as my European summer vacation would turn into a life-changing pilgrimage where I not only would experience the love of Christ and Mary amid millions of college students from all over the world, but also meet the man God had been preparing my heart for. My husband.

Having Fr. Steve, the priest who led our trip to World Youth Day where we met all those years ago, celebrate our wedding Mass meant the world. He has been our spiritual mentor and support from the very beginning of our relationship, encouraging us to lean on each other--but most of all, to lean on God and on the Blessed Mother.

Getting married in Our Lady of Victories, the church where I grew up, brought me such joy. Our house was two blocks away, so each Sunday, for as long as I can remember, my family would walk to church. Our Lady of Victories, being the size of a small chapel, is known as "the little church with a big heart." Having over 200 guests crammed in the pews made the church feel so full and joyful.

Inside our wedding bands are the words "Totus Tuus," which translates from Latin to "Totally Yours." Rudy and I both have a great love for Pope Saint John Paul II, who inspired this idea. JPII, through his great love for Mary, often had his crucifixes inscribed with "Totus Tuus Maria."

Before our wedding day, we promised to write to each other the morning of. The idea of elaborate wedding gifts was silly to Rudy and I, for we felt we were already receiving the greatest gift of all that day: the gift of each other, through Christ. Despite this agreement, we did exchange small homemade gifts.

Rudy finished his letter to me with the words, "You are my home now," and gave me an inscribed key to our first home.

I gave him a small wooden box, with a gift inside that I'd been preparing long before I knew him. It held close to one hundred letters to my future husband that I had been writing since I was a freshman in high school, when I decided I wanted to practice chastity and give the gift of myself to my future husband alone. The wooden box was inscribed with a quote from an E. E. Cummings poem: "I carry your heart. I carry it in my heart."

For the communion hymn at our Mass, we chose our favorite song, "Lord I Need You" by Matt Maher. We prayed together on the altar as husband and wife, both looking at each other and then staring up at the giant crucifix. As we heard the entire church belt out these beautiful lyrics, we were reminded that as we began to take our first steps of marriage, we would need God throughout the entire journey. We continue to pursue him as husband and wife, even more so than before, as we carry out the mission he has laid before us: to get each other to heaven.

We had certain statues placed on the altar, signifying that as we begin our vocation of marriage we ask the saints to intercede for us, pray for us, and help us. We chose Teresa of Calcutta for our love and dedication to service, St. Martin de Porres for my grandfather's presence, St. John Bosco in thanks for our meeting through the Salesians, St. Padre Pio, and especially Our Lady of Fatima, for our eternal devotion to Mary. It was in Fatima that we experienced love in its purest, most humble form. We experienced the love of Christ and Mary through each other.

As part of a Cuban wedding tradition, our godmothers placed a mantilla--a lace shawl--over our shoulders before the consecration. The mantilla symbolizes the indissoluble union that has been established before God, through marriage. Just as we were wrapped in a lace gown the days of our baptisms, we are now wrapped in this lace shawl as a reminder of the promises our parents and godparents made for us at baptism to dedicate ourselves to Christ. At the altar on our wedding day, the bride and groom renew their baptismal vows and make them as one, together dedicating their lives to Christ.

When I think back to our wedding day, the beloved quote by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, which we shared on the back of our Mass programs, comes to mind:

Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.

Photography: Curtis Smith Photography | Church: Our Lady of Victories, Harrington Park, NJ | Reception: Indian Trail Club, Franklin Lakes, NJ | Rings: Diamonds Direct, St. Petersburg, FL | Flowers: Flora Gallery, Chester, NJ | Invitations: Shine Wedding Invitations | Church Programs: Morgan E. Moore | Bridal Gown & Veil: I Do I Do, Morristown, NJ | Bride's Shoes: BHLDN | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Nordstrom | Tuxedos: Biltmore Tuxedo, Ridgewood, NJ | Cake Topper: Willow Tree | Cake Baker: A Little Cake, Park Ridge, NJ | Music: Hank Lane Music | Hair and Makeup: Michelle's Salon, Woodcliff Lake, NJ | Mini Ice Cream Cone Dessert: Milk Sugar Love, Jersey City, NJ | Trolley: New York Trolley Company

Jamaila + Andy | Nature-Inspired Wedding

Jamaila and Andy’s story began with the Frassati Fellowship of NYC, a young adult group inspired by the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Andy's experience with the group began the year he moved to New York to discern a life with the Community of the Franciscan Friars of Renewal. He later discerned out and moved back to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, but stayed in contact with the order’s vocations director, Fr. Gabriel, CFR, who invited him to his first Frassati Fellowship retreat.

Andy left the retreat with a renewed desire for community. Soon after, he returned to the city, became a regular at Frassati, and later led the group's music ministry.

Meanwhile, Jamaila had begun working in the city around the time Andy was with the CFRs, attending one young adult event to another in search of other faithful professionals. But it would be five years before her path brought her to Frassati, and to Andy.

In 2015, Jamaila signed up for a mission trip to Peru with Frassat. Despite her reservations about making the trip from New Jersey to Queens, felt the Holy Spirit nudging her to attend a party for the missionaries prior to the trip. Like her, Andy also initially planned not to attend. At the last minute, he hopped on a bus from Manhattan to Astoria.

That night, Jamaila and Andy spent the entire party talking about their families and shared love of the outdoors. To Jamaila’s disappointment, Andy didn't ask for her number, and she left that night thinking she’d never see him again.

Much to her surprise, she received an email from Andy the following month, telling her about a hike with the group. Neither ended up going, but that note was the start of a correspondence, You’ve Got Mail-style, with constant emails throughout the day.

Three months after their first meeting, the two went on their first date to the New York Botanical Gardens. Soon after, atop a small mountain reserve upstate, Andy asked Jamaila to be his girlfriend as the sun was going down.

She took a picture of sunset with her instant film camera, writing on the film, "Lead me to adventures. Lead me to Christ. I'll follow."

Eight months later, at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Lindenwold, New Jersey, Andy proposed.

From the Bride: During our first conversation, we learned we shared the same “Top 3” loves: God, family, and the outdoors. We planned for all three to be a part of our wedding day.

We chose to marry on the Feast of St. Jude to honor my devotion to him, the patron of hope and impossible causes. Our nuptial Mass was concelebrated by six priests, with our hope that our wedding witness not just to the sacrament of marriage, but also to the various vocations God calls us to, by having our religious brothers and sisters attend the wedding.

Starting the night before the wedding when we decorated the venue together, we were surrounded by our family and friends throughout. We used various greens as décor, from ferns tossed between our candlelit jars to the ivy hung as our photo booth backdrop to the eucalyptus in my bouquet.

My rings are inspired by God and his creation. They’re a sign of love: for God, His love for us, Andy’s and my love for each other, and our shared love of nature. My engagement ring has three stones, a reminder to keep him at the center of our relationship: in the center is a pearl, delicate like our hearts, always in need of his purifying grace. It was kept in its natural shape, unfinished, just like us. God isn't finished with us. The side stones reflect the silence of mountains and shadows of the setting sun. They appear pink and purple under the evening sky, and when the morning light hits, they turn blue-green like the ocean. My branch-like wedding band holds our memories of wildflower fields, giant trees, and times spent in awe of his creation. 

The night before our wedding, we had our rehearsal and more importantly, a Holy Hour. It included Praise & Worship led by Andy, confession, and Adoration. We desired to be in the presence of Christ in those last moments preparing for the sacrament. In the hours leading up to our Mass, various friends and family members asked how we felt. We could only describe it as peace.

From the get-go, we knew God made us for each other, so only his peace consumed us that morning. Our First Look before the Mass reminded me of Alice von Hildebrand’s words: she likens seeing your spouse as their true self for the first time to how the Apostles first see Christ in His Glory. She says,

“Trust this bright Tabor vision you’ve been given. Daily rekindle it in your heart and let it nurture your love. If you let it form the cornerstone of your faithfulness to your husband your marriage will be rich, indeed.”

It was truly a glimpse of Andy about to fulfill his vocation as my husband.

It was important for Andy and I to incorporate both Church traditions and cultural traditions into our wedding mass. We walked down the aisle together to signify our partnership and journey to God as one. During the Offertory, our cantor sang the Litany of Saints to invoke their prayers for our marriage. In the Filipino culture, the bride and groom are draped with a veil and cord. I had my aunt bring a veil and cord from her trip to the Philippines to incorporate into our Mass. The veil represents being clothed as one under the protection of God, and the cord symbolizes our bond. Before the final blessing we processed to a statue of Mary and laid a bouquet of flowers at her feet. As we knelt in front of our Mother, we prayed for her intercession for a holy marriage.

Leading up to the wedding, Andy and I prayed St. Josemaria Escriva's Novena for a Happy & Faithful Marriage. It helped us to stay focused on our marriage instead of the wedding itself. During our marriage prep, our priest recommended we appoint tasks to trusted friends and family during the wedding so we didn't have to worry about them. This truly helped us stay calm on the day of. Every time I look at our photos or watch our wedding video I am reminded of God's love for us.

Photography: Laurel Creative | Church: Church of Immaculate Conception of St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Montclair, NJ | Reception Venue: The Woman's Club of Ridgewood - Ridgewood, NJ | Rings: Ken & Dana Designs | Veil: Twigs & Honey for J. Crew | Dress: Bijou Bridal of Philadelphia | Caterer: Leonardo's Restaurant (Lawrenceville, NJ) | Band During Mass: Scott Tran Music | DJ/Emcee During Reception: Derek Hall of The Block Party

Katherine + Dominic | Fourth of July Wedding

Dominic and Katherine met in chemistry class during their sophomore year of high school. Dominic would always make Katherine laugh during class, and they would run into each other at church every Sunday. Their friendship blossomed into a romance during their senior year of high school, and they dated for a few months before going to separate colleges. While in college, their relationship continued to grow, and so did their faith. Katherine would often pray for their relationship at Seton Hall's Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. Dominic proposed to Katherine in that very same chapel where she had prayed for their relationship so many times before, following a homily comparing the facets of a diamond to the community of believers within the Catholic Church. Both Dominic and Katherine felt through these details that God's hand was truly on them as they took another step towards their vocation of marriage.

The nuptial mass took place in Katherine and Dominic's home parish, Immaculate Conception Church in Annandale, New Jersey. Dominic's uncle is a deacon and he preached a beautiful homily tying Dominic and Katherine's relationship to the readings they had chosen. As Dominic and Katherine made their grand exit following the nuptial mass, the guests had blush, gold, and lace ribbons as well as American flags to wave at the couple. Katherine's father is in the Navy, and the wedding took place on 4th of July weekend, so they thought it was fitting to mix in their American pride into the elegance of their wedding.

The reception took place at David's Country Inn, a charming old mansion that made the fairly large wedding feel quite intimate. At the cocktail hour, there were photos of the bride and groom's parents and grandparents on their wedding days, as well as photos of loved ones who had passed away, accompanied by Bible verses. Instead of a traditional guest book, Dominic and Katherine asked guests to sign their first family Bible. The couple decorated the tables with photos of their various stages of life and their relationship. The dance floor was crowded all night long as family and friends danced and laughed the night away!

From the Bride: Our spiritual takeaway from our wedding day was that God is in all of the details of our lives. God has made his presence known to us throughout our relationship, and our wedding day was no exception. We felt the presence of the Holy Spirit so deeply in all of the details of the day. We felt God's presence in the gifts we gave to each other (Dominic gave me a crucifix ring, I gave Dominic my purity ring and a miraculous medal, since he has a special devotion to Our Lady), in the mass through the readings and music we had so carefully chosen together, and in the joy and love shown to us by family and friends at both the ceremony and reception. We prayed for our wedding day for so long, and on that day it was clear that God had heard our prayers, and that He would be faithful to us as we began our vocation of marriage together.

Photography: Anne Molnar Photography | Church: Immaculate Conception Church - Annandale NJ | Wedding Reception Venue: David's Country Inn | Floralist: Elegant Wedding Florals | Reception Florist: Fleurs Divine |  Hair & Make-Up: Artiste Salon • Jewelry: Trezar Fine Jewelry • Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Calvin Kline, Men's Wareshouse • Bride's Shoes: Kate Spade • Bride's Gown: David's Bridal Collection • Bridesmaids Dresses: David's Bridal | DJ: Paul Anthony Entertainment • Cake: Palermo's Bakery