The Classical Jersey City, New Jersey Wedding of Natalie & Jeff

We are super excited to share the classical Jersey City, New Jersey wedding of Natalie & Jeff with you. A picturesque wedding with classical yet modern touches. We love that the simple greenery theme that was used throughout this couple’s wedding decor.

Natalie looked spectacular in her BHLDN wedding dress, BHLDN is a wedding brand of Anthropologie. We are also huge fans of Anthropologie, just like Natalie. Talented wedding photographer, Forever Photography captured at the special moments of their wedding day. We love their photographs and style of photography. You can clearly see Natalie and Jeff enjoyed their wedding day so much!

They had a planned honeymoon to Hawaii. A dream destination for honeymoons. However, they had to postpone due to COVID-19. We are super excited to see their honeymoon photo’s once they went on their honeymoon. Enjoy the New Jersey Wedding of Natalie & Jeff below. For more amazing wedding inspiration and free advice, browse through Vivacious Weddings articles.

Proposal:

We were long distance for about three years before Jeff moved from Florida to New York City in 2018. On December 12^th, 2018 we planned to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and holiday windows on 5^th avenue with Natalie’s best friend and maid of honor Tessa.

Jeff asked Tessa to take their photo in front of the tree and said “Take a video.” Tessa’s eyes widened and Jeff knelt down with the ring and proposed! It was a very sweet moment that was actually unplanned and last minute! We all ended up at the Plaza Hotel afterward to celebrate with champagne.

Favorite Wedding Memory:

Our favorite memory of our wedding was exchanging vows outside during our ceremony. Jeff’s in particular were very romantic and we heard a lot of people crying. Natalie especially loved when we had a moment to ourselves right after the ceremony to take everything in- it was very emotional in the best way! We recommend all couples do that before you start partying!

Wedding Dress:

My wedding dress is from BHLDN. I love Anthropologie and was looking for something that was not all that traditional. So to say, I would have never chosen the style or lace but it felt right when I tried it on!

I felt very prairie/vintage/boho in it and wanted to make sure it would be right for summertime and easy to move in. I was leaning more towards something fashionable as opposed to wanting to feel princess-like as that is not my style at all.

Advice for couples planning their wedding.

We recommend staying as organized as possible and planning as much as you can early on so things will be easy and stress free the day of your wedding. Create clear plans and instructions with your vendors and confirm everything beforehand.

Don’t overthink things- we planned our wedding in 5 months and it actually was a blessing- it didn’t allow for time to go back and forth on decisions.

We also recommend not allowing others to influence your decisions- it’s your day as a couple and outside influence can sometimes add stress or choices you may not actually want. Your choices should feel personal.

Most importantly, we recommend day off, not stressing at all. Remember that this is supposed to be a happy time and when you look back on it, you will be glad you were feeling your best for yourselves and the people around you. It creates the best memories.

The story behind your wedding cake?

The cake is from a local baker that the venue works with- Mrs. B Cakes. It was delicious and looked really elegant with the simple stripes and florals our florist added. The baker even created a custom cake that Natalie surprised Jeff with. The groom’s cake featured his college football team, the Miami Hurricanes.

The Venue:

Battello was exactly the type of venue we were looking for. Although they can be great, we weren’t interested in your typical wedding “hall”. Battello has a unique charm that offers a special experience.

You have the beautiful backdrop of New York City just across the water that requires little to no décor. The venue itself feels rustic, vintage, open and beautiful. Aside from the venue itself, the food is amazing and the staff is extremely professional.

The experience was seamless and stress-free and the best decision we could have made when planning our wedding.

Wedding colors:

We stuck to neutral colors for our invites with some simple greenery. Natalie’s bridal party wore navy which tied into the napkins and navy that is featured in the Battello signage. Florals were corals, hues of light to hot pinks and white. Our florist A Petal to Peddle also created beautiful natural greenery on the seating for the ceremony and for the bride and groom table which complimented our invites!

We wanted to make sure that the florals popped most and kept the other colors neutral and classic. Natalie dug around the internet for some photo inspiration but mainly planned everything around the venue and what she felt was most aesthetically pleasing.

Decor Inspiration:

We kept things simple when it came to décor. We loved the idea of it feeling very classic and vintage so our florist helped bring this to life on the guest tables and during cocktail hour. The vases for our centerpieces were a brushed bronze that looked antique, the votives were etched glass with gold rims, and apothecary vases were sprinkled around our cocktail hour with single florals for a unique assortment of glassware that all really came together.

The venue itself is gorgeous on its own featuring its greenery, subtle nautical pieces (Battello translates to boat/ship in Italian), and the water/skyline of New York City. The venue also surprised us by transforming the outdoor ceremony area into a lounge with vintage leather couches, rugs and tables during our reception so our guests could enjoy the outdoors as well.

Honeymoon:

We decided to wait a bit to plan a honeymoon because we had planned our wedding so fast! Unfortunately, we had to cancel our honeymoon to Hawaii in May 2020 due to COVID-19. We hope to re-book this trip in either 2021 or 2022 when it is safe to go- we can’t wait!

Musical Choices:

Our first dance song was “Today, Tomorrow, and Forever” by Patsy Cline. We have an eclectic taste in music and Natalie introduced Jeff to this song. We actually played it the night we got engaged when we got home and had an impromptu dance to this song. It felt so perfect to play it for our wedding!