Jul 13, 2022

Real Bride: Jessica & Brett

OUR STORY

Couple’s Names:

Jessica D’Amadeo & Brett Voges

Wedding date:

10/30/21

Our engagement story:

Is not a linear one. Brett started proposing 3 weeks into dating and again every few months. Eventually, we picked out a ring (I designed it and we had it made).

Our love story:

We built up a friendship over time and after a while, our first date included riding a swan paddle boat and Ethiopian food in the dead of summer that made Brett sweat even more than the heat, followed by n64 and pizza. After a few months, we had a second first date that included a retro arcade, and were inseparable ever since.

FASHION NOTES

Bride's wedding dress:

Catherine Deane Lita Gown

Falling in love with my Catherine Deane gown:

I absolutely hated wedding dress shopping, like despised it. I reached the conclusion that I really hated wedding dresses. I tried on the Catherine Deane dresses in a small boutique in Asbury Park, NJ (Abigail’s Bridal), and really loved the company’s overall style. Then I researched online and found the Lita. I had a feeling it was it. So I searched where to find it in the US. Then basically started stalking the dress online in photos, IG, etc. until I could go try it on.

Bridesmaids dresses:

Revelry, BHLDN, David’s Bridal

WEDDING DETAILS

Our wedding venue:

Our wedding venue is called Bishop Farmstead, it is a big red barn located on an old farm site on the Pinelands Preservation Lands. It is a historic site that was fixed up inside and turned into a wedding venue. The catering company partners with the state of NJ.

Our wedding style:

Our style was very rustic/natural yet also spooky for Halloween. We had Halloween masks for our guests and had a spooky songs segment. We also really embraced the farm vibe. We invited some alpacas to the wedding and had them walk down the aisle. We had a green VW bus as a photo booth and it was all really fun.

Our photographer:

Our Photographer was Bryan Weber of Bryan Weber Photography. Bryan was really great to work with. He really understood our vision and made it come to life. He also captured so many sweet candid moments. We got really lucky with the weather and had some ominous clouds roll in that made for some really awesome photos but luckily it did not rain. The weather had changed that day so many times we had no idea what we were walking into but the rain held out for our outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour and started pouring by the time we went inside for the reception.

Our Honeymoon destination:

due to the pandemic we stuck stateside and went to national parks in Utah and Arizona: Arches National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Lake Powell, and Glen Canyon Recreation area. One of my bridesmaids was eloping and we met up with them out West for the elopement. We drove to a remote location (off-roaded for 1.5 hours in the dark) and they got married at sunrise. It was a really busy honeymoon but neither of us are great at relaxing so we saw a lot of breathtaking sights and a lot of sunrises and sunsets

Our most memorable moment:

My most memorable moment was seeing Brett. Then the smoke bomb photos, the alpacas, and monster mash dance breakdown with the guests.