Real Weddings
»NULL
Home

Sara and John at Sea Bright Beach Club

Posted on March 02, 2020 by Ariana Baio


We are from the same hometown, Rumson, and had always known of each other. My childhood best friend dated a very good friend of John’s the summer I graduated college, so I would see John out and about. We chatted at Donovans Reef (Sea Bright, NJ) the night before I moved to Florida for my first job. The impression lasted. I moved back to NJ about two years later and we started dating a few months when I moved back. We’ve fallen in love since.

John and I were living in Jersey City at the time. What I thought what was happening, was that we were going into the Upper East Side to babysit John’s niece. As we were in the subway, John mentioned that his niece was playing with her parents on their apartment’s rooftop. When we got to the rooftop there were eight dozen roses and a sign that said “marry me.” He proposed on the rooftop and we celebrated with friends and family after.

All the girls got ready at my now sister-in-law’s house. Makeup and hair was done there. The boys all got ready at The Molly Pitcher Inn. We took photographs at the Rumson Country Club, as John is a competitive amateur golfer in the state of NJ. John had cancer in his leg as a child, so he could not play contact sports, so golf became is passion. We got married at 4 PM at the church I grew up in, First Baptist Church of Red Bank. The reception immediately followed at Sea Bright Beach Club. Cocktail hour started at 5:30 and the wedding went to about 11 PM. I wanted a ‘garden and golf by the sea’ theme. I did all green and white with a touch of light blue. My favorite flower is hydrangeas, so they were everywhere. The bridesmaids bouquets were that with eucalyptus. Johns boutonniere was golf tees! Our seating chart was also named ‘tee assignments’.

We chose our venue because Sea Bright is where we initially talked and got to know each other. It is our home, and where our love started.

Our wedding was buffet style. We had over 12 passed appetizers, we had a grilling station of mixed seafood being seared and grilled by a chef. For dinner, we had carving stations, lobster ravioli and a plated summer salad. The cake was all vanilla, that is John and my favorite flavor. All the fish came from Lusty Lobster in Highlands.


My favorite moment was walking in the reception, seeing the sun shining, holding John’s hand, and seeing all of my hard work in planning the wedding come to life.

I could not live without a greenery chandelier over the dance floor. I saw this idea on Pinterest while wedding planning, and it was glued in my brain! My florist made it come true, and it actually came out to be my favorite wedding picture.

When my father and I were dancing, he turned me, and the top piece of my gown’s threading came off one side. After the dance, I quickly ran to the bathroom with my mom, we ripped the entire top piece off and for the remainder of the reception I wore a strapless dress. My friends said, “it looks like you purposely did that!”

“Wonderful Tonight” Eric Clapton

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Something is going to go wrong, and there is nothing you can do, enjoy your day and take it all in.

We went to the Rosewood at Tuckers Point in Bermuda. Bermuda has a short time frame when you can vacation there, and we thought June was the perfect time to go.

the details

Hometowns

Rumson, NJ

Reception Location

Sea Bright Beach Club

Photographer

Samantha Jay Photography

Officiant

Pastor Steve Brown

Bride’s Gown

Zac Posen

+ more