Elegant Fall Wedding at Angelina’s Ristorante in Staten Island

Beautiful Fall weather, strong family ties, musical GENIUS, and genuine happiness were all part of Christie and Ryan’s gorgeous wedding day. Christie is one of four sisters, the youngest child, and the final daughter to get married. You can imagine how special of a day this was for their entire family!

I spent just a few hours with her family before the wedding and can tell they share a really special bond. If I remember correctly, while the girls were getting ready, Christie’s father was watching “Father of the Bride” which was quite a nice touch to getting ready experience. He also spent some time on the piano preparing for the ceremony. He wrote each of his daughters a song and sang it on their wedding day (yes, of course I cried!). Christie’s sisters also sang the most beautiful rendition of Kari Jobe’s “My Beloved” I have ever heard. I’m telling you, the musical genius was beyond compare.

Besides the obvious talent (and beauty!) sewn into their DNA, every person I came into contact with, whether from Christie’s family or Ryan’s, was extremely kind, courteous, and truly happy. It was such a joyous occasion (as weddings should always be!) and filled with love.

Christie and Ryan opted for a first look at the Conference House Park in Staten Island, minutes away from where their wedding ceremony and reception would be at Angelina’s Ristorante. We snuck into a private section of the woods for their first look and then met the rest of the wedding party near the parking lot. A quick note to future brides: when it comes to the first look, I typically recommend having a private moment for just the couple and the photographer/videographer. You can often feel like “all eyes are on you” during your wedding day and if you’re anything like me, you may not necessarily love the attention. The first look gives you an opportunity to have an intimate moment to yourselves and I’ve found that often times this helps ease any nerves.

From the first look, we joined the rest of the wedding party and immediate family (all in the same!) and got the formal photos done before the ceremony. I love it when the timeline works out this way because if the ceremony is close to sunset, as it was in this case, we can still get gorgeous, natural light for the wedding party and family photos. The park had a beautiful path outlined with trees that made for the perfect setting for formal photos. We then quickly drove to Angelina’s for the ceremony and reception and celebrated with the new Mrs. & Mrs. All in all, it was truly a perfect day.