It was love at first sight when this Bride happened upon the natural beauty of Jardin de Buis. Filled with antiques, romantic gardens, and the prettiest greenhouse, it is a little pocket of European beauty in the wilds of New Jersey. Add in a gorgeous, rounded arch and plush blooms by Lara Clare Design, and that greenhouse proved the perfect spot for their wedding celebration. Captured by Lauren Fair Photography, have a look at the true beauty of romance among the flora.
From the bride…Kevin and I got engaged in December of 2015 and planned our wedding for a little over a year and a half. While venue-hunting, our two requirements were to find a space that would comfortably accommodate an intimate guest list of 90 and a space that felt natural and beautiful to us. We searched for about two months until I stumbled upon a photograph of a greenhouse at Jardin de Buis in a magazine and was instantly enthralled. I immediately reached out to the owner of the property and arranged a visit. Our first visit to Jardin de Buis was in the cold of February and even though all the trees were bare and the nothing was in bloom just yet, we fell in love. The best part of Jardin de Buis is the beauty in the simplicity of the space – nothing felt too styled or planned, everything was placed organically and magically, from the thriving greenery to the scattered antiques. It all came together so beautifully on it’s own and we knew we had found our dream venue to tie the knot. We were excited about the idea of working with different vendors to really customize the space for our wedding. We also loved the idea of having our ceremony and reception on the same site and Jardin de Buis easily accommodated both aspects of our wedding celebration. We loved that our ceremony was on one side of the property and guests could take a short walk through a garden to Orangerie and greenhouse for cocktail hour, dinner and dancing. Dinner in a greenhouse under string lights? We were sold!
Once we found our venue, the rest of the wedding planning came together organically. The venue choice really set the aesthetic for the remainder of our wedding planning and thats when the planning process became really fun! Besides the venue, our second biggest priority when booking vendors was the photographer. Finding the right photographer was equally as important to me as finding the right venue. I knew exactly what type of photography style I was looking for and immediately reached out to Lauren Fair. When we spoke for the first time, we instantly clicked – she just got us! We really wanted capture our wedding in more ways than one, which is why we chose to hire a videographer as well. Luckily, I met Kristen Ryan through college and had always admired her work. I remember watching her wedding videos with tears in my eyes and knew that one day when I got married I would have to have her capture my wedding. It was really important to chose vendors who immediately picked up on the vision we had for our wedding – this made the planning process so easy and fun. It also made us feel so comfortable and at ease. We worked with Laura Clare Design to come up with a color palette and floral aesthetic. Since our wedding was greenhouse-themed, I really wanted to keep the colors neutral and earth-toned to compliment our surroundings. We went for a floral palette of only green and white and we wanted the florals to be loose and organic. Rather than using tall table centerpieces, we chose to garnish the dinner tables with oversized garland full of textured greenery, luscious white flowers and succulents. Laura Clare also designed the most beautiful rounded floral archway for us to get married in front of and lined our isle with white rose petals.
We were so lucky to have full access to the antiques at Jardin de Buis and we spent the night before our wedding at the venue moving furniture, decorating and getting everything in order. It was all fun, but it was also one of those moments we laugh about now because it’s so easy to go overboard with last minute ideas when you are your own wedding planner! On the day of our wedding, I was overwhelmed with such pure joy and gratitude. I couldn’t believe our wedding day had finally arrived and we were soon to be married in front of all our family and friends. I couldn’t wait to see Kevin and I couldn’t wait to see our guests arrive! The owner of the property was kind enough to open up her home so that my bridesmaids, family and I could get ready on site. We had such a fun morning listening to music, relaxing and getting all glammed up. In between hair and makeup, I kept sneaking outside to check on how the vendors were setting up. Everything kept looking more and more beautiful by the minute, the sun was shining, and I was counting down the minutes until it was “go” time. One of my favorite memories of the day was gifting my parents and bridesmaids special gifts and heartfelt written cards. I think we all shared tears in the moment and it was such a special send off before I left to meet Kevin for our first look.
Kevin and I decided to have a first look for many reasons but mainly we wanted to take the pressure off of our cocktail hour and be able to spend more time with guest who traveled near and far. When I was walking up to Kevin, I felt such a rush of excitement, I just couldn’t wait for him to turn around! We both were expecting tears, but during our first look we were just so happy and excited we couldn’t help but smile the entire time. We chose to write our own vows to each other but instead of reading them during our wedding ceremony, we chose to read them to each other in private, after our first look. This was one of my favorite memories from our wedding day. It was so special and intimate and it set the tone for us walking down the isle. It also kept our ceremony fun and light-hearted. We couldn’t stop smiling through the entire ceremony!
Our cocktail hour was held around a reflecting pool in between two greenhouses connected by an Orangerie. It was magical! I felt that our venue was really a treat for our guests – we wanted our guest to feel as though they were transported into Europe for an evening. We loved that the space was combination of rustic, chic and organic. It left us a lot of room for creativity and we chose to keep the decor simple to compliment the natural space we were in. Long, family-style dinner tables covered in crisp, white linens, white and green florals, string lights, hanging ferns, oversized planters overflowing with greenery, succulents and candles in storm jars filled the space. After cocktail hour, we entered the Orangerie and had our first dance to ‘Sea of Love’ by Cat Power. We chose to favor reach guest with a mini succulent plant that housed their name/table card. Surprisingly, we somehow kept dry eyes throughout most of the dinner until it was time for speeches and toasts. Then there wasn’t a dry eye in the greenhouse! We will never forget the feeling of how much love we felt surrounding us in the greenhouse during our dinner.
We repeatedly heard the same advice from everyone: enjoy every moment of your wedding day because it goes by in the blink of an eye. That advice is SO true and I’m glad we listened. We were so pleased with all of our vendors – each did their own part to make sure our wedding day was exactly how we imaged. day was so incredible and went by so fast it was a blur – we barely got to eat we were so busy having fun! After dinner, I threw my floral crown on and Kevin and I danced the night away until we had our sparkler exit. Our wedding day was truly a dream!
Photography: Lauren Fair Photography | Videographer: Kristin Ryan | Floral Design: Laura Clare Fine Floral Design | Ceremony Venue: Jardin De Buis | Reception Venue: Jardin De Buis | Hair & Makeup: Jenielle Jensen + Lauren Senese | Dress boutique: Kleinfeld Bridal | Paper Goods: Paperless Post