The Refinery at Perona Farms Springtime Wedding

February 16, 2023

The Refinery at Perona Farms Andover NJ Springtime Wedding Maggie Sottero John Varvatos

Inae and Dan held their Springtime wedding at what has become one of our favorite places, The Refinery at Perona Farms.

From the couple: “Our wedding vision is industrial elegance, with rustic touches. The Refinery encompasses our vision of grandeur with the high ceilings, metal beams, brick walls and greenery. Our MDW wedding launches the start of Summer while still being in Spring! Our colors are blush, dusty blue, and ivory – a pastel dream ::heart eyes emoji::”

Bloomery Flower Studio did fantastic job incorporating blush tone pinks with subtle pops of light blue, that perfectly played off the bridesmaids’ pastel pink Revelry dresses and the light blue Generation Tux suits for the groomsmen. The bride’s dress was the Rebecca Ingram style by Maggie Sottero from Seng Couture and the groom’s suit was by John Varvatos.

Why Editing Style Matters When Choosing the Right Photographer

We loved speaking with this couple about what they wanted out of their photos. They are drawn particularly to the variety between light/airy and dark/moody. They had a romantic and dramatic vision that they wanted captured through both editing styles. We agreed that we’d be the right fit because our editing style walks the line between both ends of the spectrum! We don’t like to pigeonhole ourselves into one set editing trend label because photography shouldn’t be a trend.

We like to honestly document the real colors chosen for the day and we’d never want to mask that with a one-size-fits-all editing preset. Steve and I have developed our own color tones that we tweak to cater to every individual wedding. We always say we want you to look back on your photos and feel like they are true to the memory of your day. They also expressed loving the “journalism” aspect of photography and while we do give direction for posing, we truly love the candid moments that happen naturally in between.

Perona offers a rustic elegance that’s inherent to the space, and the newer Refinery space is more modern-industrial. Inae and Dan loved the entire wall of greenery that was used as a backdrop for the ceremony, as well as the 1920’s speakeasy-styled common room between the bride and groom suites. The day began stress-free because the couple got ready onsite in the respective speakeasy suites. We had them do their first look out by “the orchard” trees. And finally, the day was overcast which was Inae’s wish, we could literally take photos everywhere!

Familiar Faces

We’ve worked with officiant Ben Hickey before, and he is always phenomenal. This is why you hire a professional, folks! He really knows what he’s doing to calm everyone’s nerves and oversee a sweet and genuine ceremony that honors the couple. We also always love working with photobooth company Metro Photobooth Bus because the bus is SUCH a fun prop for photos!

Tell us about yourselves!

“We met in 2012 at the Menlo Park Mall, when I was working in retail. Dan would frequently visit, and I would swoop in with world-class sales skills. We soon became friends and started dating, but unfortunately the timing wasn’t right. We went our separate ways, and there were even a couple years we had no communication. Subconsciously though, we both knew we would end up together one day.

That day came when fate brought us back together in 2017. We knew this was it and we’ve been together ever since. Our favorite thing to do is listen to music while sipping on wine and/or cocktails. Music and art are a huge part of our relationship – one of our first dates was a Guns n Roses concert and we said “I love you” for the first time after a Sum41 concert; we have both of these concert posters framed in our home. We associate music to different experiences, and make playlists for each trip or big event. We can tell you the exact song that was playing when we got to Blackwoods Campground in Acadia National Park, or when we drove into Salem, MA for the first time.

The love of our lives is our bambino cat, Kiara! (Bambinos are a mix between sphynx and munchkin cat breeds – aka short legs and hairless!) We picked her up on our way back from our first trip to Salem and she’s neediest, most affectionate cat ever. She comes on all our trips with us, including Salem!”

Congrats again to Inae & Dan! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!