An elegant New Jersey wedding by Nadya Furnari Photography

Purple was a hot color for weddings this year and I can relate to brides who have chosen the color purple for their wedding because my husband and I chose purple as our main color for our wedding. It's such an elegant and royal color and you really can't go wrong with it. So when I saw this elegant New Jersey wedding by Nadya Furnari Photography, I got all giddy inside. It's an absolutely beautiful and classy wedding with a gorgeous color pallet. I really love it when go all out with the lighting because it really does add a whole new dimension to the wedding reception. I hope you enjoy this wedding as much as the team here at Le Magnifique did! Nadya, thanks for sharing Juan & Helen's wedding with Le Magnifique!

From the bride:
Juan and I are high school sweethearts that waited 10 years to get married. This day was magical, romantic and everything I every wanted and more. It was the sunday before Hurricane Irene and it was thundering here in New Jersey. The rain and thunder enhanced our ceremony. It made it that much more intimate and romantic.

Which vendor was your highest priority?

The venue was the highest. Being a jersey girl, I wanted a summer wedding down the shore. My venue was close enough to the beach but still had a great reception hall. The second was my wedding planner Kisha: She's amazing at what she does. My dream of having a modern romantic purple intimate wedding became a reality! Photography was next in line: Nadya was able to capture our day which consisted of rain, thunder and alot of love. The pictures were wonderful!

Describe what you felt when you saw each other for the first time:

Helen: It was one of the most amazing feelings. I was so nervous. I had butterflies in my stomach. I had promised myself I wasn't going to cry because I didn't want my makeup to get ruined... But walking down that aisle and seeing Juan and the end of it, my eyes just started to act on their on. I was able to control them though I've had dreamt about this day since we were in high school and couldn't believe that 10 years later, this day was actually happening.

Juan: When I saw Helen walking down the aisle, I saw the 16 year old girl I fell in love with. She looked so beautiful that it made me nervous. Her smile and eyes made the moment. I didn't know what to do or say. I was so nervous that I started to chew. It looked like I was chewing gum but the honest to god truth is that I had no gum.. Just straight nerves.

We had an Arras ceremony. These are 13 silver coins which typically the groom in some way presents the coins to his bride. It symbolizes that he will be there to protect and provide for her, and also symbolizes that he shares all his worldly processions with her – his wealth is her wealth. The thirteen coins are sometimes stand for love, trust, commitment, respect, joy, happiness, harmony, wisdom, wholeness, nurturing, caring, cooperation, and peace. The number of thirteen coins is chosen to symbolize Jesus and the twelve apostles.

Our advice to engaged couples is to enjoy every moment of this special time in your live. This can be a very stressful time for some, you should always remember the reasons why you are getting married. Pre-martial counseling is great! It was a requirement from our church in which we learned a lot of in-depth information about each other so I know it can be helpful for anyone.