September Wedding at The Bradford Estate | Kacie & Steve

September 23, 2024

On September 13, 2024, I photographed Kacie and Steve’s September Wedding at The Bradford Estate in Hainesport, NJ! Their vision for their September wedding was a mix of modern and romantic with a color palette of sea glass green and sea foam blue. Kacie and Steve first met in 2010 in their high school English class when they were sat next to one another. They instantly became friends and chatted more than they listened to their teacher! They immediately confided in one another and would use that class to be each other’s “therapist” and chat about their current life issues and high school drama.

Over the years, their friendship grew immensely. Their friend group stayed extremely close, even with everyone going their separate ways for college in 2014. They all loved getting together and going to country concerts during the summer at BB&T. In the Summer of 2017, before going into their senior year of college, their group of friends all went to see a Zac Brown Band concert. That’s where Kacie and Steve’s love story finally began! Funny enough, at one point that night, they pretended to be a couple to keep a guy away from Kacie! Later that night, they had their first kiss. And their official first date was at Moe’s.

Kacie and Steve always had their friends tell them they were going to end up together, but neither of them believed it. Creating a solid friendship first really helped make their relationship so strong. Kacie doesn’t think there’s a distinct moment where they knew each other was the one, she thinks they just always knew there was something special about one another and that they were always going to be in each other’s lives.

Engaged on 08/04/2023, the proposal from Kacie: “My best friends Becca and Lauren planned a girls day to help celebrate Lauren’s approaching birthday. We started the day by getting our nails done, when shortly after I got my identity stolen! I was sobbing on Becca’s bedroom floor about to cancel the entire day. They somehow boosted my mood and kept me sane and we continued our girls day to visit Willow Creek Winery. More of Lauren’s friends met us at the winery. Our next stop was what I was told was going to be a taco place. We drove and somehow ended up at the beach. I was so confused and everyone was acting so suspicious. We got to the start of the beach when suddenly Becca took my purse and my beloved Apple Watch off my wrist and told me good luck!! As I walked down to the beach I see Steve with an entire beautiful set up in front of the Cape May Light House on a private part of the beach. In neon letters I see Marry Me, I hear our song “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran, and see gorgeous roses behind him. Neither of us remember what was said and I was totally blindsided that he picked out an absolutely GORGEOUS engagement ring all on his own! To make it even better he hired a secret photographer to capture the most amazing day of our lives. We then had a little photoshoot and to keep the surprise going, he planned an entire after party with our families at my favorite beach bar, The Point in Somers Point. It was the most special day, and he must’ve known I needed a new identity!”

When Kacie and Steve weren’t planning their September Wedding at The Bradford Estate, they love to visit different wineries and breweries. They are huge Philly sports fans and have season tickets to the Phillies. They love spending time down the shore and they also love getting late night Taco Bell! Now married, their dreams include traveling as much as they can, building an amazing family, settling down in a beautiful house, and relaxing together on a wrap around porch.

Their advice for couple’s currently planning their wedding is to not get too stressed about the little things. Everything is going to fall into place, and it will be beautiful regardless of any minor issues. Also, make a wedding email to keep all communication with vendors in one spot. That was a HUGE help for them when planning!

Kacie and Steve were looking forward to their wedding day for a long time. They couldn’t wait to say I do, dance with all of their family and closest friends, and eat amazing food! These two mini mooned in Cape May following their wedding and then in December, they are going on their honeymoon to Curacao!

Thank you to Kacie and Steve for choosing me to photograph your beautiful September Wedding at The Bradford Estate!