Event Center at Blue Wedding | Bethlehem, PA

Last weekend, I photographed Carolyn and Nick’s Lehigh University ceremony and Event Center at Blue wedding reception in Bethlehem, PA! These college sweetheart met their junior year at Lehigh University so it was only fitting to have their traditional church ceremony on the campus they fell in love at. They had a gorgeous Fall day for their wedding and we were able to use many of the architecture for their portraits! After they said “I do” they partied the night away at their Event Center at Blue reception!

Carolyn and Nick met in college, at a mutual friend’s birthday party their junior year at Lehigh University. While they were in the same major and had many mutual friends, their paths hadn’t crossed until then. Despite only a brief conversation, they hit it off and they both went out of their way to run into each other again the next night. Nick went to the party really hoping that Carolyn would be there, and luckily she had dragged her friends out on a Wednesday night hoping the same thing. After making each other laugh all night, they spent the following afternoon playing beach volleyball, where Nick was impressed by Carolyn’s trash-talking skills even though it wasn’t backed up by any volleyball talent!

A few weeks after they met, Carolyn had a sorority date function. Through a friend, she asked Nick to be her date, and he said yes! She never lets him forget that technically she asked him out and that he wore a flannel with a blazer to a formal event! In spite of his terrible outfit choice, they had a great time and she said yes when he asked her to be his date the following week. The rest is history!

Engaged on 03/14/2020, the proposal: “Nick planned the day of the proposal to be the 4 year ‘anniversary’ of when they celebrated St. Patrick’s day, the day we knew we really liked each other. Nick suggested that they check out a new apartment complex nearby and made sure they were both dressed up “to make a good impression.” The apartment hunt didn’t go great, but that didn’t matter because Nick suggested they walk over to the boardwalk to enjoy the beautiful weather. After their usual walk up and down the boardwalk, they sat down at one of the benches like usual to enjoy the beautiful day. Nervously, Nick pulled out the ring he had been hiding in his coat pocket and got down on one knee, and asked Carolyn to spend the rest of her life with him! Moments later, a couple passing by noticed the proposal and offered to take pictures to remember the day. On the walk back to their apartment, they took a slight detour to the nearby neighborhood bakery where Nick had put in a request for Carolyn’s favorite chocolate cake with the date, 3/14/2020, written in pink frosting to immortalize the date.” Last Fall, I was lucky enough to meet these two in Bradley Beach for their engagement session, which just so happens to be the location of their engagement!

Now married, Nick and Carolyn’s advice to other couples is not to propose the day before a worldwide lockdown. Or do. As multiple people have said to them, if you can survive seeing only each other while cooped up in an apartment together for 12 weeks, you can make it through just about anything. Decide on a venue, photographer, and ceremony location early. Nick was not too stressed about getting them reserved when they did, but in the end Carolyn was definitely right in wanting to get them booked early. Once they got these things planned, a lot of other things fell into place and it has been a lot less stressful going through the wedding process.

Nick was most looking forward to seeing Carolyn walk down the aisle in front of their families and finally being able to call her his wife. Carolyn was most looking forward to getting to marry Nick and spending the rest of their lives together! Thank you to Carolyn and Nick for choosing me to photograph your beautiful Lehigh University and Event Center at Blue wedding!