A Castle Wedding at Skylands Manor - by NYC planner Tara M. Events

For their rustic, elegant summer wedding Skylands Manor, a castle in the New Jersey botanical gardens, was the perfect venue for our New York bride and groom Mandy and Justin. The wedding had a vibrant, garden inspired vibe, with the summer perennials in full blossom surrounding the lush castle grounds. Brightly colored coral, green and yellow florals accented the wedding ceremony which took place by the lilly pond overlooking the trees. The bride and groom also incorporated beautiful traditional Chinese elements and a tea ceremony into their wedding, planned by New York wedding planner Tara M. Events.

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Our bride Mandy had 3 wedding dresses. An elegant Rosa Clara wedding gown for the ceremony, a red hot lace dress for the Chinese Tea ceremony, and a pink princess ball gown to party the night away. She had matching shoes too as well as something blue :-)

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The wedding venue, a castle in the botanical gardens was straight out of a fairytale with green ivy creeping up the castle walls set on sprawling grounds overlooking the forest and mountains. The bride choose honey jars and honey balms in mini jute sacks from a local farm for the wedding favors. They were a big hit with the wedding guests.

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The groom Justin's favorite color is yellow and Mandy's name means Rose, so they incorporated yellow and blush roses, and cala lilies into their rustic, romantic wedding florals. 

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The groom's mother brought red sweet candy's from China to the ceremony as something sweet to be consumed by the guests symbolizing a sweet life together. 

The wedding ceremony took place outdoors by the Lilly pond. There were big bright goldfish swimming in the pond.

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Everyone waited with baited breath as the acoustic violin duo played signaling Mandy's bridal walk down the asile with her parents.

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Kissed by a rose at the Lilly pond. The first kiss of the newly married Mr. & Mrs, ready to embark on their happily ever after with their closest friends and family. 

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The bride and groom stun in red for the Chinese tea ceremony. Serving tea to their parents. 

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The "guestbook" with little wooden messages and wishes.

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The groom prepared a surprise love song that he sang to his new bring on the guitar. Then the party started and everyone got loose on the dancefloor with some intense moves :-) :-) hihi.  The maid on honer even caught the bridal bouquet during the bouquet toss. Get'm girls!!

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The wedding party and family spent the night in the castle suites and there were no ghosts. Also they lived happily ever after. Cheers to Mandy & Justin and to their happily ever after, and congratulations from all the wedding planners, wedding vendors and the entire wedding planning team at Tara M. Events.

Photography by New York wedding photographer EIN Photography