There’s something almost déjà vu about Ivy and George’s relationship. A nice Greek boy meets a stunning Jewish girl, they fall in love, date for years, build a thriving business together and then tie the knot in a nontraditional intimate wedding for their closest friends and family.
Sound familiar? Yeah, that’s pretty much the same story as the one Allison and I have been writing for the past 17 years, except Ivy and George are drop-dead gorgeous and a photographer’s dream to work with. In our case, Allison is super-gorgeous and I’m riding the lumberjack-sexual craze until people realize that I’m just old and bearded.
Let’s go back to George and Ivy. The two are the perfect complement to each other. They are both fitness gurus (they run GT Fitness Concepts in Woodland Park, NJ), they are driven by hard work and integrity and they have this innate ability to calm each other down when one gets a little hot under the collar. They also look absolutely marvelous together.
They wed on a lovely spring day in early May, and we were lucky enough to get unhindered access to a stunning mansion for portraits (courtesy of two of their clients). I’ll let those images speak for themselves, but I have to give it to Ivy, she can pick an exquisite location.
The ceremony and reception was at Chakra in Paramus, a nondescript restaurant off a typical New Jersey highway. Let me clarify; it’s nondescript until you actually walk through the doors. The staff at Chakra did an unbelievable job dressing the room in silks scarves and candles, with purple and pink uplighting washing over the restaurant’s rustic brick walls.
The ceremony was presided over by Mitch the Minister; hands down the best officiant in the business. Not only did he do a stellar job balancing the emotional weight of the vows of marriage with his particular style of humor, but he made sure to stay out of key photographs, making my job way easier.
The rest of the evening was jam packed with dance floor debauchery and a DJ set that could easily have been featured at one of the top nightclubs in Manhattan. Not that I would know, but this was definitely not a Black Eyed Peas crowd. Ivy and George shared a slice of cake designed by Palermo Bakery to look like Arabian pillows stacked on top of each other. The cake was so perfect that it was almost a shame to cut into it. Luckily it tasted as good as it looked. Best wishes, Ivy and George, on a wonderful wedding and many years of happy memories to come. I promise to come to you if I ever get serious about getting in shape, which will definitely be after the holidays… I swear.
Check out Ivy & George’s Chakra Wedding Photos:
VENDOR INFO
Cake Designer
Palermo Bakery
Ridgefield Park, NJ
www.palmerobakery.com
DJ
Elite Entertainment (DJ Kris Abrahamson)
Tinton Falls, NJ
www.eliteentertainment.com
Ceremony & Reception Hall
Chakra Restaurant
Paramus, NJ
www.chakrastaurant.com
Florist Evention
Glen Rock, NJ
www.evention.com
Wedding Gown
Park Avenue Bridals
Verona, NJ
www.parkavenuebridals.com
Officiant
Minister Mitchell S. Maged
Oakland, NJ
www.mitchtheminister.com
