CONGAREE AND PENN WEDDING PHOTOS - JORDEN + NICK -JACKSONVILLE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

JORDEN + NICK WEDDING PHOTOS

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CONGAREE AND PENN WEDDING PHOTOS; CONGAREE AND PENN WEDDING PICTURES; CONGAREE AND PENN WEDDING; CONGAREE AND PENN; TONYA BEAVER PHOTOGRAPHY; CONGAREE AND PENN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY; CONGAREE AND PENN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER;

Love Story:

How did you two meet?

Nick and I met at The Ritz! He, of course, has bartended there for 15 years now, I had only just started there when I first met him... It was August 2019, Jamie and I had just moved back to Jacksonville, FL from Clearwater, FL for a refreshing start, he would turn 2 in December. We moved in with my sister & brother-in-law and I began searching for a new job.

My long-time friends Kyle and Shelby had been working for Lemon Bar for a year or two and had recently been promoted to Brix & Ritz. They helped get me a job bartending at Brix, (Shelby had already told Nick by that point about how her friend had just moved back to town and they got her a job with them and how he was going to love me haha) So eventually I had my first shift at Ritz just before Halloween, I remember meeting Nick for the first time.

Shelby introduced me to everyone, I remember Nick as a steely, composed, professional-looking, badass. He didn’t wear his glasses yet, he had beautiful, smiley eyes and all his sexy tattoos. I could tell he was a veteran bartender and I definitely wanted to impress him. I used to work every Tuesday night at Brix and I quickly realized Nick and his friend came in every Taco Tuesday.

I started trying to look a little extra nice for my Tuesday shifts. I would say hi and small talk throughout my shift but I never made their drinks because I was terrified he’d judge my bartending! I always told another bartender when they needed another round hahaha. I assumed he thought I was just a silly new girl, little did I know (and I didn’t know until his Best Man's speech at our wedding!) he already had his eye on me! Our next shift together was Halloween night and we got to share a well together (so nervous omg) He dressed as a Yoga Instructor (which meant a t-shirt and glasses) and I had a whole-ass Scar costume I made from scratch to match Jamie who was Simba (cringe).

At one point in the chaos that is bartending for Halloween night in Jax Beach, I tripped slightly and lost my balance, before I knew it Nick already caught me like a friggen sauve ninja, one hand behind my back and looking down at me, it felt like a slow-motion moment in a rom-com movie. Slowly from there we began messaging, he gave me his number first (which he denies to this day). He was extremely respectful of my schedule regarding Jamie and made sure I knew there was no rush to hang out or make anything happen.

Eventually we had our first night hanging out outside of work November 22, 2019. I got out of Brix early, and didn't have to get Jamie until the next morning. I had to wait for Nick to get off at Ritz which meant I drank (his STRONG White Russians mind you) and this led to me, 2 hours later, following him home in my car… I hit his mailbox trying to park, I knocked a plant over trying to hand my jacket and spilled water everywhere, I did NOT puke, which I love.

We stayed up, had drinks, listened to music, and played Uno. Woke up the next morning, no funny business ensued, he went to the gym and I went home to get Jamie. I thought for sure I ruined it and he’d never want to talk to me again. Apparently not, he keeps texting me about my witch powers (????) and later I found out I had blacked out and told him probably everything about my entire friggen life, including how I was born in Salem, MA. SMH.

Somehow I didn’t scare him away and he actually liked my quirkiness and didn’t mind that I had a 2 year old and all kinds of baggage. He met Jamie a couple months later, we brought him to Nick’s house a month or so after that, slowly introducing him to the dogs. Then Jamie and I both started staying the night… Two years later, Nick is my husband and, more importantly, Jamie’s Dad. It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

How did he propose?

Nick’s family was born, raised and still live in St. Croix, one of the US Virgin Islands. He grew up going multiple times a year, I went for my first time with him in April 2021. It was beautiful beyond words, I met his mom for the first time, a whole week without Jamie or responsibilities. We hiked, swam, found seaglass, drank, I didn’t get sunburned! The perfect place to propose, right? WRONG, I waited everyday to turn around and see Nick on one knee and everyday it did not happen.

Two weeks after an emotional roller coaster of a vacation, May 3rd, 2021, we got a day off together and he asked if I wanted to go to St. Augustine, FL which we frequent. I said of course, I knew this was going to be the day. I started putting on much more makeup than usual, found a fancy sundress, and he knew I knew.

Nonetheless, we both go about the day as if we didn’t both know what would happen at the end. We always finish our St. Augustine trips with a walk down the beach on the Matanzas Inlet. It’s my lifelong dream to find a shark tooth someday, so I’m always looking at the sand as we walk, searching. Jamie is running around like a madman, normal.

As I searched for my tooth I found a piece of seaglass, which I had never seen on that beach after probably 50 walks thus far. Since I’m wearing my fancy sundress, I have no pockets and hand my piece to Nick, mens’ clothes have all the pockets. We walk further and arrive at the big beach houses raised on stilts, they are always abandoned or boarded up and we let Jamie run underneath them. On this day, however, there was a truck parked at the first house.

Being the responsible parents we are, we tell Jamie he can’t go to that one because someone is home, we’ll wait til we get to the next one. Being the mischievous Gremlin our 3-year-old was that day, he starts sprinting towards the first house. Immediately infuriated, I chase after him and get to him as he reaches the dune, grab him and he face-plants into the sand. He cries. We took him down to the water to clean him off, now he wants to play in the water. The answer is no. I’m not dealing with/carrying/cleaning a sopping wet, sand infested toddler.

At this point I’m starting to get pretty frustrated from Jamie misbehaving, no proposal yet, it’s been a long day… I try to calm myself down because I know the proposal must be coming soon. We walk, and walk, past the point where we normally turn back, what the heck is going on. I found another piece of seaglass! (what??) I hand it to Nick again, he looks awkward, he hands it back to me? I say, “uhhhh I don’t have pockets remember?” I try to give it back to him, he also has a piece of seaglass in his hand? *confused stares at each other* He kneels down and says:

“Jorden Campbell…”

*long pause* “um...yes?”

“Would you… do me the honor…”

*long pause*? “.......of??”

“Being my wife?”

“Yes (there’s no ring, just seaglass) Um… is there a…”

“Oh!”

He fumbles around and pulls a St. Croix hook ring out of his pocket (literally the only ring I didn’t want as an engagement ring because it looks like a promise ring or a man’s ring), he stands up and starts putting it on my middle finger, to which I say, “The middle finger ?” I was thinking maybe it’s some kinda Island thing and he had a proper engagement ring with a stone for my ring finger. Nope, he takes it off and slides it onto my ring finger.

And that was it.

Very awkward, very anticlimactic, he was very sweaty, Jamie was very sandy. Later I found out he brought a piece of seaglass we had found in St. Croix with him to St. Augustine and he was going to kneel down pretending he found it, he didn’t expect me to find two pieces of my own haha. We drove home and I was surprised to find my family there for a little party, that he actually did very well and I had no idea it was happening.

The next two days I was an emotional wreck, battling with myself to decide if I wanted to complain to Nick or not. Eventually I did, I told him that I was very upset he didn’t propose to me in St. Croix. That he knew I thought he was going to, he could have very easily told me he wasn’t going to do it in St. Croix and to just enjoy the trip.

Instead I was overthinking all the time, putting on a little makeup everywhere we went, heartbroken everyday when it didn’t happen, etc. I told him that I was very upset about his proposal, that he didn’t even tell me he loved me or anything, that I practically said half of it for him. I told him I didn’t like the ring he got me, that it felt like something he picked because he liked it.

That it felt like a man’s ring and I really wanted something that made me feel pretty. It was a horrible day, I felt like a monster, I hated every second of breaking my new fiance’s heart. Surprisingly, he was relieved to hear this is what I was upset about, he thought for two days I was second-guessing our engagement! He said he didn’t care about the ring, we could pick a different one out together, he held me and proposed again, telling me how he loved me and couldn’t wait to spend his life with Jamie and I. It was a crushing decision to share my true feelings with him but I’m very glad I did, I didn’t want him to find out how I really felt years down the line, and I especially didn’t want to start out our engagement with suppressed emotions.

Now we look back and laugh at it. I wear all 3 of my rings: My sentimental hook ring in the middle, my pretty engagement ring on top with my tiny initials inscribed on it, and my dainty wedding band on the bottom. I love my little stack, I know it’s one of a kind. Nick wears his wedding band now and guess what it is? A thick ol’ hook ring from St. Croix, which looks amazing on his big, man finger (proving my point). After the fact, I love that we have matching hook rings, but I especially love that mine is surrounded by shiny things lol

Wedding planning:

How did you decide on your color scheme, flowers, and cake?

Color Scheme:

My first thought for a color was actually purple, but then I remembered my sister’s wedding colors were purple so I didn’t want to do that as well. After looking and looking at all the colors I was getting frustrated, not seeing anything I like. Then I saw one of Nick’s favorite tank tops on the table, a sage green color, and thought DUH.

I don’t know why but for some reason I had subconsciously decided green couldn’t be a wedding color? But when I saw it, I knew. From there I decided sage green would be my main color and primarily white to accompany it, and I chose some pinks for an accent color. I ordered 7 swatches from Azazie and chose Vintage Mauve for my Maid of Honor, my sister, and Desert Rose for my Bridesmaid.

From there it was easier to pick invites and such. My sister kept asking me what kind of earrings and shoes and hair I was thinking about. All the things I hadn’t given any thought to, I was more concerned about the coordinator and the rentals and the venue, etc. She was the best Maid of Honor in that way because those were the things I didn’t want to decide on haha. She found some green earrings and asked if I liked them, asked if I’d want something different or this or that. Ugh. I said I liked them and she said, “I’m just going to get them for you.” And she got them for me. And I loved that.

Nick has been a bartender for the same bar for 15 years and therefore he knows practically everyone. He’s friends with Katy from Coastal Coordinators and they were so, so very amazing and helpful with our wedding. They had a list of their favorite vendors so they had a florist picked already, Tammy with Parkers Events.

Flowers:

I knew I wanted a cascading bouquet for myself (because the stumpy, rounded ones look like broccoli to me) and I knew I wanted primarily white and green with just some pinks. Tammy knew exactly what she was doing, thank goodness, and my bouquet consisted of amnesia roses, quicksand roses, playa blanca roses, blush spray roses , white lisianthus assorted eucalyptus greenery.

Cake:

For the cake, I wanted a donut tier, obviously. We reached out to a few different bakeries around town seeing if they could do a small cake and donuts, but mostly places didn’t make donuts or just seemed a little too pricey. In the end, we special ordered a 6” Dirty Chai cheesecake from the Blueberry Bakery, which is associated with Southern Grounds in San Marco, about 6 days before the wedding.

They were very happy to make it for us, my brother-in-law and his dad picked it up for us on the wedding day because it was conveniently a mile down the road from where the Bridal party was getting ready at his house in San Marco!

For the donuts, we asked my Bridesmaid’s husband to pick up 3 dozen glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme! It was perfect! Just the kind of simple, inexpensive thing we were thinking of. My dad hand-made a cake tier from discs of wood he cut up, he stained it and put it all together totally from scratch, we keep telling him he needs to start his own Etsy shop or something because it was so beautiful and professional-looking.

How did you decide on your invitations, and who did you use?

I’m pretty sure I Googled, “wedding invitations” and liked Minted. I chose their All In One RSVP/Invitation. We didn’t do Save The Dates because its a redundant concept to me. The invitation was its own envelope and the guests just tear off the bottom to send back the RSVP.

So we just paid for one print instead of envelopes and Invites and RSVPs (hell yea.) I chose a pretty, green design called Lovely (also my favorite word) and entered all our info, changed some of the wording to match our vibe. I upgraded to their $15 website thing, was able to make a whole site with all the wedding info for all our guests.

Besides the invite/RSVP and website, I also ordered Thank You favor tags, Stickers and Ceremony Programs. I’ll order Thank You Cards when we get our photos back.

What was the most fun part of wedding planning?

Yikes. I don’t know, I really didn’t have a fun time planning haha. I’m not one of those girls who have dreamt of their wedding day since they were kids, I hate making decisions lol. The Rehearsal was fun, because it was at our house and very informal. I wore overalls, a comfy shirt and no shoes.

Which part did you not like as much?

All the hair I lost from stress.

What are the biggest pieces of advice you wish you would have known before the wedding day.

Dear past self:

You won’t get a good night sleep the night before your wedding, but it’s ok because you get lots of nephew snuggles
It’s hard to do hair with long, fake wedding nails but you look and feel like a badass bitch with them
You will be 15 minutes late to the venue
Jamie is not going to listen like you wish he would
It’s going to rain, a lot, but you’ll love it
You’re supposed to wear your engagement rings all day and put the wedding band on top
The DJ will mispronounce your new last name, but it’s funny
Your dress will be hard to dance in because it’s sopping wet, no one notices
You will have to pay for parking at the garage for the hotel downtown

WEDDING DAY INFORMATION:

Venue: @congareeandpenn

Florist: @parkersevents

Coordinator: @coastalcoordinating

Catering: @efscateringjax

DJ: @djbronz1

Groom’s suit: @menswearhouse

Wedding bands: @sonya.ltd

Bride’s earrings: @clayclay.co

Bridesmaid’s dresses: @azazieofficial

Makeup: @studiobride

Rentals: @eventworksrentals

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