Colts Neck might first best be known for it's famous residents, such as:
However. I best know Colts Neck as the site of beautiful rolling fields and lawns, lovely places to get married, and sunny, gorgeous wedding days.
When I look at this picture, I see an amazing couple in love. I see a couple who now has two children, and have been married for many years. I see a couple who I saw just a few years after their wedding at the bride's sister's wedding. I see a new generation in a family, a new branch on the family tree.
I also see a photograph taken after the biggest cautionary tale ever, a story that I tell wedding photographers now and will for years to come. It's a story about how to stay prepared, how anything can happen on a wedding day, and why it's so important to leave more than ample travel time if you're driving or traveling anywhere on a client's wedding day.
My assistant Sandra and I left over two hours more than we needed to drive to this particular wedding. We were going somewhere we'd never been before, and wanted to give ourselves time to get there. We also wanted to complete our usual pre-wedding ritual of having an awesome meal right before we start photographing the day!
About forty-five minutes outside Colts Neck, my SUV blew a tire. No big deal, we had a spare. A quick call to AAA later, we had the spare on the car and were ready to keep going.
Readers, the spare was flat.
Once more for the people in the back : THE SPARE WAS ALSO FLAT.
We ended up having to be towed to a tire repair shop, to buy new tires, and to panic and beg for them to finish so that we could get to work. We didn't get our lunch, but we got to the wedding with a second to spare, a new tire, and hearts that had been hammering a mile a minute for the past several hours.
Wedding photographers, give yourselves time if you're traveling to a wedding. Even if it's not too far away, you never know what can happen. Clients, please know that I take your day very seriously. Seriously enough to leave hours upon hours of extra travel time because you just never know what can happen. Sometimes it's a traffic jam, sometimes it's two flat tires. Either way, you know you've got a wedding photographer who has planned for whatever is thrown her way!
Location: Colts Neck, New Jersey.
Keywords: colts neck (3). Filename: 0149_061210_Morrongiello.jpg. 1/640; f/4.5; ISO 200; 155.0 mm.