It rained in Avalon all morning.

Full cloud, wind coming off the water, and the ocean still rough and breaking white while Brigid was getting ready. It is right there in the window behind her. We drove down expecting cold and grey and that is exactly what we got for the first half of it.

Around two in the afternoon it broke. Completely. The cloud went, the wind quit, the water went flat, and it stayed that way the rest of the day. Sixty five degrees and full sun in the middle of November, and I was standing on a beach wishing I had worn less.

The other thing about a November wedding at the shore is that the sun sets at a quarter to five. Their ceremony started at five.

I wrote that sunset time on their timeline nine months ahead of the day, because it changes how you build the entire schedule. Which is why every daylight photograph on this page was made before the vows, not after.

They got married after dark, indoors, and they picked that on purpose. If you are weighing a late season date here, the ICONA Avalon wedding guide covers what the property gives you month by month.

Getting Ready Above the Dune

Harrison got ready in the bridal suite.

That room is usually the bride’s. The way this one worked out he had it, and he spent the morning in there with his parents. Brigid got ready in her own suite, the one with the balcony facing straight out at the ocean.

We used that balcony. Her with her parents out there, then some quieter frames of her on her own with the dune and the water behind her.

Look at the ocean in those. Flat grey sky, and the surf still breaking white the whole way across from the morning blow. An hour later it was a different day.

Harrison in a blue three piece suit standing at the window of his ICONA Avalon guest suite before the ceremony

Close view of the groom buttoning his jacket over a cream tie, a blush rose boutonniere at his lapel

Flatlay of the wedding invitation with both bands, the engagement ring, ivory heels and blush roses on an oak floor

Panoramic view from a covered oceanfront porch at ICONA Avalon, white railings framing dune grass and the open Atlantic

Ivory block heel sandals with crystal ankle straps balanced on a white porch railing above the Avalon dune

The back of the lace gown being fastened at a bright window, the bride's hair pinned into a low twist

Brigid smiling while her mother and a bridesmaid fasten the back of her lace gown in the suite

Seen through an open door, the bride sits to fasten a shoe while a bridesmaid in mauve kneels to help

Bridal portrait in the suite, veil over one shoulder, holding a bouquet of ivory roses, magnolia leaf and eucalyptus

Black and white portrait of the bride under her veil with one hand resting at her jaw

The bride alone on the oceanfront balcony at ICONA Avalon, back to the camera, veil and train against the dune and surf

A First Look on the Dune Path

By the time we walked out for the first look the cloud was gone.

It turned almost exactly when they did it. The wind dropped off, the water went calm, the sun came out and stayed out. From there it was a completely different wedding day than the one we drove down for.

We did it on the sand dune heading toward the beach. Short walk from the hotel, and it gives you height, dune grass and open sky in the same frame.

I had two cameras on it. A first look only happens once, so a second angle means you get his face and her face from the same second instead of picking one.

Look past them in a few of these. There is fall color in the background of photographs made on a beach. That is how late in the season we were.

The couple walking away up the sand path between split rail fences, the groom carrying her bouquet behind his back

Wide view of the first look on the dune path, the two of them forehead to forehead between weathered fences

The groom laughing as he holds his bride for the first time on the sand path, her lace veil catching the afternoon light

Black and white frame of the bride laughing back over her shoulder in sunglasses, the groom ahead of her

Black and white of the couple walking the sand path with the ICONA Avalon building and its balconies behind them

Black and white on the open beach, the bride at a fence post in the foreground and the groom standing back in the sand

Backlit close portrait, foreheads touching, the blush rose boutonniere sharp at the edge of the frame

Full length portrait of the couple on the Avalon dune, beach grass behind them and a clear November sky above

The Wedding Party on the Beach

Bring sunglasses.

I tell every couple this and this wedding is the argument for it. A beach in the middle of the day is bright enough that everybody squints, and squinting is what wrecks a group photograph. Sunglasses fix it. You can put them on and take them off between setups, most people would be wearing them anyway, and they look cool.

Almost this entire wedding party had them. The beach frames are better for it.

We worked them on the sand and then back up on the dune. There are two or three spots coming onto the beach in Avalon where the light is genuinely good, and I use them every single time.

Black and white of the groom with his groomsmen and the ring bearer in grey suits standing on the beach

The full wedding party walking the sand together, bridesmaids in mauve and groomsmen in slate blue

The couple at the surf line reflected in a sheet of wet sand, the frame split between them and the mirror image

The bride with her four bridesmaids and the flower girl, all in mauve, holding blush and ivory bouquets

Autumn Portraits Off the Path

Then I drove Brigid and Harrison out to my fall spot.

It is a long hidden pathway with rolling sand dunes on both sides. Once the leaves turn it stops looking like a shore town at all. It looks like a botanical garden.

People see these and assume we drove inland to an arboretum somewhere. We did not. This is Avalon, New Jersey, a few minutes from the hotel.

It only works for about three weeks a year. That is one of the better arguments for a late season date and almost nobody makes it.

The couple kissing on a paved path under gold and green autumn foliage, the bouquet set down beside them

Black and white of the pair kissing under her veil as it lifts and crosses the whole frame in the wind

Black and white portrait, the bride looking out past the camera with the groom's head lowered to her shoulder

Full length bridal portrait beside a split rail fence, the lace train fanned out across the path behind her

The couple walking away down the fenced sand path toward a thin line of ocean on the horizon

The Ceremony Space, Set and Empty

This is where they got married, photographed before anybody sat down.

It is a covered space beside the pool. The side walls and the backdrop are movable faux boxwood panels, so the room gets built to the guest count and the pool deck disappears behind greenery. White louvered roof, fans and heaters mounted into the beams, pale stone floor.

ICONA calls it the Veranda. Their own site lists it under cocktail hour rather than ceremonies, so if you are trying to research it before you book there is almost nothing out there. The ICONA Avalon wedding guide goes further into how the property handles a ceremony that is not on the sand.

The pool is right outside. We stepped out there for a few frames of the two of them, and the family groups happened in the same corner of the property.

The ICONA Avalon ceremony space set and empty, chairs in rows under a white slatted ceiling, faux boxwood panels screening both sides and forming the backdrop

A hand lettered reserved sign hanging by twine from the back of a limewashed chair in the front row

The couple standing forehead to forehead on the pool deck, mirrored in the still blue water in front of them

Family group portrait on the deck against a dark stained wood wall, the flower girl and ring bearer in front

Sunset on the Bay Before the Vows

Before the ceremony, not after it, I drove them to the bay.

This is the part of a November wedding that couples do not think about until it is too late. The sun is gone before five. You cannot schedule that light after the ceremony, because there is no after.

So we took it early. Stone Harbor Bay Marina Park, about ten minutes from the hotel. Flat water, old dock pilings, a gull that would not leave, and the whole sky going orange behind them.

We were back at ICONA with time to spare. The frame of the building is at one minute past five in the evening. Look at the sky in it.

A gull standing on a weathered dock rail with the bay going gold behind it

The couple walking a bayfront promenade past lamp posts hung with Stone Harbor Bay Marina Park banners

Very close frame of the two about to kiss, the low sun laying a gold path down the bay between their faces

The couple crossing a floating dock hand in hand, numbered pilings seventy five and seventy six standing out of the water

Wide silhouette of the pair at the end of the dock with a gull crossing the gold sunset sky

The ICONA Avalon entrance at dusk, the lit sign on the cupola and a moon over the roofline

An Indoor Ceremony at ICONA Avalon

They could have married on the sand. They chose not to.

It was a timing and logistics call more than a weather one. A five o’clock ceremony in November is a night ceremony, and a beach after dark is a hard room. No light, wind off the open water, sand and heels and 160 guests to move. Bringing it under cover made the whole evening simpler.

Here is what that space is actually like to photograph in.

It is lit from above and it is lit evenly, so once the sun is down the light at the front of the aisle is the same as the light at the back. Nobody is backlit. Nobody is sitting in a hot spot. The greenery walls are dark, so faces separate from the background instead of sinking into it. It is quieter than the beach, so the vows carry to the back row. And the heaters overhead hold the temperature, which matters in November when half the room is in sleeveless dresses.

Brigid came in with both her parents, one on each arm.

The whole ceremony ran about twelve minutes. She walked in at five past five and the flower girl and the ring bearer were heading back out at 5:16.

If you are looking at a late season date here and wondering whether indoors is a compromise, it is not.

The processional, the bride entering on her father's arm into the covered ceremony space, guests standing and greenery panels down both walls

Vows at the greenery wall, hands joined between them, the officiant reading from a folder

The first kiss in front of the boxwood wall, bridesmaids lifting their bouquets and the flower girl watching

The couple walking back up the aisle together after the ceremony, both laughing, guests seated on either side

The flower girl and ring bearer walking back down the petal strewn aisle, grinning at each other

Cocktail Hour and the Room

The seating chart was a mirror in a heavy white frame with greenery grown over it and lanterns at the base. Their names were written on glass in front of the cake.

The reception is in the main room. Round tables, chandeliers, wood floor.

The thing worth knowing is the back room. It has glass doors with curtains that open right up, so the space extends into a lounge with real couch furniture in it. They had it open all night.

That becomes the room where the people who want to talk go and sit, away from the volume, without leaving the party. Every wedding needs one of those and most venues do not have one.

The seating chart written in white calligraphy on an antique mirror, palm and greenery above it, lanterns and a low arrangement at its foot

The four tier buttercream cake with a calligraphy topper reading Brigid and Harrison, set against a framed shell picture

Close view of the textured buttercream and the ivory garden roses tucked between the tiers

The sweetheart table with a long arrangement of roses, hydrangea and magnolia leaf spilling from a wooden crate

A long table set with floating candles, white hydrangea and champagne poured ahead of the guests

Macaroni and cheese served in black spoons with micro greens on a sauce streaked plate

Panko crusted bites topped with aioli and micro greens, passed on a white plate

The reception room before the guests arrive, round tables under chandeliers and a coffered ceiling

Bacon wrapped bites on picks with sauce drawn in loops across the plate

The guest book table with a gold lantern, trailing greenery and a framed sign reading all because two people fell in love

A lounge area set with wicker sofas and framed floral prints, a single bouquet resting on a cocktail table

The First Dance and the Rest of the Night

First dance under the chandeliers, and then the floor filled and stayed full. Cake at about twenty past nine.

A Friday in November that started under rain and a rough ocean, and ended like this.

Black and white of the first dance beneath a beaded chandelier, the wedding party watching from the edge of the floor

Wide black and white of the same dance, the floor clear and the whole room turned toward the two of them

The groom with an arm in the air on a crowded dance floor, the bride singing beside him

The bride with both arms up mid song, bridesmaids and guests packed in around her

Cutting the buttercream cake together, both of them looking down at the knife

Kissing over the first slice, the bride holding the plate and the groom still holding the fork

The Team

Venue: ICONA Avalon, Avalon, New Jersey
Photography: Jordan Brian Studios
Florals: Primrose
Hair and makeup: Kiss the Bride
Cake: Bake Works
DJ: Greg Schubert, Untouchables Entertainment
Gown: Calla Blanche, from Sposabella
Bridesmaid dresses: Bella Bridesmaids
Suits: Country Bride and Gent
Invitations: Minted

Ready to Start Planning?

If you are planning a wedding at ICONA Avalon, or anywhere along the Jersey Shore, I would love to hear about your day. Get in touch here and let us talk about it.

An Indoor Ceremony at ICONA Avalon: Brigid and Harrison