Gillian & Ryan had an absolutely perfect Ocean City Yacht Club wedding! I met Gillian a while back and she was a bridesmaid at a wedding I photographed about a month earlier. She did an incredible job with her planning and timeline so her day ran smooth like butter. The girls started out in a rented house in Ocean City just off the boardwalk. After photographing all her beautiful details it was time to head over to meet Ryan for the couple’s first look on the wedding day.
We photographed the couple and the bridal party on the beach very close to where their Ocean City Yacht Club Wedding was going to take place. They looked amazing on the rock jetty and with a small set of small catamaran sailboats that were on the beach ready to be launched.
Ceremony & Reception: Ocean City Yacht Club
Florist: The Manic Botanic
Bride’s Dress: Irma’s Bridal
About the Ocean City Yacht Club
The Ocean City Yacht Club sits at the south end of Bay Avenue, right where the Great Egg Harbor Bay opens up into the back bays of Ocean City and Somers Point. Founded in 1923, it is one of the oldest yacht clubs on the Jersey Shore and was rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy with full bay-facing windows in the ballroom. The ceremony deck looks straight west, so sunset ceremonies here get the kind of pink-and-orange sky people fly to Key West for. Fun planning fact: the club is a five-minute walk to the boardwalk and beach, so you can do bride-and-bridesmaid portraits on the sand and ceremony on the bay without ever needing a shuttle. Boat arrivals are also a yes here, if your groomsmen are into that.
A Smooth, Bayfront Wedding Day
Gillian and Ryan’s timeline gave us a full afternoon to play. After detail and first-look coverage, we headed straight to the rock jetty for portraits with the small catamaran sailboats lined up on the sand. The bridal party shots on the beach took maybe 25 minutes, and we still had time for a second portrait round during cocktail hour with the bay reflecting the late-afternoon light. Ryan’s gold-glitter-shoe reveal turned into one of the day’s best laughs, and Gillian had pulled the whole color palette together so well that even the boutonnieres matched her bridesmaids’ bouquets exactly.
Ocean City Beach Wedding Ceremony
The ceremony took place on the public beach in Ocean City and all the beachgoers were in awe of the wonderful exchange of vows. Beach weddings are amazing. The fact that you are barefoot shooting a wedding always feels unreal to me! One other side note that I promise to take some random photographs of strangers on the beach and slip them into your proofs for a laugh.
Ocean City Yacht Club Wedding Reception
The reception was at The Ocean City Yacht Club overlooking the bay. Their guests loved the music and were ready to party until the very last second of their reception. If you can I highly suggest to go outside for a few night photographs. The docks lit up at night are incredible! I had an amazing day with Gillian and Ryan and we created an stunning album for them. Best wishes!
Check out more Tia & Brian’s Windows on the Water wedding
Vendor Team
- Ceremony & Reception: Ocean City Yacht Club
- Florist: The Manic Botanic
- Bride’s Dress: Irma’s Bridal
Planning a Jersey Shore Wedding?
If a bayfront ceremony with sand-portrait access is on your list, see our full guide to the 7 best Jersey Shore wedding venues for how Ocean City Yacht Club stacks up against Bonnet Island, Icona Avalon, and Mallard Island. Gillian and Ryan’s day is still one of our smoothest shore weddings on record.