Natalie & Chris: Summer Wedding with Equestrian Tradition

Hamilton Farm, Gladstone, New Jersey
PHOTOS BY Berit Bizjak

Set in the rolling hills of Somerset County, Hamilton Farm has hosted some of New Jersey’s most celebrated equestrian events for more than a century.

Natalie and Chris were married on Memorial Day weekend, a date they chose deliberately, wanting their color palette to capture the transition from spring to summer while playing into what Natalie describes as the classic, timeless, and romantic feeling of Hamilton Farm. Their ceremony included a handfasting, a Celtic tradition in which the couple’s hands are bound together as a symbol of their union.

For the reception, they decorated the ballroom with tall arrangements on long tables flanking the dance floor, smaller arrangements on the remaining tables, and flowers hanging from the chandeliers, evoking the lush garden atmosphere of the estate. Natalie carried a bouquet made entirely of pink orchids. Chris wore a white-and-black tuxedo, a choice that gave the wedding a subtly modern edge. A live jazz band played through the cocktail hour. Music, Natalie says, was central to how they made the day their own — they selected every piece played during the ceremony themselves.

Given that much of their relationship had unfolded during COVID lockdowns, the wedding felt less like an event and more like a long-awaited exhale, a chance to gather the people they loved and simply celebrate being together.

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