Jaime and Frank are great friends of two of our past couples so we were super excited when they reached out to us about photographing their wedding! They live in Hoboken so we hopped on Skype with them to chat about all the wedding details and I loved hearing Frank’s proposal story firsthand just as much as I loved hearing how productive Jaime had already been in getting items checked off their wedding to-do list. I just love when couples are into planning their wedding! It’s such a fun process and it goes by entirely too fast, if you ask me. It was great to see how excited these two are for their wedding day next year but something that was even more wonderful than that was hearing how much Jaime and Frank are enjoying their engagement, too. This summer they even went on an amazing trip to Ireland together! I’ve always said that the best thing you can do to really know someone is travel with them so when you come home from a trip like that still just as in love as when you left, you know you’ve found yourself a keeper! For Jaime and Frank’s engagement session we started out at Columbus Park where we had beautiful glowy light before changing our backdrop to cobblestone streets and continuing onto the Hoboken waterfront. I just love shooting in urban locations like this one and it contrasts well with the wedding that Jaime and Frank are planning for next year at Windows on the Water at Frogbridge. I cannot wait to see all the details come together – I know it’s going to be a perfect day! Jaime and Frank, thank you for showing us around your favorite neighborhood spots and for choosing us to document your love! We cannot wait for your big day!!
How they met:
Jaime: “It was a Friday night in April. I just finished dinner with two friends in downtown Hoboken. We proceeded to go to 1 Republik Bar, but only stayed for a little bit before leaving to go to a few other places. Little did I know, we’d end up back at 1 Republik later in the night – and I’m so grateful we did.
I was ordering drinks at the bar when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was a random guy asking how tall I was. I automatically begin to think, “Here we go again, some guy shorter than me at the bar is commenting on my height.” (Being 5’11 it happened fairly often) I turn to answer him and notice that he’s actually not that short; he’s just sitting on a stool. I tell him my height and he made a cute remark about how normally women that tall are not that beautiful.
I thought the conversation would stop there, but then he asked me my name. To keep him on his toes, I asked him how to spell it, which he surprisingly did on the first try. The rest of the night is a blur of us in our own little world, getting to know each other. He asked for my number and by the end of the night he made plans for our first date. He even made me put it in my calendar!”
Frank: “I was in Hoboken celebrating getting into law school with my brother and a couple of friends. My one friend wanted to go to the bar 1 Republik to meet his girlfriend. While at the bar, I pulled up a seat at the bar right next to Jaime. Alcohol may or may not have been involved (it definitely was). I eventually turned to Jaime and asked her “How tall are you?” From there it has been nothing but true love.”
Their first date:
Jaime: “Frank picked up a bottle of wine before dinner. This was before I turned him into a wine-o. The bottle of wine was a Port, but because we were both nervous we drank the entire bottle! After dinner, I didn’t want the night to end so I suggested we go to a bar. So after an entire bottle of Port, we threw back a few beers. He walked me home and we had our first kiss outside my apartment. It felt like something out of a fairytale.”
Frank: “Our first date was almost like a blind date due to the fact we were both intoxicated when we first met. We went to Cafe Michellina and we both ordered lobster ravioli. There are two things I will take away most from our date: 1) I bought a bottle of port wine for dinner. Although Jaime called me out for the wine choice, the two of us finished the bottle; and 2) Jaime didn’t want the date to end. While we were walking home, Jaime wanted to go grab drinks. We ended up in a dive bar that is no longer open, and just continued to drink and enjoy each other’s company.”
When they knew they had found the One:
Jaime: “Our third date showed me how thoughtful and kind Frank is. He took me to Cuban Pete’s as a surprise he would not tell me where we were going! After spending some time with him, the conversation was still effortless and our connection grew stronger by the moment. I knew I could tell him anything. That night I text Sam, my matron of honor, saying I knew I met my future husband.”
Frank: “I believe it was on our second date and we went to Cuban Pete’s in Montclair for dinner. I just enjoyed being in her company. We had a great conversation at dinner and I just felt comfortable with her. We continued the date at another dive like bar, and didn’t matter. I just enjoyed being with her and wanted to be in her company as much as possible.”
The proposal:
” Jaime is not an easy person to surprise. We share each other’s location through our iPhones, so I had to go pick out the ring at time I knew she was not going to be able to be able to see my location. One of the rare times this occurred was in February while she was on a flight to California to see her nephew for the first time.
After I chose the ring, I had to figure out how I was going to propose to her. We planned a trip to Ireland at the end of May so I wanted to do it before then, but I also wanted to do it after I finished my finals for law school. So that left me with a two-three week window. After calling Jaime’s parents, my parents, and making sure my brother and her friends were available, I settled on May 7th.
Now between March and the date of proposal I was going back and forth between Jaime’s friends, Sam and Jen, on how I should do the proposal. We threw out the idea of proposing in the park next to our apartment or potentially doing the proposal in the apartment. However, the one request from Jaime was that whenever I did decide to propose, someone would be around to take a photograph or a video.
With this one request in mind, the three of us all came up with the idea of proposing outside our old apartment at 1201 Bloomfield Street. We had our first kiss there. We first lived together here. It just seemed perfect. With Jaime’s friend Jen and her then boyfriend now fiancé Brian living right up the block from the apartment we had a story and a reason for Jaime and I to be by the apartment.
On May 7th, Jaime and I made plans to go to dinner with Jen and Brian, but before going out we were going to stop their apartment for drinks. We got an Uber and as we were heading up 12th street we saw Jen and Brian walking back to their apartment from “parking the car.” I believe we traveled all of ¼ mile from our apartment to where we saw Jen and Brian, so Jaime thought the Uber ride was pointless and really didn’t understand why we couldn’t just pick them up or even just meet them at their apartment. After a few words of encouragement and a couple “this is so stupid” remarks from Jaime, we eventually got out of the Uber and walked along with Jen and Brian.
As we were passing our old apartment building, I told Jaime to slow down because I needed to tie my shoe. As I knelt down in front of our old building, I told Jaime to come over to me, and that point she knew. She repeatedly yelled “No you’re not” and was more or less in a complete state of shock. While this was going on, Jen and Brian were filming and taking pictures.
After she said finally said yes (She put the ring on and took a few pictures before doing so) we headed to Jen and Brian’s for a celebratory drink and to make a few phone calls. After the calls and drinks, we head to Café Michellina, where I surprised Jaime once again, and had our parents, my brother, his fiance, and Jaime’s best friend Sam and her husband Vin waiting for us. It was a great dinner that continued at a bar where we met up with more friends and family.”
One thing they love about each other:
Jaime: “The one thing I love most about Frank is how caring he is , I know he would do anything for me or anyone close to him. He always cares to make everything perfect for me and my family. The first time he met my parents was on my mother’s birthday, so he brought her roses. He actually gave her flowers before he gave me!”
Frank: “I love how caring Jaime is. She cracked the whip on me when it came to law school, and she wanted me to succeed just as much as I wanted myself to succeed. Jaime still makes my lunches and dinners for the week. She invested in our future when I wasn’t able to and has done whatever she can to make sure our lives together are that much better.”
