Perona Farms Wedding Venue in Andover, NJ

The Perona Farms wedding venue was first started in 1917 in Andover Township, New Jersey and still remains there to this day. Family owned and operated for over 100 years, this beautiful North Jersey wedding venue has been extensively updated over time to remain current, while still offering their guests old world charm in a surprisingly upscale country setting. This sprawling estate is home to several different venues, perfectly landscaped gardens, multiple outdoor patios, an on-site orchard and beautiful Perona Lake. Multiple outdoor areas include three different ceremony locations, two cocktail hour patios and upon request, a field that offers brides, grooms and their guests an evening fireworks display.

Perona Farms offers it’s guests countless options for creative wedding photographs. From Perona Lake and it’s own island, to the historic barn and it’s gardens, not to mention the wooded pathway that is lined with gorgeous trees. I’ve shot at the Perona Farms wedding venue around a dozen times and I can say from personal experience, that this North Jersey venue has everything you could possibly desire for your wedding photos.

Not only does Perona Farms offer its clients endless options for wedding photographs but they now also offer the option of bride and groom suites. Looking to relax before your wedding day begins? These suites are jam packed with amenities ranging from big screen TVs, foosball tables, fully stocked liquor cabinets and beer fridges, comfy couches and your own personal kitchen. Did I mention that Perona Farms gives you your very own personal attendant to make sure your every need is taken care of? If you end up visiting Perona Farms, make sure to ask for Samantha. She is a wonderful bridal attendant and does everything she can to make sure your stay is as magical as possible.

No matter what your style, the Perona Farms wedding venue in Andover, NJ has your covered with three different ceremony spaces. The Barn, The Reserve and The Venetian all offers patrons a completely different vibe and appeal. I’ve shot weddings at all three locations and each one is a highly enjoyable space. Their reception rooms can host parties for as little as 30 guests all the way up to a massive 300 guests.

Originally built in the 1930s and extensively upgraded over time, The Barn at Perona Farms can comfortable hold up to 150 guests without being too crowded. If you’re looking for a rustic barn themed north jersey wedding, Perona Farms has you fully covered. Like all other couples, brides and grooms who choose The Barn at Perona Farms for their wedding day have the option of either an indoor ceremony or outdoor ceremony space.

The Reserve at Perona Farms recently opened in March of 2018 and features an on-site apple orchard, both an indoor and outdoor ceremony space option and a completely new redesigned rustic themed ballroom. I recently took a tour of Perona Farms new areas and I must say they did a fantastic job with the renovations. The ballroom is completely transformed and now offers it’s guests a very upscale, rustic theme complete with beautiful new chandeliers, new wood time and stone accents all through the room. It really is a gorgeous ballroom.

The Venetian room at Perona Farms has a conveniently located indoor bar, an indoor and outdoor option for your ceremony and a dedicated DJ area so that your guests are never “on top” of your music. The Venetian room is also directly connected to your outdoor cocktail hour space, so your guests never have to walk far to get where they need to be.

Hungry? No problem! Perona Farms has their very own on-site greenhouse for growing numerous different types of fruits and vegetables which they use throughout their extensive menu. They not only have a greenhouse, but also a smokehouse. This gives them the option of providing delicious smoked meets and fishes upon request. The best detail is your food is only picked moments before it is plated so you have the freshest ingredients possible. No matter what time of year, the Perona Farms culinary staff develops new and extensive menus all year round, so you will have something new to try each time you visit this fantastic North Jersey wedding and event venue.

Since I have photographed so many weddings at Perona Farms in Andover, NJ, I can tell you from my vast experience that this is a great North Jersey wedding venue. Their property is gigantic, their food is fantastic and their staff is extremely helpful. They are also very friendly to all wedding vendors which is a real plus. Some venues can be downright rude to your vendors, making it harder for them to do their jobs. Not Perona Farms! They do whatever they can to make sure each vendor has what they need in order for everyone to work together in harmony to make sure your day is a big success. That is the kind of service you want at a wedding venue, especially when you’re spending this kind of money for a once in a lifetime day like your wedding.

Perona Farms in Andover, NJ is the perfect Note Jersey venue for the following types of events:

• Weddings
• Bar/Bat Mitzvahs
• Bridal Showers and Engagement Parties
• Birthday Parties and Special Events
• Anniversaries and Family Gatherings
• Corporate Dinners and Holiday Parties
• Baby Showers

Interesting in booking Perona Farms for your wedding day? Here is detailed list of what makes Perona a perfect North Jersey venue and event space.

• Three different event spaces all on one property, giving you endless options for your wedding day
• Multiple ballrooms and both indoor/outdoor cocktail hour spaces
• Gorgeous landscaped lawns, beautiful trees, their very own lake and even an adorable little bridge
• Plenty of wedding photo opportunities throughout their grounds – they even provide a large golf cart to chauffeur you and your guests around the large property
• On-site greenhouse providing you and your guests with incredibly fresh fruits and vegetables
• On-site smokehouse that offers guests the options of delicious, fresh smoked meats and fish
• From the moment you arrive, your very own bridal attendant will see to your every need
• Friendly, knowledgeable and highly experienced waitstaff
• Perfect for events of all sizes ranging from as little as 30 guests, all the way up to 300 guests
• Recently updated bride and groom suites provide you and your bridal party with a place to relax before the start of your wedding day
• Beautifully crafted wedding menus, signature cocktails and a large beer selection
• The option of outdoor fireworks or a sparkler exit to send your guests off in style

About Jennifer and Travis’ beautiful Perona Farms Wedding Day

On the morning of their wedding day, I arrived at Perona Farms early in order to setup the bride and groom’s photo booth. Jennifer and Travis added on my photo booth package to their wedding day and needless to say, their guests had an absolute blast. I bring more unique wedding props than any other photo booth in the trig-state area. It’s not even close to being a competition.

Interested in a wedding photo booth for your New Jersey wedding? Here is just a shortened version of my prop list:

• Stars Wars masks including talking Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Master Yoda, Storm Trooper Helmet plus full sized light sabers and other misc Star Wars movie props
• HUGE oversized plush masks including but not limited to: Bunny, Bear, Sloth, Raphael from TMNT, Spongebob Squarepants, Deadpool, Chewbacca, Scooby Doo, Shark, Panda and Llama
• Super Mario hats and masks
• Movie and video game weapon replicas including King Leonidas’ blade from 300, Axes and Hammers from World of Warcraft, Link’s Master Sword from Legend of Zelda and Captain America’s full size 24 inch shield and my personal favorite, Kratos’ new axe from God of War 4
• Tons and tons of emojis masks, including Poop Emoji!
• Day of the dead eye masks for the ladies
• Mardi Gras style masks and headpieces
• More ears than you can imagine – bunny ears, cat ears, pikachu ears, playboy bunny ears and much more!
• Endless amount of funky glasses and steampunk styled goggles
• Wacky horse head masks, zebra masks, unicorn masks, panda masks, pigeon masks and more!
• Video game props such as Mega Man’s real light up LED helmet and Master Chief’s real spartan helmet
• More hats than you can handle – bride’s hats, asian hats, cowboys hats and many, many more
• Necklaces, oversized jewelry, hawaiian leis and Mardi Gras beads
• Super hero masks including but not limited to Spider Man, Wolverine, Batman, Captain America, Iron Man and The Hulk
• Minecraft mask, Itchy and Scratch masks and Jason Voorhees’ mask from Friday the 13th

See what I mean? There is simply no competition. Your guests will be blown away when they see my booth at your wedding day.

The girls started their day at a salon called The Arrangement in Ledgewood, New Jersey. The bride and her bridesmaids had their hair styled and their makeup professionally applied. Everyone looked gorgeous! I made sure to capture plenty of smiling faces, group photos and all the action that happened at the salon. As you can tell from the photographs in their wedding gallery, all the girls had a great time having at the salon. Once the women had finished up at The Arrangement salon, we all left to head over to Perona Farms to finish the getting ready portion of their day utilizing both the bridal suite and the groom suite.

Upon arrive at Perona Farms, the girls headed to their suite and the boy’s headed to theirs. The men enjoy numerous cold beers while the ladies enjoyed an ice cold champagne toast. Like I do with all weddings, I always photograph the bride and groom’s details before everyone starts getting dressed. The bride’s unique shoes, beautiful wedding dress, heirloom jewelry, invitations, perfume and wedding/engagement rings. Nothing goes un-photographed. Not to mention the groom’s tux, his shoes, watch, cologne and any other misc details he may have like the groomsmen’s gifts. After all the details have been photographed, I finish up the “getting ready” portion of their day by photographing all the girls in their beautiful dresses before we head out to the couple’s first look.

On the day of their wedding, the bride and groom chose to have a first look at Perona Farms. A first look between a bride and groom is great for numerous reasons. Instead of seeing each other for the first time at the start of their ceremony, the bride and groom can now spend an extended period of time together and make this moment last. Most couples don’t realize that once you see the bride coming down the aisle, that moment is over in just a few short seconds and you’re now going straight into your ceremony. Like I said before, with a first look, this time is extended so the bride and groom can take it all in. Not only does this make for a more enjoyable experience for the bride and groom, but it also helps with the schedule of the day. If the couple opts for a first look, we are able to immediately head into all the other photographs of their day and get them accomplished well before ceremony time. This means that the happy couple can head straight to cocktail hour and enjoy this time with their friends and family, instead of spending it taking photographs away from the party.

After Jennifer & Travis had their first look, we headed immediately into the rest of their photographs. I quickly and easily took them around the Perona Farms property to shoot a ton of really great creative photos of the two of them together. Getting the bride and groom to interact naturally together is in my opinion the best way get your couple to relax. Of course a little bit of direction is always helpful but you never want to overwhelm your clients by shouting or barking orders at them. Let these moments happen naturally by suggesting poses the couple is comfortable with and capture the emotion that comes out naturally from these scenarios.

Once we were finished with the bride and groom’s photographs, we invited the bridal party to join us. Good thing we finished when we did because we were fighting the rain all day. I quickly grouped the bridal party together, photographed a combination of fun, off the cuff poses and we were on our way into the venue to complete the formal group photographs. We made it just in time before the rain really started to come down.

We headed up into the barn where Jennifer and Travis chose to have their wedding ceremony. It was decorated from wall to wall. I have to admit, it looked amazing! Perona Farm’s rustic barn really is a gorgeous place to shoot in. I feel very lucky each and every time I get to work there. I quickly setup for their formal group photos and we started right away with our list. When my couples sign with me, I provide them with extensive amounts of paperwork to help guide them through your day. Once of those papers is the formal group photo list. This list contains all the typical formal configurations one would expect to see on a wedding day such as bride and groom, bride and groom and parents, bride and groom plus maid of honor and best man, etc… I provide this to my clients in order to help them craft a list of their most important group photos that they would like captured on their wedding day. I consider this part of my job as a wedding photographer.

The wedding group photographs were complete and the guests were starting to arrive for the bride and groom’s official wedding ceremony. Everyone took their seats and we were off. Their ceremony was absolutely beautiful and filled with many emotional moments. I always use a Canon 70-200 f2.8 ii to photograph ceremony which allows me to start nice and far away from my couple and their bridal party. This allows them to not feel my presence and to relax and be themselves. I also don’t want to block any view from the audience.

Their ceremony was complete and they were off to cocktail hour. During this time I always photograph the details of the ballroom and setup my photography equipment for the start of the reception. It’s also basically the first time I will have had a short break since the day began and it’s a good time to feed myself before the evening begins. Once the ballroom details were officially photographed, I checked my photo booth equipment to make sure everything was setup properly. Once the guests start to pile into the ballroom, it is always a mad rush to the booth and it can become quite overwhelming. The last thing you want to be doing is fiddling around with your equipment during this exciting time.

Overall, the couple’s reception went off without even a single issue. Perona Farms and their staff did an amazing job. Everyone enjoyed the food, the desserts, the dancing and the couple’s own signature cocktail. Did I mention that everyone at their wedding absolutely raved about my photo booth? Because they sure did! Everyone had a blast. They couldn’t stop talking about the sheer amount of awesome props. The booth was crowded from the start of the evening all the way up until the very end. The DJ even had to make an announcement for guests to please sit down for dinner! Haha

All the other vendors helped make Jennifer and Travis’ wedding day a huge success. Like I said before, Perona Farms did a great job and their staff was a pleasure to work with. I want to personally thank Jennifer and Travis’ for allowing the pleasure of photographing their wedding day. They were an absolute delight to work for. I wish them nothing but health, happiness and many years of love.

If you wish to inquire about my services for your wedding day feel free to contact me at info@ryansandsphotography.com. I’ll be happy to answer any and all of your questions. PLEASE NOTE: I typically book 1-2 years in advance and only book one wedding/event per day. All available dates are on a first come, first serve basis and dates cannot be held without a signed contract and retainer.