Jersey City Winter Engagement Session | Juliana + Adam

Liberty State Park & Paulus Hook | Jersey City, NJ

My first engagement session of the year is my favorite one to date! 2024 will be an exceptional year because my sister Juliana is getting married! It was such an honor to capture this Jersey City engagement session for her. Juliana and Adam are having their wedding in Jersey City this December, so what better place to capture their engagement photos than Liberty State Park?!

Their Jersey City Engagement Session

We spent a cold February afternoon running around Liberty State Park for their session! Although it was ice cold (it had just snowed the day before!) and super windy by the water, Juliana and Adam were so fun to have in front of the camera. I always have a wonderful time capturing photos for my family and friends!

We started over by the iconic Liberty State Park train station until the wind began to pick up, and then we headed to the Paulus Hook area to capture some photos by the marina. Jersey City is one of my favorite and most popular engagement session locations! I can’t get enough of the beautiful skyline views and gorgeous light that comes through during sunset. This day was no exception! The overcast sky created the best natural light, and we ended the day with a beautiful sunset.

How They Met

Juliana and Adam are a Tinder success story! It was June 2018, and she was moving home after finishing grad school in Philadelphia. She was driving back and forth from Philly every few days, moving out of her apartment, and had matched with Adam around that time.

As Adam tells it, “At first, I wasn’t going to message Juliana because she was out of my distance range for Tinder, so I automatically thought she had paid for an account and that she was a catfish. It wasn’t until one night that I let a friend go through my Tinder. He recognized Juliana and told me who she was. Then, since Juliana had a private Instagram account, my friend let me see Juliana’s page on his account so I could see her profile. I confirmed she was not a catfish and messaged her the next day. Also, once Juliana and I met, she told me how she was moving out of Philly and driving back and forth a lot, which clarified the constant change in her distance range from me, lol.”

For their first date, Juliana and Adam met for coffee and a walk in Montclair. They stayed at the coffee shop for a bit and then went for a walk and talked for hours. They learned they had a lot of things in common and felt like they could’ve continued talking until they both ran out of air – time went by so quickly! Adam walked Juliana to her car, and they continued to text and talk to each other on the phone between dates until they became official.

The Proposal

Juliana tells the story best, so here’s what she shared with me!

Adam and I got engaged on December 10, 2023. I showed him some rings I liked so I knew he would propose. I just didn’t know when he was going to do it. We actually had an argument the day before he proposed. On the day he proposed, we went to get coffee at this coffee shop in Verona we’ve been wanting to try and take a walk in Verona Park. Getting coffee or making coffee and going for a walk is something we do frequently, so I didn’t think anything of it. Verona Park is where we had one of our first few dates and where Adam told me he felt like God brought me into his life.”

I thought we would talk about why we argued the day before and what happened so I was ready to discuss our misunderstanding. So, I asked Adam if I could start the conversation, and he said, ‘No,’ lol.” As I sipped my coffee, Adam began to say all these sweet things about me and our relationship. I realized what was happening, but I kind of blacked out because I wasn’t expecting it to happen! I remember Adam saying, “I love you, and I want you to be in my life for the rest of my life. Will you please be my wife?

I was shaking, I was so happy, and I said YES! And we couldn’t wait to tell our families! Then we left because it started to rain after Adam finished proposing!”

Their Dreamy Winter Wedding Plans

Juliana and Adam are getting married on Juliana’s 30th birthday at Hudson House this December! My sweet friend and mentor, Lizzie, will photograph their wedding day, but I will bring my camera along to capture some in-between moments throughout the day!

Juliana and Adam, thank you so much for letting me capture your engagement photos and take a role in helping you plan your special day! I can’t wait to celebrate with you both all year long!