Rock Island Lake Club - Taylor & Luke's Wedding 6/9/23

Taylor & Luke 6/9/23 | Rock Island Lake Club - Sparta, NJ

✨CONGRATULATIONS to THE NEW Mr. & Mrs. Maginnis✨Luke and Taylor’s Wedding Day 6/9/23 - Rock Island Lake Club - Sparta, NJ - Ralph DePiro Photography 📸
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Luke and Taylor…Let me start off by saying this. WHAT AN AMAZING DAY! Knowing Taylor and Luke through mutual friends only made this day THAT much better. Weather was incredible, and these two just had fun, every second of the day. Wedding reception, boy oh boy.. they partied! I mean with @mysticalentertainmentgroup in the house, you know it’s about to be LIT 🔥.
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We cant say enough good things about Taylor and Luke’s wedding day and we are super pumped to show you the results. Let’s take a look at the NEWWW, Mr. & Mrs. Maginnis💍!
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🏠Venue: @rockislandlakeclub
📸Photo: @ralphdepirophotos
🎥Video: @ralphdepirophotos
💇🏻‍♀️Hair: @reveriebeauty.nyc
💄Make up: @reveriebeauty.nyc
👗Dress: @jaeheebridal @allwhowander
💍Rings: @lavianojewelers.warwick
🎤DJ/Band: @mysticalentertainmentgroup
🎂 Cake: @calandrasbakery
💐 Florist: @bellafiori_events
💌 Invitation: @minted

What did you enjoy most about working with the Ralph DePiro Photography Team!?

From the moment we met Ralph, his friendly and very assuring personality had my husband and I excited to work with him. Not only did he do an amazing job with our photos and videos, he was also so timely with communication with both us and our other vendors, and we also simply enjoyed spending time with him and his team. Their genuine interest in making sure our day was the BEST made Luke and I so grateful for them and we wished that they could've put their cameras down and stayed the whole night to celebrate with us!

How did you meet?

Luke and I met on Match in January 2020. We actually did meet earlier in June 2019 at a CrossFit competition however one of my teammates had spilled a whole bag of my Swedish fish (what I use for preworkout) on the ground and admittedly I ran away from our conversation to try to salvage as much candy as I could. Fast forward 6 months, soon after communicating on Match, Luke and I talked on the phone for about 6 hours one Saturday and decided the next day would be a good day to go on our first date.  We had brunch at my favorite restaurant The Helm in Greenwood Lake, NY and the rest is history!

Admittedly I first wrote my answer to this question as "How did you meet Ralph?" thought you'd like this answer... Luke and Taylor met Ralph at a mutual friend's house in Morristown years before getting married. They were very newly dating and Ralph recognized that Luke was very good friends with one of his friends from high school. We all started chatting and Ralph jokingly said "Well whenever you guys get married and need a photographer, I'll be more than willing to help you out!" Taylor told Ralph to slow down that they were so far from getting married, but the joke was on her, after Luke proposed in December 2021, Ralph was their first call! 

How did you get engaged?

Luke proposed in Saratoga Springs, NY on New Year's Eve 2021. Luke asked me to go on a morning walk at one of the many beautiful parks in Saratoga Springs on our first morning there and I obliged despite the weather being 38 degrees, foggy, and lightly raining. I am also unsure how but he convinced me to go without my jacket that day. We walked to the trail head that was covered in ice and slush and started walking cautiously, before I knew it he was down on one knee and I thought he was falling. so I reminded him to walk carefully because of the ice! He asked me to do forever with him and I emphatically said Yes!

Why did you choose your venue?

We chose Rock Island because I always thought that I was going to get married in Lake George (one of my favorite places on earth) and Luke asked if we could also look at some local venues just to see what's out there. After a bit of research, Rock Island fit the lake requirement and once we saw all they had to offer in their wedding packet we knew we had to see it. We toured the venue and we both agreed that we really liked and trusted everyone we met, loved the grounds, and felt like we were at a huge lake house just for our wedding. We also heard that their food was to die for, there was no tasting so we trusted that it would be and in fact, it was!! Our guests still won't stop talking about all the options at cocktail hour and for dinner as well as the take away egg sandwiches they made for everyone. All we had to bring was ourselves, the clothing we wanted to be married in, and all our favorite people and Rock Island took care of the rest to make sure we had the BEST day!

Tell me about your favorite wedding details, and how you came up with them?

Some of our favorite details: matching sunglasses for the groom and his groomsmen as well as the bride and her bridesmaids, pocket blooms for the guys instead of boutineers, all the colorful florals, and all of our football and volleyball memorabilia that we had our at our tailgate station at our cocktail hour. The sunglasses and pocket blooms were all inspiration from pinterest! The colorful florals were inspired by one of my friends that got married at Rock Island before me. All of the football and volleyball memorabilia was important to me and Luke as our experiences in athletics have truly shaped us as people. Usually the tailgate station at RILC is decorated with favorite professional sports team items, but I asked if we could bring our own items and they said yes! We are both coaches and that is an anchor for us in our relationship, so it was so fun to showcase our alma maters and share some of our favorite memories as both athletes and coaches with our guests via our jerseys, some pictures of us playing, and other momentos like championship rings, helmets, and locker name plates.

Were you nervous? How did you squash the nerves?

I think this is different for Luke and I. For me, the bride, I was just very excited. There was little to no nerves as I was just excited to finally marry Luke and set all the planning for the past 1.5 years in motion. I was elated to be surrounded by the people we love and was so ready to start our forever. Luke felt like the beginning of the day was very chill, getting ready surrounded by his family and groomsmen etc but when it came time for the first look, the nerves certainly set in. Admittedly, he felt nervous for such a fleeting time he barely remembers feeling that way! Once we were together it was all excitement and gratitude that we could walk into our next chapter together and celebrate with our favorite people after. 

What was your favorite moment from your wedding day?

This is a tough one, there are probably three favorite moments: our first look was amazing as it was nice to finally see each other and be able to get excited to promise our lives to each other, right after our ceremony RILC served us all our cocktail hour food upstairs so we had about an hour to decompress and enjoy some alone time before joining the party, and lastly but certainly not least, we had a moment during our reception where we were together on the dance floor and we both looked around and saw all of the joy from our favorite people and said to each other "This is amazing, definitely what euphoria feels like".

Did anything go wrong?

We had not one thing go wrong! Luke and I keep saying to each other "I don't know how we pulled all of these things off" because we are so grateful and cannot get over how everything went off without a hitch. It even rained on our wedding day, but the rain held off until our ceremony was done and everyone was inside for cocktail hour. We certainly have our amazing vendors and awesome guests and families to thank for all elements coming together for us to have the best party to kick off our forever! 

How did you feel at the end of the day?

At the end of the day, I asked Luke "Are you glad we had the party?" and he said absolutely! I cannot agree more. There were times during the planning process that he and I were both ready to go to the courthouse and not have to make so many decisions, but in the end we really had the best day and are so grateful for all the people that came to join us! It was truly an amazing experience. 

What advice would you give couples planning their wedding, right now?

The most important advice I give to anyone in the midst of wedding planning is to remind yourself of two things: Remember that in the end your wedding is just a party! AND Remind yourself that your ceremony/the act of getting married is the reason for the party. Whenever I was stressed about making a decision, getting checklists completed, timelines, guest lists, etc. I reminded myself of these things and it helped take all the stress away. Also remember to be grateful for the opportunity to have a wedding no matter how big or small because in the end that means that you have found your person and are starting your forever. Being grateful always keeps things in perspective.