Morgan and Ahmed are a down to earth couple who loves the outdoors. Even though they live in Philadelphia, a beach wedding felt just right for them. Long Beach Island has a special place in their hearts. Their Sea Shell Resort wedding perfectly blended thoughtful planning and spontaneous moments. Their beachy portraits and fun candid photos give you a great sense of the loving, lighthearted energy of the day.
The Sea Shell Resort and Beach Club is a Long Beach Island wedding venue right on the shore. They’re not exaggerating when they say you can walk out of your room and onto the beach. That’s one of the big draws for a lot of people who get married here. You can actually have your ceremony on the sand between towering palm trees.
If you’re going for a big beach celebration, the Sea Shell Resort could be perfect for you. This New Jersey wedding venue can accommodate over 200 guests. As a resort, it’s well-equipped to take care of everything from chairs to catering as well. People even praise the food – something you don’t see at a lot of all-inclusive wedding venues.
One thing the Sea Shell really prides itself on is creating a seamless wedding day experience. Ceremonies take place on a private beach. Then guests move to the pool area for cocktail hour amid the tiki huts. Finally, the reception takes place in a special reception room.
The Sea Shell Resort is a great place to host a wedding in part because it combines everything you need – a venue, lodging, and even restaurants. Guests can drive in for the day or spend a whole long weekend there. It’s nice that you can get ready without running between locations too.
As I mentioned earlier, Morgan and Ahmed actually live in Philadelphia, but they love Long Beach Island. Morgan grew up vacationing there with her grandparents. It’s a big reason they ended up getting married at the Sea Shell Resort.
Since Morgan and Ahmed know Long Beach Island so well, they were able to pick meaningful locations for different moments in their wedding day. Their first look was especially touching. They chose to have it at Beach 1 because that’s where Morgan went with her grandparents.
Family is obviously important to these two. They both come from big, kind, welcoming families. Morgan and Ahmed couldn’t wait to get everyone together. Some of Ahmed’s family even traveled from Egypt for the wedding. After their New Jersey wedding, Morgan and Ahmed headed to Egypt to celebrate with the rest of the family there.
When I say that this Sea Shell Resort wedding was laidback, I don’t mean that they were lax on planning. Just the opposite! Morgan and Ahmed planned their wedding day really well to include the details and moments that meant the most to them. They just had the most amazing attitude about the unpredictable challenges that popped up that day.
On the day of Morgan and Ahmed’s wedding, it rained heavily. I mean, it poured to the point that a lot of roads around Long Beach Island flooded. The Sea Shell Resort doesn’t have covered options either. It very much relies on the beach. If Morgan and Ahmed had gotten stressed, it would have been totally understandable. Instead, everyone stayed calm and optimistic, and the storm passed.
Morgan and Ahmed’s photos have so many moments of pure joy. Even out in the wind with the ocean churning behind them, you can tell there’s nowhere they’d rather be than with each other. When you look at the portraits, you can see all the dramatic shades of blue and green that the storm brought to the shore. It makes such an amazing contrast with how lighthearted everyone is feeling.
The reception was full of spontaneous laughter and bold dance moves. I took a more candid approach to capturing the celebration exactly as it was. You can feel the energy from the dance floor in these images.
Are you interested in having me photograph your wedding? I’m Rebecca, a New Jersey wedding photographer. I’ll document your most meaningful moments with photos that are true to you. Reach out to me here!
As a wedding and elopement photographer based in New Jersey, I specialize in capturing enchanting moments that tell the unique love stories of my clients. I am dedicated to providing LGBTQIA+ friendly services and take pride in embracing and celebrating the diversity of all couples.