In 2015, NJ.com launched a new series celebrating New Jersey nuptials. If you would like to be considered for a feature, email weddingsjerseystyle@gmail.com.
In the case of Elizabeth Swern and Ryan Marshall, a student became not the teacher, but the matchmaker.
In 2013, Swern and Marshall were both working for the Burlington County Special Services School in Westhampton. One day Swern had a male student who was in a wheelchair and needed a male staff member to assist him in the bathroom. Marshall, a paraprofessional, was called in to help — and that was the couple's first meeting — in a boy's bathroom in Burlington County.
However, the sparks of love didn't ignite in the bathroom that day — it was the persistence of another student that put the two on their course to happily ever after.
"Ryan was a paraprofessional with another who student who would say, 'Go sit across from Ms. Swern!' so Ryan would have to follow him and then he would get to sit with me at school events," said Swern, who now works at corporate offices of Burlington Coat Factory in Burlington. Marshall also left his paraprofessional position to work for the third-party logistics firm C.H. Robinson.
That student's insistence paid off as Swern and Marshall began dating, and eventually they discovered they had found "the one."
"He brings out all the great things about me, while still loving my faults as well" said Swern. "I'm a better me with him."
THE WEDDING DATE
Marshall proposed to Swern in October 2014 at one of her favorite restaurants, El Vez in Philadelphia. Marshall brought Swern to the restaurant for brunch under the pretense that they were going to go ring shopping because he needed her help. Before they left, Marshall took Swern into the restaurant's photo booth, and proposed to Swern as the photos were being taken — the entire proposal was caught in snapshots.
Photos from the wedding of Elizabeth Swern and Ryan Marshall, at The Westin Mount Laurel, April 2, 2016. (Copyright (C) Tami and Ryan Photography)Marshall's trickery was not finished there though. He told Swern that they'd go back to his place where his mom and her parents were waiting to congratulate them.
Little did Swern know that Marshall had invited all of their collective friends and family to his house for a blow-out, surprise engagement party.
"[That happened] because I had mentioned once that wouldn't it be so easy for him to propose right before a family party [because] it would save me so much time of having to tell everyone," remarked Swern.
The couple decided on April 2, 2016 as their wedding date because it was both the day Swern's grandparents got married, and the length of the engagement seemed right.
"I originally wanted [to get married at the] end of September because how great the weather is, but he wanted an off-season wedding for cost reasons," said Swern. "We got engaged in October 2014, I couldn't handle planning a wedding only 11 months away, and didn't want to wait a year and 11 months to marry him."
THE VENUE
Sometimes mothers-in-law can be right be.
Swern and Marshall hunted through the Philadelphia wedding venue market for the perfect place, but their hunt left them empty-handed. They took the advice/prodding of Marshall's mother and booked an appointment to check out The Westin in Mount Laurel.
"We somewhat reluctantly admitted his mother was right," said Swern. "It fit our budget and was very close to home as my parents live around the corner, less than a five minute drive.
However, location wasn't the only selling point for The Westin. Swern said the staff, the food, and the hotel's atrium — where their cocktail reception would be — was everything they wanted.
Photos from the wedding of Elizabeth Swern and Ryan Marshall, at The Westin Mount Laurel, April 2, 2016. (Copyright (C) Tami and Ryan Photography)"Our cocktail was a raspberry vodka lemonade drink that we both had on our first date in Philadelphia €"called the Little Miss Sunshine. For our wedding day we changed it to the Little Mrs. Sunshine," said Swern.
WHERE THEY SPLURGED
The couple splurged on the wedding photography, which was provided by the husband and wife photography team — Tami & Ryan.
"We definitely didn't want to cut corners here," said Swern, "It's one of the only things you have from a wedding that lasts a lifetime."
WHERE THEY SAVED
The couple paid for most of the wedding themselves, so cutting costs was imperative.
"We made our own centerpieces out of spray painted wine bottles," remarked Swern. "I made all the signs for the reception, cocktail hour and things like that."
The couple caught a break on the cost of flowers from Zallie's Shoprite in Berlin.
"When I told my sister-in-law our price quote for flowers, it was so low she actually said, 'Are you sure you're really getting flowers?'" joked Swern.
HOW THEY MADE THEIR WEDDING SPECIAL
Swern and Marshall incorporated very personal memories into the ceremony, and the reception — honoring a long-time friendship, and the memories of two family members who had passed away.
Marshall had his best friend Greg Sago officiate the ceremony — an honor Marshall had done for Sago in February 2015.
"It felt special having a close friend who knows us well marry us, €"rather than some stranger we hired," said Swern.
Photos from the wedding of Elizabeth Swern and Ryan Marshall, at The Westin Mount Laurel, April 2, 2016. (Copyright (C) Tami and Ryan Photography)Swern incorporated the memory of her grandfather, who had passed away just weeks before the wedding, into two parts of the ceremony. She wore his wedding band around her neck as her necklace for the wedding, and the glass smashed by her husband at the end of the wedding (which was a lightbulb — for safety's sake), was wrapped in her grandfather's handkerchief.
The memory of Marshall's father, who passed away in 2013, was present throughout the wedding. There were photos of him throughout the venue, and Marshall's wedding band, a titanium ring made with wood and deer antler inlay, represented all the times Marshall and his father spent hunting.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS
The officiant's humorous take on the ceremony had the bride giggling throughout the wedding.
"When Greg started speaking I immediately started giggling. I couldn't help it," said Swern." I wasn't really nervous giggling, I think I was just so happy after a stressful morning of little mishaps that it finally felt good to have someone like Greg takeover and really knock it out of the park. "
The laughs would continue as Sago flubbed a few of his lines, and swore at his himself (off microphone) — the bride could not contain herself.
What also could not be contained, according to Swern, was her husband's concern that he would be a sweaty mess throughout the ceremony. His concern caused him to turn away from his bride and wipe his forehead multiple times during the ceremony. The officiant (and his best friend), chided him (lovingly) multiple times during telling him, "You really need to stop doing that."
The laughs continued when the couple went to pour sand into their "unity hourglass." When the officiant moved the table for the entire audience to see — the table broke. As they tried to fix the table, the officiant yelled for someone to provide a distraction. A groomsman decided to dance, extremely awkwardly, in front of the 100 guests at the wedding.
Photos from the wedding of Elizabeth Swern and Ryan Marshall, at The Westin Mount Laurel, April 2, 2016. (Copyright (C) Tami and Ryan Photography)At the reception, Marshall's friends carried on their long-running tradition of handing a literal (and according to Swern, very heavy) ball and chain to whichever friend is getting married. However, instead of handing it to Marshall, they handed it to Swern admitting that their pal was going to be 'her' ball and chain from now on. According to the bride, the groom was nearly off his chair laughing.
But it was their self-written vows that were the most memorable moments for the couple.
Marshall's vows blew Swern away as he constructed a rhyming poem that he wrote during the couple's longest period of separation (during his new job training) in January.
"He closed it with 'I may not be a smart man, but I do know what love is' from Forrest Gump," recalled Swern.
"We're big into movies and movie quotes, and I actually cried — from laughing so hard — and a little because I was so impressed and proud of him."
Swern's vows were a combination of jokes, and true sentiment.
"I told Ryan that I'd forever give him as much love and support as I give our cat. I promised to limit our trips to Taco Bell (Swern's favorite place in the world) to once a month for the sake of his digestive system," said Swern.
"I mentioned how Ryan just has a brightness that lights up a room, and the way he lights up when he speaks of his late father. And that wedding's seem like the beginning of a journey, but we both already belong together, so it feels like we're finally going home."
All Photos Courtesy of Tami & Ryan.
Bill Bodkin can be reached at bodkinwrites@gmail.com. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.
Source: Weddings, Jersey Style: Laughs, love and a literal ball and chain
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