John Joseph Inn – Groton, NY » Jen Pecka Photography – Binghamton, Ithaca, NY and Adirondack Wedding Photographer

Karinna + Elie

If you need some garden party wedding theme inspo, you’ve come to the right place. Karinna and Elie chose John Joseph Inn in Groton, NY for their wedding. This place is in the heart of Fingerlakes country and perfectly manicured with stunning gardens and an aesthetic for all your classy garden wedding dreams.

I could not believe the flowers at this wedding. Plenty of Posies knocked it out of the park and they were even kind enough to give me flat lay flowers for detail shots. There’s been a lot of chatter in the photography world about flat lays and I giggle every time I see someone poo poo doing them. Clearly they’re not working with their florists because when you get flowers like this, the flat lay basically creates itself. AND LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL!

Also, the wedding arbor. I was basically drooling on myself when I saw this and knew immediately I wanted to do the dress pics here.

John Joseph Inn has plenty of space for the whole bridal to get ready. You can tell the main house has lots of history and has been preserved beautifully. It was the perfect space for getting ready photos.

My assistant for this wedding was John and he was over with the guys at a cute little cottage near the main restaurant. Some of these candids were so precious, I had to include them. Like Elie with his nephew pretending to cry and his nephew dabbing his eyes. So. Cute.

Karinna and Elie chose not to do a first look so we rolled right into the ceremony. We had an overcast day with clouds that looked a little threatening but besides a couple of stray sprinkles, the rain held off and the ceremony went perfectly. It was so cute to hear the kids whispering throughout the formalities. Kids who had never met before were making plans to play after the ceremony was done and at one point a little boy stated loud enough for the bridal party to hear, “Ugh, I am so bored.” which put the bridesmaids into silent hysterics.

I was so excited for bridal party and bride & groom photos after the ceremony. This was my first time at John Joseph Inn and I love to create in new places. There is SO much to work with here for portraits.

I need to take a moment to talk about the food at John Joseph Inn. I wasn’t prepared for how absolutely, astonishingly, AMAZING the food was. My assistant and I ate in the restaurant with the event coordinators (shout out to Rebecca for being an absolute doll) and the band. I have never had food this good at a wedding and I’ve been in the wedding industry for 16 years. At one point one of the band members and I looked up and locked eyes. We were both eating the fish. I think it’s kind of hilarious that we probably had the exact same look on our faces. Like “how is this fish THAT good”. We both agreed and dug back in. I finished every bite on my plate – something else I’ve never done in my 16 years and very rarely in my 38 years on this planet.

So what I’m saying is – major compliments to the chef. You are an artist. Please tell all your clients about me so I can come back and eat your food again.

Silver Arrow Band was SO MUCH FUN! They kept the dance floor full all night long. I normally don’t post so many dancing photos but they definitely set the mood and allowed me to capture so many memorable shots.