Drumroll please…
We’re moving to New Jersey and we’re opening a venue!!

It all started 10 years ago…

…with a hot pot of fresh pasta on a picnic blanket in a Harlem. A couple of friends, a bottle of wine. A light casual dinner that would set the groundwork for the future to come.

From then on, no matter where we lived, we began creating and filling spaces for friends to gather, eat, and share stories. In Colorado, we turned a dusty backyard into a garden and a cramped cottage into a place that always had space at the end of the table. For our farm wedding in New Jersey, we cooked and served fresh pasta to our guests, making sure to tie our aprons extra tightly before we ladled the sauce. In Northport we began hosting our couples for gallery reveals, learning new culinary traditions alongside them. Each of these steps led to the launch of our five-course, tasting menu style, farm fresh dinner events at Honeymoon Acres.

For the last couple of years, toggling between photography and hosting throughout the wedding seasons has been a whirlwind of flavors, smiles, sunsets, and passed hors d’oeuvres. No matter the size of the celebration, the dinner table has always been the nucleus, the thing that everything else orbits around. The gravity pulls in conversation, spinning the legs of red wine swirling about the glass as clean white saucers with bright fresh food land softly on the tablecloth. Amidst all the moving parts, sharing a meal around a table is and always will be sacred.

Heather and I started Apollo Fields in 2016 as a wedding photography company, but the name came from the anticipation of this moment—the inevitable merging of our love of food, hosting, and photography. It is why we are proud to announce the launch of our event and wedding venue in Flemington, New Jersey, where we will offer customized packages to fit your event’s needs.

We invite you to our space to create a five-course menu, collaborate on cocktails, design a vision, and invent an experience.

• We can offer everything from the full Apollo Fields experience: catering, photography, event rentals, and planning for events with up to 50 guests; to more pared down versions where you can bring in vendors of your choosing.    

• We will continue to offer our photography services off-site as well, as we still love traveling and being a part of celebrations near and far. 

This event, catering, venture is the inception of the vision we saw that early evening in Harlem. It is who we are, what we enjoy, and why we ask you to join us and create a close experience that you and your guests will never forget.

The deets:

• WHO: Our whole family is relocating to the farm! When we were talking to Capa about the move, he asked if we were going to bring our stuff. We told him yes, and he followed up with, “how about the dogs”? Obviously. So yes, Heather, Terrence, Capa, Oliver, Riddle, and Rumor will all be loading up in the moving truck together.

• WHAT: We are merging our existing wedding photography biz with a new property that we are moving to in order to be able to continue hosting at a larger scale.

• WHEN: January 1st heck yeah. Yes, we know that’s in like two weeks. This has been in the works for a while, I swear we’re not impulsive decision makers!

• WHERE: Flemington, New Jersey. For context, it’s in Hunterdon County— and since NJ has about 10 different identities depending on where you are, this would be considered “central Jersey, upscale equestrian, non-trashy area that’s still easily accessible to NYC and Philly”. More precisely, it’s about 50-ish miles to each of the two major metros.

• WHY: It’s amazing how the few people we’ve leaked this to have immediately reminded us about how this has been a dream for so many years. To know that we can be instrumental in helping people celebrate life’s most important milestones and building community is everything to us. It’s always felt like the natural progression of our brand, we’ve just been holding out for the right space. Now it’s finally here and we can’t wait to get to hosting. As Martha would say, “it’s a good thing”.

• & HOW: We’re nothing if not professional logistics managers on the daily and this is just part of our evolving workflow. We’re going to use the first few months to get comfy cozy and get the boys settled in, catch up on some much needed R&R, and get all of our proverbial ducks in a row. After that, we’re off to the races and it’s showtime, baby!

A Note From Heather- On legacy and the property itself:

Story time… In 2008, I graduated high school and took a gap year, prophetically living in the house that we will be moving to. In a crazy twist of fate, my bedroom then was the room that our boys will be sharing.

Things were much different then, of course— I was 17 and training horses full-time. I took any job I could get, and even landed a few head-turning ones, but focused on nothing but the equestrian world. Of course, I had taken darkroom classes in high school that I loved—at that time I had an old, janky film camera and a point-and-click Fuji—and had no problem calling myself “a photographer”. I had no hosting skills whatsoever, but did save up my babysitting cash to buy a hand-crank pasta maker. I would go out of my way to find the crepe truck at horse shows instead of resigning myself to the French fries all the time… and I was on the brink of ending my relationship with eating meat for good.

A lot of the seeds that would ultimately shape who I am now had been planted then, but not a single one was even close to producing any fruit.

I lived in the house with Dick and Heather (my namesake) Prant, who I had a close relationship with for many years. They graciously took me in during a time in my life when I needed some allies, a few mentors, and the occasional voice of reason. I learned a lot from them, in particular Dick, who we all affectionately called “Grumpy”. With a “second place is first loser” mentality, I was taught lessons like sleeping-in until 7am is for people who are on “bankers time” and if you do, you’ll miss out on the first batch of hot chocolate croissants. Above all, I was given an environment where hard work mattered, and sweat equity was a part of life. There would be no participation trophies.

Heather “Gran” Prant gave me something different: a quiet and safe place to call home, a reprieve from the judgment that the horse world thrives on, and a sympathetic gaze to the fact that I did not have the financial cushion that most of my peers who were pursuing similar goals did. Ultimately, after a few injuries that still haunt me to this day, I would end up walking away from being a “pro” rider and walked into a college classroom, back into more art classes, and eventually on this track that I am on today.

In the 17 years that have passed since I first lived there, I’ve been lucky to maintain my “family friends” status with everyone from those formative times; sometimes feeling more like “family” and sometimes more like “friends”. Eventually, I wound up with one of the farm’s horses and even got the privilege of photographing four of the grandkid’s weddings.

Grumpy would end up passing away in 2022, succeeded by Gran in 2024, forever changing the narrative of Millbrook Farms. As fate would have it, we ended up withdrawing from an entirely different property right around the same time. We were heartbroken by the loss of a house that we spent months under contract with, but the very next day, we received a phone call that would completely change our trajectory: that same house that I lived in for my gap year was empty. It needed new life, a breath of fresh air, and apparently the pitter patter of little feet running through the hallways. “Restore it to its former glory”, the voice on the other end of the phone told me, and just like that, we were ready to answer to the call of legacy.

FAQs

• What areas will we be servicing? We’re going to remain just as mobile as we’ve always been for our photography biz! We’ve always loved to travel, and while we are looking forward to become a bit more of a hub to invite friends, family, and guests to our place, we are still excited to explore the globe for our destination weddings.

• Will you still be photographing on Long Island / other areas, or sticking to strictly your venue? No plans to slow down our presence on Long Island! I think that’s why we don’t feel necessarily sad about the impending move— for the last 6 years we have toggled back and forth between New York and New Jersey, now we’ll just be doing it from the other side of the bridge.

• What does this mean if I am currently booked with Apollo Fields for a 2025/26 wedding? Can’t wait to be there! Literally nothing changes.

• How many people can the space accommodate? Up to 50 guests! We’re choosing to stay small for hosting because we find that our skills really shine at that number. We love photographing big weddings and are often in a sea of hundreds and hundreds of people, but when we put on our hosting hats, we prefer to niche down to a smaller guest list.

• Will there be multiple events happening on the same day? Precisely the opposite. We’re capping our space at 2 events per month to retain the quality of service that we have always prided ourselves on. We’re not going to be a wedding mill and don’t want to see the space get beaten up and worn down like traditional venues. Whenever we host— past, present, or future— we’re opening up the doors to our homes and our hearts. Apollo Fields has always been a deeply personal brand and we’re committed to not wavering in this style of service.

• Will you rent your venue out/ open your space up to other photographers? Yes and no. This property is a private residence, first and foremost. It’s not going to be a big box wedding venue turning over large volumes of events. We’re not a ballroom, not a catering hall, and we won’t resemble anything like the big traditional turn-and-burn style weddings that you often find in the NY Metro. Not to say that we don’t enjoy being a part of events like these when we strictly have our photographer hats on— it’s just not the type of event space that we are offering. We will be offering a limited amount of reservations to other photographers with a permit and are happy to escort you through the property. We have always valued likeminded creatives and look forward to enriching our already wonderful community of friends and colleagues.

• What niche do you hope to appeal to? We have always been inspired by couples that invest in a truly unique experience, crafting days that reflect their personalities and passions. We would love to attract couples that share the same values of quality over quantity, who love nature, and believe that something special happens when people come together over a shared dinner table. We envision cocktail hours in the garden, live music, signature drinks, candlelit evenings with your closest friends and family belly laughing over a good joke, long hugs and long pours of whisky. If this sounds like something you’d get excited about, let’s make some magic together.

• Can I bring in outside vendors? Yes, totally, with the proper business insurance and licensing. We’re not going to be forcing couples to only choose from our preferred vendor list, but also want to do our due diligence and are happy to guide couples in the right directions.

• Are you guys going to become official caterers? Not in the traditional sense. We want to continue to sling tasty meals for our more intimate events when it aligns with our couple’s visions. We regularly host 25 person farm dinners and are very comfortable cooking at that size. You won’t be seeing a Sysco truck offloading at our space. Our “bigger” (~50 person) events will likely be reliant on outside catering in addition to events that are coordinated through one of our partner planners.

• What’s the parking situation? As of right now, we can accommodate 15 parked vehicles but always encourage a ride sharing service for anyone who plans on consuming alcohol.

• What time will events have to end? Quiet time will be at 10pm and all guests will be asked to be off premises by midnight. Most importantly, we are in a residential area and need to be mindful of our neighbors.

• How much will it cost? The elephant in the room: our pricing structure will be customized to the unique needs of each couple and event, but we can say that for our 2025 season—particularly for weekday events—we will be offering discounted rates. As always, we strive to be fair in our pricing, while valuing the importance of these investments. We don’t take shortcuts and compensate our associates and purveyors the rates they deserve. We believe in quality: whether it’s the equipment we photograph on, the albums you receive your wedding images in, the ingredients that make up your favorite dish, the napkins you place on your lap… all the things that make up the Apollo Fields experience are done mindfully and at a caliber that we’re proud to stand behind.

Count me in!

our call to action:

We’re making a giant leap of faith here, and hoping that our steadfast community will catch us. What does that mean? Come. Come hungry, come curious, come with open hearts and empty bellies so we can help you all have the celebrations you’ve always dreamed of. Weddings have always been our bread and butter, so we want to keep our gaze focused on events of that nature— think intimate weddings, micro weddings, elopements, engagements, rehearsal dinners, engagement parties, vow renewals, etc.

Ticketed farm dinners have also always made our hearts sing and we will certainly be putting a few of those on the calendar for 2025, too. What do those look like? Typically 20-25 person dinners where we are creating custom, seasonal, five-course dinners with cocktail pairings. Candlelit evenings where both new and old friendships can grow. Embrace the beauty of a shared meal. Discover that you actually like leeks. Leaving at the end of the night with bear hugs, hand-in-hand with your partner, and the feeling that you just spent the night together doing something totally unique. The lost art of savoring a moment together.

We’ve always been believers that it takes a village, and that’s where you guys come into play! We can’t host by ourselves: we need couples who want an exceptional way to get married, we need guests to come to our dinner tables, we need wedding planners to help us muscle through the logistics, we need our fellow vendors, friendors, friends, dreamers, creatives, moms, dads, and all the cheerleaders we can find to rally around this one. Let’s make some magic!

If all of this sounds like something that bring you joy, please subscribe below or click here!

xoxo,
Heather & Terrence
Your Apollo Fields Family

Get in touch:

Follow us on Instagram @apollofields

Photo Credits:
Apollo Fields
Fireside Sparrow