New York Giants Player Jon Runyan Jr. Marries Victoria Schultz in 'Old Hollywood' Wedding (Exclusive)
The couple's wedding weekend featured a live painter for their first kiss, a mariachi band and a cruise down the Delaware River
New York Giants football player Jon Runyan Jr. and Victoria Schultz are married!
The couple tied the knot on July 8 at the Park Château Estate & Gardens in East Brunswick, New Jersey, in an Old Hollywood-themed wedding, surrounded by 200 friends and family members. Jon, 26, and Victoria tell PEOPLE they were aiming for a "moody vibe," and the castle-like estate made for the perfect backdrop.
The couple considers Philadelphia and the South New Jersey area home and thought it would be the ideal place to gather everyone together for their nuptials. Their guests — who included numerous NFL players, along with Jon's father, Philadelphia Eagles hall-of-famer Jon Runyan Sr. — took up most of the rooms on the property, which they say was similar to having "a huge house party."
The pair kicked off their wedding weekend with a welcome party at Harper's Garden in Philadelphia, which was where they had their first date. To honor their French bulldog Pluto, the party's special cocktail was a French 75.
The following day, Jon and Victoria took their guests on a scenic cruise down the Delaware River, followed by an intimate rehearsal dinner at the venue. The couple wanted to have several events to celebrate their love throughout the weekend, keeping in mind their out-of-town guests.
Anthony Page Photography and videographer Alenka Films captured every special moment for posterity. Xtraordinary Events coordinated the flowers and Vintage Fleet provided a classic car for photos and a grand exit.
Prior to his and Victoria's move to New York for his role with the Giants, Jon played for the Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin. This made wedding planning logistically challenging at times, but the couple had a big assist from The Classic Events by Lauren team throughout the process.
"All of my vendors were amazing and especially on the transition from Green Bay to our new home in the Philly area and now in New York for a new season," Victoria tells PEOPLE. "We couldn’t have asked for a better team to keep things in line, and then being back locally to put final touches worked out perfectly."
Victoria walked down the aisle to "Canon in D" and "Turning Page." She and Jon exchanged traditional vows during the ceremony after privately sharing personal vows during a first look.
The bride's uncle officiated the ceremony, which took place in the venue's lush gardens with a grand fountain as the backdrop. She says it was "so nice to have someone marry us [who] truly knows us and was able to specialize the words with feelings of love behind them."
One unique detail from their wedding day was the live painter, Event Painting by Jaime, who captured the couple's first kiss as husband and wife on canvas. The "breathtaking portrait of the first kiss that we shared at the end of our ceremony" was filled with incredible details, the newlyweds say. "The best part was that guests could watch [the painter's] progress off to the side through the night as he landed on the finished product," Victoria notes.
For her trip down the aisle, Victoria wore a white cap-sleeved, ruched gown from a boutique outside of Philadelphia. "It was the first dress I tried on and one I had pictured in my mind for my wedding look, and despite trying on several others I came back to that one," she recalls to PEOPLE.
Later on, she changed into a sparkly Berta party dress. "Jon and I matched so beautifully — we did a comfy shoe [swap] to sneakers and a white custom-made jacket with pictures of us lining the inside," Victoria says. Envy Studios oversaw the bridal party's hair and makeup.
Jon, meanwhile, opted for a classic black tuxedo for the occasion.
For the foodie couple, the cocktail hour featured more than 25 different foods for passed hors d'oeuvres and stations, followed by a plated dinner with wine pairings.
The couple chose a three-tier vanilla wedding cake with buttercream and raspberry filling from Calandra's Bakery, and also served a wide selection of desserts. During the cake cutting, Victoria surprised Jon with a mariachi band performance, "a longstanding tradition from his family’s Mexican heritage."
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The Giants player, in turn, surprised his new wife by taking the mic and singing her a song in Spanish.
The newlyweds shared their first dance to "Beyond" by Leon Bridges. The energy on the dance floor was incredible the whole night, thanks to the live band City Rhythm. Guests refueled with tacos and nachos served up by a Byz Empire food truck.
As the celebration was winding down, the newlyweds exited their reception with a sparkler sendoff provided by Elite Sound Entertainment.
The weekend festivities concluded with a farewell brunch, where guests reminisced about the massive party. The newlyweds then headed to Nantucket right after, and are planning an official honeymoon in Australia and Fiji in 2025.
The couple — who got engaged in July 2023 — first met during the COVID-19 pandemic in Philadelphia when Jon was home training for the NFL and Victoria was attending graduate school for speech-language pathology. Their relationship took them to Green Bay when Jon signed a rookie contract with the Packers.
They have now returned to the East Coast, where he will play for the Giants.
Following their wedding celebration, Jon and Victoria couldn't be happier about their union. "We are best friends and this unity means continuing that friendship and partnership forever," she says. "Although we wrote our vows separately, many of the vows we took to each other were similar showing our commitment to our relationship."
Their nuptials weren't much different. "The wedding exceeded all expectations," the newlyweds tell PEOPLE. "Everyone had a blast, and we couldn’t be happier having spent that time with everyone, taking it all in."
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