This Philadelphia wedding at the The Old Mill captured beautifully by Asya Photography warms my heart right up. Not only is it gorgeous (hello stunning bouquet from Amaranth), but it’s also filled with that kind of obvious love that makes me weak in the knees, and you can see every sweet moment right here.
From the Bride…Nick and I met after a Jack Johnson Concert in the parking lot of the then “Tweeter Center” in Camden, New Jersey while sitting in traffic and after my car batter died and had to be jumped. Nick approached my car and told me that I had the prettiest eyes he had ever seen and told me I was cute. We exchanged numbers, texted, and hung out a few times for about 2 months then went on a trip to Riviera Maya together and the rest is HISTORY!
The Dress: AHHHH, the dress!!! I always knew that I wanted a LACE dress, because that is “so me” (everyone who knows me well says that). I found a picture of this dress and fell in love with it. I did a lot of research on this dress and called around and hunted down who had it….. The first dress boutique I went to was Bijou Bridal…. The first dress I tried on was the Enzoani Diana Dress (which I fell in love with). I also tried on about 10 other dresses that day, and about 20 other dresses over the next week or so….. Nothing fit or felt like or looked like the Diana…. The shape, the straps, the neckline, and the detail on the belt—- I knew this was the ONE, especially for the venue that we chose! My mom, her good friend Charlene(who is like family to me), and my best friend since the 2nd grade Liz came with me on multiple occasions to support my decision!
The Cake: We fell in love with the tiny little family owned bakery when we went to our tasting. David, the owner was super friendly and accommodating. We tried about 12 different cake and icing combinations and loved that fact that we could get several different flavors all in one cake for our wedding. We chose a layer of chocolate/vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and fresh strawberries in between, banana walnut with an amazing cream cheese icing, and red velvet with that same amazing cream cheese icing in the middle. What makes this cake unique? Our cake was unique because I never have been to a wedding with the different, yet simple icing design that we chose. I feel like most weddings these days have super formal, fondant cakes which I knew I didn’t want! I loved how our cake turned out!
Music: We had our musician friend David Duong (aka Phat Asian) play our ceremony music which was handpicked by Nick and I. We had him play a mix of Beatles and Jack Johnson Love songs as guests arrived. We also asked Dave to learn Jack Johnson’s “Angel” because Nick said that the words reminded him of me, and we hold Jack in a special place in our hearts because we actually met at a Jack Johnson concert in 2008. Our DJ’s name was Binh Nguyen and we gave him a list of all of our favorite songs to play throughout the night including everywhere from motown to Jason Mraz to Miley Cyrus. Our guests definitely had no problem working up a sweat on the dance floor!
Flowers: Amaranth in Narberth. I absolutely LOVED working with Loretta. I met with her about 10 times before the wedding and she probably was so sick of me by the time the wedding weekend came to be! I had a vision from day 1… I wanted color in my bouquet and I wanted blueish green succulents in there somehow to pick up on the color of the girls dresses. I kept tweaking exactly what I wanted adding more color and texture (then feathers) each time I met with Loretta. I also designed the boutineers for the guys— I took a few ideas I saw on Pinterest along with my own twist and Loretta made it happen. I also purchased all of my own center piece lanterns for 1/2 of the tables, and for the other 1/2 I purchased large mason jars and glued a pretty ribbon to the rim of them. the bridesmaids each put their amazing bouquets in the mason jars after the ceremony. My bouquet was magical! I will never forget the moment when I saw my flowers for the first time while I was still getting ready, I knew it was a sign that the rest of my day was going to be as perfect and magical as my bouquet looked!
The day was rustic, warm, personal, magical and picture perfect. Perfect temperature/weather for the beginning of November….. Loved how my hair and makeup turned out, ALL of the bridesmaids looked absolutely gorgeous and the groomsmen all looked amazing in their Vera Wang Suits! I think that our wedding felt intimate even thought there were over 100 people.
I had a vintage gold heart pin that belonged to my godmother, my aunt Marie, who passed away a few months ago and I attached it to my bouquet alond with a heart charm that my former babysitter and lifetime friend, Lisa gave to me. My something blue was a heart cut out from one of my dad’s old shirt and sewn to the inside of my dress. I basically designed my bouquet and the guy’s boutineers with some inspiration from a combination of different bouqets I had seen before. I hand stamped and decorated the bridesmaid’s gift boxes and bags.
Photographer: Asya Photography | Florist: Little Jasmine Therapies and Spa | Wedding Dress: Bisou Bridal | Catering: Conner Catering, Inc. | DJ: Bihn Nguyen | Guitarist: David Duong | Reception And Ceremony Venue: Conner Catering, Inc.