A True, Romantic Love Story That Starts With a Villanova Championship

Samantha Melei
August 27, 2019
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog

A love story that starts with college basketball, isn’t one you hear every day, but for these two it’s where it all started…AND brought them back to say their I Do’s! For Dave and Courtney, tying the knot at their alma mater was a no brainer, but when it came to the reception, they didn’t want your typical venue, so they went with the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center full of lush greenery, perfect for their romantic garden party! Rachel Pearlman captured the day, which BTW was planned by the bride herself and included such intricate details like not one, but three wedding cakes by Nutmeg Cake Designs and stunning floral decor by Belovely Floral and Event Design!….Take a ‘scroll’ and learn about all of the amazing vendors that brought this wedding to life!

From the Bride…‘The Story’: Dave (the groom) and Courtney (the bride) officially met at a pumpkin patch in the fall of 2015 through mutual friends but it was not until the spring of 2016 that their relationship became more than friendly. As a Villanova grad, Courtney was beyond excited when the men’s basketball team made it to the FInal Four during March Madness that year… only one problem: none of her friends were willing to spend the money to travel to Houston, TX to watch the game. That’s when Courtney found out that Dave was also looking for a travel partner to the Final Four. They quickly agreed this was a (possibly) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and agreed to spend five days together in Houston and ultimately watched Villanova win their first National Championship game in 31 years. Despite having the BEST time with Dave in Houston, Courtney was not interested in his advances after arriving home and it took quite a while for Dave to get Courtney to agree to a dinner date. Dave continued to be persistent even though Courtney was skeptical (he was not her ‘type’) and his hard work finally paid off. They shared their first kiss on May, 11th 2016. A house, another Villanova National Championship win, and a puppy later, Dave and Courtney’s love story continues as husband and wife when they tied the knot on May, 11th 2019, exactly three years to the day of their first kiss.

When Dave and I started planning our wedding we knew we wanted to incorporate Villanova because of our strong ties to the University so having our ceremony there was a no-brainer and our date was miraculously available. Finding a reception venue was a little more tricky, however. Dave and I both agreed that we did not want a traditional wedding venue. We were looking for something ‘organic’: a space that was not necessarily built to be a wedding venue and a space that, ideally, would bring the outside in. We found exactly what we were looking for in the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center which is, as the name reads, a horticulture center by day and a wedding venue by night. With lush greenery throughout, we knew this fit our vision of a romantic garden wedding perfectly. The icing on the proverbial cake was getting to have Constellation Catering, the exclusive caterer, provide the food for our big day. We already knew going into the process that they were, arguably, the best wedding caterers in the Philadelphia area and were stoked to use the company originally created by Stephen Starr whose restaurants we love. We really tested Meg Skill of Nutmeg Cake Designs’ skills when we asked her to make us not one, not two, but three cakes. She designed three different yet cohesive cakes, complete with cake topper made in the likeness of our puppy, that completed our day of good eats.

After getting engaged, finding a photographer was the first order of business and I had already had my eye on Rachel Pearlman after seeing the images she captured of a friend’s wedding. She did a venue walk-through with me at the Hort and agreed it was the perfect spot for our big day. Never having shot there before, I knew Rachel would be able to view the venue with different eyes than other photographers who have shot there often and lend a fresh perspective to our photos. She was so easy and fun to work with and her laid-back vibe set the tone for the whole day.

We went out of the box when searching for our videographer and ended up using Jordan Hawkins of Knotted Arrow, an amazing company based out of the Charleston, South Carolina area. I had fallen in love with their videos after finding them on Instagram and knew that their film style was something I had not been able to find during my endless search for a local videographer. Albeit being a little nervous about them not being local to Philadelphia, they reassured us everything would work out great and they could not have been more correct- they were an absolute joy to work with and they made the day that much more fun.

I ultimately decided I would take on the planning responsibilities myself and use the money I would have otherwise spent on a planner to make the venue look incredible on the day-of. I hired Lauren Weintraub from Belovely Floral and Event Design, who I trusted completely, to achieve this goal. She has done many weddings at the Hort and knew the venue inside and out. After showing her my ‘inspiration’ bouquet, she took my color palette of pink, white and green with gold accents and ran with it. I told her I wanted BIG, fluffy blooms- think peonies and garden roses- and lots of eucalyptus and that’s what I got. We planned to have a boxwood wall for the escort display, rings of greenery complemented with florals over the head table, and a larger and more dramatic floral installation, accessorized with Edison bulbs from Eventions Productions, over the dance floor as our main focal point. I kept the table centerpieces small and simple so guests could not only see each other across the table but also to direct their attention to the dance floor where all the action was taking place. We used this same color palette when picking out pieces from Maggpie Vintage Rentals for our lounge area. Maggie took it upon herself to ask Lauren for a picture of my bouquet so that she could add in more throw pillows to our rented sofa that ended up matching to a tee! The venue ended up looking more beautiful than I’ve ever seen it and Lauren and Maggie created the most gorgeous backdrops for photos with the boxwood wall and lounge area.

I entrusted the incredibly talented Katy Ackerman of Lewes Lettering Co. to help design our invitations and most of the other decor details for the reception. Her team designed a custom crest and floral details that we were able to incorporate throughout the design process from the invitations to the ceremony programs, to the table numbers and custom cocktail napkins. Katy and I also spent quite some time designing the acrylic pieces that we used for the escort display- she was able to have our crest printed, in color, on one piece while she did the calligraphy for all 169 guests and their table numbers on the others.

The entertainment of the day was provided by Rio, a modern pop band under the EBE Entertainment umbrella. Not only did they learn three new songs just for us, but they also played, literally, nonstop from start to finish and every single performance was outstanding. Their electric violinist was an added bonus we couldn’t pass up. I also hired 13th Street Cocktails to provide an oyster bar as a surprise for Dave who loves oysters. They were gracious enough to bring me into their studio prior to taste-test oysters and we decided on two varieties to serve on the day-of. Needless to say, the oysters and 13th Street Cocktail’s custom mignonette was a hit.

As easy as it was to pick our vendors, picking a wedding dress was a different story. After trying on probably 50 dress, I finally started to formulate a vision of what I wanted. I found that in Rosa Clara’s ‘Niher’. I saw a photo of the dress online after researching bridal designers and instantly got a ‘feeling; – the floral lace and huge skirt went perfectly with my garden-themed wedding but the deep-V back, with scalloped lace, complete with buttons, won me over. I swapped out the tulle skirt with a similar yet softer silk tulle skirt and removed the belt to make it my own. I found Ines Di Santo’s ‘Peony” veil which lent just the right amount of sparkle to my overall look. I also ended up buying a second, more fitted dress by Anne Barge, to dance in after I started to realize my ceremony dress was just too big. It was so much fun to do an outfit change mid-way through the reception and once I was in my ‘dancing’ dress, the party really started. Ashley Leoncini, the owner of the Philly Hair and Makeup Co., brought the whole look together with her talent for hair and makeup. As someone who rarely wears makeup I was nervous I wouldn’t like the way I looked but after my trial appointment, Ashely calmed all my fears. On the day of her team was not only punctual but made everyone look and feel their best. Ashely knocked my look out of the park and exceeded all my expectations on the day- of and I never felt more beautiful.

Overall, we had a stellar day all because our stellar vendors made it that way. We keep saying how we wish we could do it all again – it truly was the best day of our lives!