Aly and Steven were married on an overcast November day. They got ready in separate rooms at the Hilton at Penn’s Landing. The ladies spent the morning luxuriating in silk robes drinking mimosas.
The men busied themselves with a toast or two.
Aly’s dress was a beautiful beaded number with lace sleeves and a keyhole back. The button details at the wrists were my favorite part. She looked beyond glamorous.
Aubrey, the flower girl, and Everett, the ring bearer, brought their A game on wedding day.
Aly and Steven shared their first look on a strangely empty Spruce Street Pier. In the warmer months it’s bustling with people but we got it all to ourselves.
There were a few moments of should we stay or should we go as a few drops of rain came down and it was getting pretty chilly but I’m proud of the group for sticking with it!
Once at the Cescaphe Ballroom, Aly and Steven signed the ketubah in a very casual, personal ceremony presided over by family.
The large chandeliers and lovely uplighting made their wedding ceremony in the ballroom look perfectly classic. With their parents by their sides and some words by friends, they said their vows to one another, choked back some tears, and walked back down the aisle as husband and wife.
We snuck into the ballroom after the team had transformed it for the reception. There were blush flowers everywhere and gold accents on the plate chargers. It was absolutely lovely!
After a grand entrance with sparklers, Aly and Steven shared their first dance to Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.”
Oh, hello hora!
There were some great speeches but I loved the one Aly’s mom gave that was sprinkled with Hamilton references. She clearly knows her (a cappella singing, outgoing, theater-loving) daughter.
I had asked Aly earlier in the day what part she was most excited about. Without pause, she was down to boogie. She assured me that her crown was a lively one and that she could not wait to step foot on that dancefloor. After a sweet start, Aly’s dance with her father switched into high gear as they did the twist together and started the night off!
She was right. The guests were not far behind.
Though their dog, Charlie Brown, was not physically present, he made a few fabulous appearances as their ice sculpture and my favorite detail of the day, peeking out from under the cake!
Such an extraordinary day and it couldn’t have happened for a better couple. Aly and Steven are genuinely wonderful people and I’m so honored that I was there to celebrate with them!
So honey, now, take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart, I’m thinking out loud
And maybe we found love right where we are
~ Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
