Philadelphia Wedding Photographer | Ritz Carlton | Lisa + Jeff

A legion of rainbows and unicorns couldn’t have made Lisa and Jeff’s wedding at the Ritz Carlton of Philadelphia any more fabulous. I’ve been oohing and ahhing since I starting hearing about their event last June. Hanging out with them in DC for their rainy day engagement session was a blast but the wedding day blew me away. Lisa and Jeff were up for anything and simply happy and in love. Perfection.

I met up with Lisa and the ladies at their suite. It was the right blend of anticipation, calm, gummy bears, and champagne.

Those are Lisa’s silver Jimmy Choos in the middle.

Lisa is the definition of grace and ease and I love how her smile lights up her whole face.

The guys got ready and waited along the mezzanine for the first look.

We took a few family pictures and we were out the door.

As we were getting on the bus, a parade was going down Broad Street. I asked Lisa and Jeff if they’d be willing to get in on the action. Before I knew it, we had caught ourselves in what we think was an LGBT march.

We moved on over to Rittenhouse Square for pictures of Lisa and Jeff and the bridal party. Upon arriving, we spotted a gorgeous white poodle and just had to take pictures. Meet Pipo.

We took over the last swath of sunlight in the park for pictures of the bridal party. There are so many but here is one of my favorites of Lisa and her attendants, including her brother, Eddie, her man of honor.

Lisa was such a vision!

There was a jam session going on in another section of the park. So they danced!

Back to Broad Street for the quintessential Philly wedding picture!

Jeff is Jewish and Lisa is Catholic. That made this a fusion wedding, blending traditions and cultures into a wedding day that was uniquely theirs. I love the signing of the ketubah.

Check out the chuppah. If you look closely you’ll see a statue of the Virgin Mary next to the cup of wine and the glass to be broken at the end of the ceremony. They had both a priest and a rabbi to officiate. A string quartet played Ave Maria. Perhaps my favorite part of the ceremony was the modern reciting of the Seven Blessings. These were spoken, in English, by groups that popped up all around the room – on both sides of the aisle – to the couple to really bring everyone together.

And the party began. Lisa and Jeff’s signature cocktails – The Philadelphia Eagle (for Lisa) and the Eli Manning Manhattan (for Jeff). An Eagles/Giants rivalry could have easily torn these two apart. It speaks to their relationship that they have been able to overcome such differences.

The ballroom was transformed for the reception. The amber uplighting, the pin spotting on the incredible florals, and the crystal everywhere that Lisa and Jeff’s moms had been hunting for the months leading up to the wedding to serve as the centerpieces. Just stunning.

Lisa and Jeff entered to high fives and a choreographed dance, “Stay Young, Go Dancing” by Death Cab for Cutie. (Lisa is a classically trained ballerina so it’s really unfair how easy she made this look.)

The Hora was in.cred.i.ble. Never before have I seen someone give the sign of the cross when being hoisted up, like Lisa’s mom did.

The speeches were fantastic, just as I knew they would be.

What a day. What a beautiful, incredible, stupendous day.

As the music plays
Feel our bodies’ sway
When we move as one
We stay young
(Go dancing)
~ Death Cab for Cutie, “Stay Young, Go Dancing”