Aubert Films presents Jamie and Lynn's wedding

Back in May, I had the pleasure of working with Darell Aubert of Aubert Films.  Here is the trailer he created as a teaser for their wedding video. 
Their church and the ceremony was very important to Jamie and Lynn and I loved that Darell focused on that to set up the trailer. 

Jamie and Lynn's calmness leading up to the wedding is very evident in this video and it remained that way for the rest of the day!  Congrats again to the beautiful couple!

View on ExposureRoom

You can also view this and read more on Aubert Film's Blog!

Thank you for sharing!

Jackie and Nathan gets married!

As a wedding planner, it is my job to care about the details, schedules, and other things that normal people wouldn't really care about.  But I feel like it's my job to remind them that sometimes these little details don't matter, and what really does is that you're marrying your best friend, and that you will have all your friends and family there to witness it. 

Jackie and Nathan's beautiful celebration of marriage reminded me of what is most important about weddings.  It's not the flowers and the food, but it's the company and the memories.

I first got a call from Jackie, who was referred to me by the awesome Kelly from the Down Town Club.  Jackie told me that she was leaving the country the next day, so we'd have to meet in February when she returned.  Little did I know that everything was going to change for them and their wedding plans.

Shortly after they returned, their original June wedding date was pushed up to March, and Jackie and Nathan planned their wedding in a few short weeks.  I remember those few weeks being crazy.  Jackie and Nathan were going their friends' weddings on the weekends and living at home to be with her father during the week.  I remember going to her parents house for a meeting and they had literally just pulled up to the house from a weekend away for a wedding.  Despite everything they were going through, they were both so amazingly graceful.  She was incredibly strong and later at the wedding, I would see that it was a trait that ran in the family.

So the time came and it was wedding day.  It was a rainy Sunday in March, and I came to the hotel room with Cindy Guessford and Jen Cleary, her second shooter.  It was calm, and I remember thinking that this day will go smoothly even if it kills me.

Jackie bought her gown in Thailand during her trip with Nathan.  I think he may have been the first groom to actually see the dress before the wedding. 

The ring shot is on a book of Philadelphia found in Jackie's Omni hotel room.

Much of the day was up in the air.  Her father did make it to the wedding, but he rested in a private room and came out when he was ready.  We knew this day was very important to him, so we wanted to do all the special moments when he was able to watch. 

The ceremony was a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony.  Nathan's sister is a rabbi and she officiated the ceremony alongside Jackie's rabbi that was present at her bat mitzah years before.  I love Jewish wedding ceremonies and one of my favorite details is the walking down the aisle with both parents.

It really is a wonderful way to pay respects to both your parents in raising you, by having them escort you down the aisle together.

The highlight of the night was when her father stood up from his wheelchair to dance with his daughter on her wedding day. 

It was such a touching moment and there wasn't a dry eye in the touch.  This wedding was a very joyous day but it was also a day rooted with deep emotions.  To see all their friends and family come to be a part of this wedding in such short notice was a testament to the relationships Jackie, Nathan, and their families keep in their lives.

The evening ended with prayer and prayer books (Benching).  Nathan's younger brother stepped in and led the prayer.  All guests are encouraged to pull their chairs up to the bride and grooms table.  Red and White are poured into separate glasses, then poured together to symbolize creation of new life.  The bride and groom then each drink from this glass of combined wine. 

This amazing day was made possible by the wonderful vendors on hand.

Thank you to Cindy and Jen for the beautiful images from this wedding.  They had the hard job of capturing all the moments of the day. A lot of my vendor friends are awesome, but Cindy really floored me with her professionalism and creativity.

Also, thank you to Papertini for coming in in such short notice and creating the chuppah and the centerpieces.

Her and her team were true profectionists and their work was great.

Special thanks to the Downtown Club for being so accomodating.  Their staff and event coordinators are so easy to work with.  Always a great time to be had at their venue.

And of course, very sincere thanks from the bottom of my heart to Jackie and Nate for allowing me to be a part of your day! 

In memory of Dr. Martin Cohen.

Wedding in Center City Philadelphia- Part One

I had the amazing opportunity to assist Christina with Jamie and Lynn’s wedding on May 22^nd in Philadelphia. Jamie and Lynn were such a great couple to work with and truly wanted the best for their friends and family on their special day. Their strong family values were incorporated throughout the ceremony. Their wedding was not just a joining of two people but, a joining of two families. You could really see their deep commitment for each other and I wish them the best!

Jamie’s shoes were a perfect match for her simple elegant dress

Jamie’s dress was absolutely stunning! Her all lace dress fit her like a glove and complemented her petite figure perfectly.

Doesn’t everyone look amazing!?! The deep purple of their bridesmaid dresses looked beautiful on each and every one of them. Papertini, the florist, did such a great job at putting together their bouquets. Roses are such a timeless classic.

This photograph was taken right outside the Sofitel where the reception was held. Inku from inkuphotography was their photographer and did such a great job at capturing the excitement and fun throughout their day.

Inku had everyone walk down the street to beautiful Rittenhouse Square for some actions shots. I love how Jamie and Lynn stand out in this photo. It looks like Jamie has a glow around her!

You never know what will be going on in Rittenhouse Square! This young boy was playing his violin and it made for a great opportunity for the couple to share a dance. The videographer was Darrell from Aubert Films. I’m sure he loved capturing this moment on film!

This photo was taken outside a small restaurant named Tria. It began to drizzle a little during the photo shoot but I’m almost glad because the umbrella was such a good prop to use! Luckily, the rain stopped before the ceremony began and held off for the rest of the evening.

The cake looked so yummy! I loved how minimal the decorations were, it really made it look chic. Besides serving cake, the couple had traditional Korean rice cakes called Dduk for the guests to munch on.

Jamie and Lynn decided to have a traditional Korean Paebaek ceremony at their reception. This was such a treat for me to watch because I had never seen one before. Everyone came into the foyer of the Sofitel to watch while Jamie and Lynn entered wearing the traditional attire called hanbok. Both Jamie and Lynn’s parents took turns sitting across from the newlyweds as they carried out the ceremony. My favorite part was when the couple had to throw chestnuts and dates to see how many children they were going to have. I don’t remember the exact number but by the time the ceremony ended the number was well past fifteen!!

The ceremony was followed by some great music from Magical’s, Tom the DJ! He got everyone up on their feet and dancing and kept it that way until the end of the night!

Jamie and Lynn had such a great wedding! I’m so happy that my first wedding with cHill weddings and Christina was with such a gracious couple!

Congratulations to Jamie and Lynn!

Vendor Roundup

Wedding Planner- Christina Hill of cHill Weddings, LLC

Florist- Papertini

Cake- Sofitel
Photographer- Inku Photography

Ceremony Music/ DJ- Magical Sight & Sound (Tom)

Videographer- Aubert Films(Darrell)

Placecards- Jasmine Lee
Programs- Dulcetta Designs, LLC
Invitations - White Aisle

Ceremony- The First Baptist Church

Reception- Sofitel Philadelphia

Paebaek Ceremony- Bidulki Judon (Jessica)

Parking- Patriot Parking 1616 Chancellor St.

Special thanks to Inku for providing us with the awesome pictures! We can't wait to see more images for our later posts. 

Janelle and Kevin Get Married at St. Augustine and Glen Foerd!

Let's rewind to May 2009.  Janelle and Kevin married in Philadelphia.

Janelle and Kevin live and work in the DC area, but decided to marry in Philadelphia.  Janelle and Kevin booked for partial planning about two months before the wedding.  Yes, it was last minute, but it was fun!  We took care of their extra decor, rehearsal, and day of coordination. 

Janelle got ready at her parents home. 






I just had to add this picture because I love Natalie from http://www.hair-bynatalie.com/. 













We tried to include Janelle's dog for post ceremony photos, but logistically it wouldn't work.  But how cute is her face?!


Janelle and Kevin had their Catholic-Filipino wedding ceremony at St. Augustine's in Olde City.






After the ceremony, Jerry Tomko took the wedding party around Olde City for some fun portraits.



Note the random placement of the wedding party in the background.  Jerry asked them to sit with random strangers dining at Continental.

A behind the scenes look with the videographer from TLJ Studios.











I almost imagine an industrial fan blowing in their faces here. :) Aka, the sexy picture by the Rolls Royce from Elegante.



Awesome cake by the very talented Suzy at Cakes by Suzy.  A flower bed was created around the cake by cHill Weddings.


Glen Foerd is a beautiful space by Conroy Catering, one of my favorite places for a wedding.  It's an old mansion, and the wedding is divided by the dining room, cocktail area and porch, and the conservatory for dancing.

We did all the decor and flowers in the conservatory.

Janelle loved peonies so she brought over boxes of peonies and curly willow, and tall glass cylinders with river rocks.  We may high pieces like the one above.



And medium pieces with orchids and more river rocks.


Janelle asked us to keep things looking lush and natural, so we accomplished that with the full peonie pieces and curly willow, and also with the cake base.



Lighting was provided by the always great Synergetic Sounds and Lighting.




The conservatory also has a small wall surround the dance floor area, so we added more flowers on the walls with hurricane vases with crystal fillers and led light, with more curly willow with orchids wired onto the branches.

There is also a non-working fountain area that Janelle asked us to dress up, so we used more orchids to create a curtain around the fountain. It made a great backdrop during the toasts.

The talented kids at Mutya performed after dinner.


Janelle and Kevin were so wonderful to work with, and looking at these images makes me so happy.  Their wedding day was beautiful and they're such a beautiful sweet couple. 

Thank you to Jerry Tomko for the images.

Special thanks to Janelle and Kevin for choosing cHill Weddings to work with you on your wedding.