Black White and Raw Photography perfectly captured the beauty of Shane and Sarah’s scientific love! The Penn Museum served as the perfect backdrop to this science themed DIY wedding, that has experimental elements, hand made floral arrangements, and even brainy favors. Shane and Sarah share an inspiring passion for science, and their lovely wedding is a beautiful illustration to their adoration for one another and their passions!
From the Bride: “Shane Heiney and I (Sarah Ferri) were married Sunday, May 22, 2016 at Penn Museum. Shane and I are both neuroscientists and met a little over 4 years ago while I was a PhD candidate and he was a postdoctoral fellow at UPenn. Which is why we opted to take photos on campus before the ceremony and have our wedding at the museum on campus, because it is not only beautiful, but so meaningful to us. The ceremony was threatened by rain but we were able to have it as planned outside in Stoner courtyard at the museum.”
“Sarah fell in love with Shane because of his open-mindedness and because he helps her be a better person. She loves how intelligent and enthusiastic he is. She loves his eyes and his laugh and how he can always make her smile. She loves how he teaches her new things and is actually able to calm her down.”
“Shane loves how Sarah can be both serious and silly in the same breath, and helps him remember that they’re not mutually exclusive. He appreciates how supportive and loyal she is. He is in awe of her boundless energy and determination, and can’t imagine how so much feistiness can fit in such a tiny package. He loves that she is always up for trying new things with him, even if they might initially seem ridiculous. He also loves that when said things turn out to have actually been ridiculous, she is not shy to tell him that, but is still always willing to try the next thing.”
“We wrote our own ceremony and vows, and our friend Ramaris German was ordained for the occasion. A friend, Ryan Evans, read my favorite poem, “[i carry your heart with me (i carry it in]” by e.e. cummings. Because we are both scientists, our unity ceremony consisted of us pouring clear liquids, which changed color upon combination, into a flask borrowed from my lab.”
“Continuing with the science theme, we had flowers in test tubes, and our “escort cards” were names in test tubes as well. Our tables were not numbered but were labeled with areas of the brain (cerebellum, hypothalamus, etc), and the favors were chocolate brains, which we made ourselves (and which had to be replaced after my dog ate several boxes of them the night before).”
“Our wedding was small, about 55 people, but that made it very intimate and special, especially since we are a long distance couple- currently I am a postdoc at Penn and Shane got a promotion to assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX last year (we are currently working on obtaining jobs in the same place!). So even though he had to travel to our wedding and his family came all the way from Portland, OR, it was important that we get married in our favorite city and where we met and got engaged (Clark Park in West Philly where we had our first date and near where we lived together)!”
“Our friends and family helped with floral arrangements, my younger sister, Amanda Ferri, was maid of honor, and my bridesmaid was my very close friend Laura Grafe (also a neuroscientist at Penn). The best men were Shane’s older brother Brett Heiney, and his younger brother, Josh Heiney. My mother walked me down the aisle. The food from CxRA was amazing, the cake from Master’s Baker (with the iconic “Love” topper) was awesome, and we danced into the night thanks to Ben Ostroff from EBE. The museum setting was so unique and we think the pictures are pretty cool.”
Vendors | Photography: Black, White & Raw Photography | Ceremony/Reception Venue: Penn Museum | Floral/Decor: DIY by Bride | Stationery: Wedding Paper Divas | Dress Shop/Dress Designer: Maggie Sottero, “Emma” | Brides Belt: David’s Bridal (Philadelphia) | Bridal Accessories- Swarovski earrings, grandmother’s engagement ring, bride’s engagement ring and both wedding bands, Tacori (Whiteflash)| Hair: Adolf Biecker Studio | Caterer: CxRA (Catering x Restaurant Associates) | Cake/Bakery: The Master’s Baker (West Chester) | DJ/Band- DJ Ben Ostroff from EBE Events and Entertainment (Philadelphia) | Rehearsal Dinner: Han Dynasty |