Once you visit Material Culture you’ll instantly know there is no other place quite like this. The eclectic decor and one-of-a-kind details are what captured Heather and Pete but the exquisite cuisine is what sealed the deal for this culinary couple. Even though they both currently reside on the west coast, they beautifully tied in Philly culture with a color palette consisting of the nostaligic Philadelphia Phillies colors, and Tastykake favors! With a focus on fine-art photography Iris and Echo exceedingly captured every detail and moment from this lovely day, so keep scrolling for more stunning wedding inspiration!
How They Met
“We took quite a circuitous path to finally meet each other. Pete grew up in Mt. Airy, I grew up in Delaware county. We lived in Maryland – at different times – went to the same Culinary School – at the same time but in different states – it took us both moving to Austin TX to meet. We met at work in early 2014, we became fast friends being from the east coast and living in TX. We began to spend all of our time together, and then I just knew. I just knew if we got together, that was it, we’d do life together forever. I don’t think it took him too much longer to figure that out either.”
The Proposal
“He had planned to propose on a trip to Thailand for a friend’s destination wedding, but being terrible at keeping secrets he just couldn’t wait for the trip. On Thanksgiving day, we woke up, he brushed his teeth and then he asked me to put my phone down. I begrudgingly obliged as he knelt down next to the bed, put the ring box on my belly and said ‘You are what I’ve been the most thankful for since the day I met you, will you spend the rest of your life with me?’ To which I replied, ‘is this for real, of course!’ I opened the ring box to find a hand crafted ring consisting of stones from the women in his family. The whole moment was perfect, simple and so special.”
Wedding Planning
“We’ve both been in the hospitality industry for over 10 years each so wedding planning was a little different for us. I didn’t want a planner, and I was removing as much of the traditional wedding moments as I could. I didn’t really have any expectations of what this day would be, I just knew I wanted the venue to be different. After having seen literally hundreds of weddings, I just wanted something that spoke to me and when we found Material Culture I knew right away that was it. They do the catering as well and have a day of coordinator on staff, so they were a one stop shop experience that really wowed our guests and us. After that it all just fell into place, I didn’t have to do much to the space and my mom’s a project manager, combined with our backgrounds it was a piece of cake, really.”
Material Culture
“We happened to find Material Culture on the web, as we live in Texas, and scheduled a trip to see it. It was perfect. The food we tried was amazing and the menu we could choose from was organic, locally sourced, seasonal Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine which is RIGHT up our alley. What really sealed the deal was that our wedding venue was in the neighborhood where he grew up and “he loved bringing it full circle to start his new family.” We had a slight misstep when we found the configuration of our ceremony would be different but I honestly could not have been any happier on how the whole thing turned out. Our guests are still talking about how awesome the food was, and how much fun they had walking around and viewing everything in the venue.”
Wedding Inspiration
“I let Material Culture do all the talking and just chose to go simple with everything else. We tied Philly in as much as possible. Our colors were the 1970s Phillies colors: Baby blue and a cranberry red. We gave Tastykakes as favors. Our invitations were imprinted with the skyline and our guest book was a canvas image of the same. Our rehearsal dinner was at Arch Enemy Arts on Front Street where we had mini cheesesteaks and cannolis. We wore jerseys with the date of our wedding (Darren Daulton #10 (RIP) and the Process himself, Mr. Joel Embiid, #21).”
Wedding Planning Advice
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you HAVE to do something, whether it’s tradition or not. This day is about you and your partner and if you don’t want to do it, don’t. Be clear with people about what you want, and don’t be afraid to tell people no. Whatever you can’t remember specifically about the last nice wedding you went to, your guests probably won’t remember about yours, so focus on the things that are most important to the two of you – ours was food and location. And lastly, if you can afford a videographer, get one. It was out of our budget but it really does go as fast as they say it will.”
Best Wedding Memory
“‘Our song’ is Shut up & Dance with me and when it played I couldn’t find Pete at all, a minute into the song he comes running onto the dance and grabbed me and said “Babe it’s our song, I heard it and I came running” It was just such a sweet little reminder that whenever I need him, he’s there.”
Wedding Vendors
“We had a lot of help from our friends to get everything so perfect. Our photographer was a recommendation from the Art Gallery, and I’m just head over heels for those ladies. Our DJ is an old family friend of Pete. Our officiant was Pete’s cousin-in-law, a teacher, and a thoughtful creative who did a wonderful job with our ceremony on top of making my earrings for the evening.”
Vendors | Ceremony and Reception Venue: Material Culture | Photographer: Iris and Echo (formerly Everyday Eros Studio) | Floral/Decor: FiftyFlowers.com | Table Numbers: Etsy | Guestbook: Etsy | Dress Shop/Dress Designer: Lovely Bride, Theia | Bride’s Hair Pins: Etsy | Wedding Favors: Tastykake | DJ/Band: Daniel Moose | Hair & Makeup: Jessica Saint Bridal | Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss | Groom’s Shoes: Stubbs & Wootton | Groom’s Tie: Hermes