Romance inspired this spring wedding that was oh-so-dreamy! The endless candles, draped greenery, and florals by Papertini transformed Front & Palmer to a majestic space. Although this day featured many classic details, the bride’s unexpected style was truly one-of-a-kind thanks to the Wedding Atelier. Samantha and Chris’ special day is all the inspiration needed for a modern fete, and Emily Wren Photography made sure no detail went un-captured, see all of the loveliness below!
From the Photographer, Emily Wren: “Samantha & Chris took great care in planning their city summer wedding! They designed and printed their own invite suite, created a charming escort card display from repurposed shutters, and the groom even brewed his own beer for the celebration! Samantha chose soft shades of lavender for her bridesmaid’s, and Papertini included pops of pale purple to match in the bride’s bouquet!
At home, Samantha always does Chris’s tie, and they saw no reason that the same shouldn’t be true for their wedding day. So during the first look, the groom waited at the bottom of the steps with his bowtie draped around his neck, waiting for his bride’s assistance. When Samantha arrived in her cascading, striped, organza gown, Chris couldn’t take his eyes off of her. The bride smiled and laughed as she put the finishing touches on her groom who gazed at his bride with the utmost love.
After a portrait session set against the charming backdrop of Old City, the couple headed to Front & Palmer for their ceremony and reception where the couple enjoyed seeing all of their hard work come to life. They exchanged vows in a joyful ceremony set against a backdrop of floating candles. Then, as husband and wife, they treated guests to brightly colored signature cocktails and delightful mini falafel pita pockets! The evening continued with heartfelt speeches and plenty of dancing. Once dessert was served and the last song play, guests were sent home with Philly soft pretzels— the perfect end to a downtown Philadelphia wedding!”
How They Met
“We met on a hot summer night at a dive bar on the Upper East Side of NYC. He was with a group of his college friends from Drexel, and I was with my girlfriend. We spotted each other from across the bar and couldn’t take our eyes off one another. The rest, as they say, is history.”
The Proposal
“The proposal was the happiest, most romantic, thoughtful and incredible moment/day of my life (before the wedding day, of course). Chris planned a surprise, day-long series of events that involved visiting some of our favorite and most memorable spots in the city – the bar where we first met, where we had our first date, the spot where we first kissed, and the Madison Square Park bench where we officially became a couple back in October 2013. It was here that he proposed in the second of a series of letters. We had an incredibly romantic dinner that night and got to celebrate with our families for Thanksgiving the next day.”
Wedding Planning
“I’m a creative in advertising, so I had a particular vision of what I wanted. In many ways, it made it easy to choose which vendors I wanted to work with and the overall look and feel for our wedding. I was very much the DIY bride. I designed all our stationery, did the calligraphy and designed and built (with my husband) many of the things at our wedding. I absolutely loved wedding planning. I obviously had moments of frustration as every bride does, but my overall experience was pretty incredible.”
Front & Palmer
We knew we wanted to get married in Philly because both of us had strong ties to the city. Chris went to Drexel for undergrad, and I grew up nearby in Bucks County. After attending dozens of weddings together over the past few years, Chris and I both knew that we did not want a traditional wedding in a ballroom. We started off by looking at outdoor venues, but after a few run-ins with deer poop and muddy grass, we decided it was just not us! When we came across Front & Palmer (on the internet from a photo by Emily Wren, our wedding photographer), we absolutely fell in love. When we first visited, I loved how different and romantic it felt and could immediately envision our wedding there. Chris has an engineering background, so he loved the steel beams and industrial feel of the place as well. We also heard incredible things about their food, so we knew it was the perfect place for us.
Wedding Inspiration
I think my biggest inspiration was our personalities and what we liked in our everyday lives. We love greenery so decided we wanted more green elements than colorful florals. We both love light grey and purple, so we decided to make those our wedding colors. We wanted the wedding to feel extremely romantic and incorporated lots of candles to help with that. I looked at tons of photos online, mainly ones our photographer Emily took and used that as inspiration as well. I had quite a big Pinterest board at the end of the process.
“My best moment/memory from our wedding day was walking down the aisle. That moment was the result of so much work and so many great things all coming together for me. It was the first time I saw the room decorated in line with my vision. The Combination of the music, design, both parents walking me down, seeing all of our closest friends and family, and most importantly seeing Chris waiting for me at the end of the aisle, flooded me with so many emotions and an incredible amount of excitement.”
Wedding Planning Advice
“Plan the wedding for yourself and not for what you think everyone else wants. Having a wedding that represents who you and your husband are makes it that much more powerful of a day. And when you get to about that 2-week mark from the wedding, don’t stress and worry about the things that are going wrong. It will work out and if it doesn’t, don’t let it affect your day. Remember this is more than a party.
Also – don’t be afraid to ask others for help, especially the day before and day of the wedding. There will be a lot going on and plenty of people who love you around to lend a helping hand.”
Wedding Vendors
I LOVED all of our vendors. Our venue, Front & Palmer was absolutely stunning, the food was incredible and our coordinator Lini was with us every step of the way. Our photographer, Emily Wren, made it easy to be in front of a camera, she was incredible with the kids and so organized. Of course, the photos are also STUNNING! Our florist, Nancy Barbarto with Papertini, was so personable and executed our vision perfectly! The Don Eaton Band put on an amazing performance and was incredible with reading the crowd. They had the dance floor packed the entire night, and people are still raving about them.
Wedding Highlight Film
Samantha & Chris – Highlight Film from byDesign Films on Vimeo.