Venue: Crane Arts, Philadelphia PA
Dress: Allure Bridals
Hair and makeup: Beautiful Brides Philly
Flowers: We Are Wildflowers
Catering: Diverse Catering
Cake: Vegan Treats
DJ and Videography: Lovesick, Inc.
Paper products/invitations: One of the bridesmaids, Alicia Morici, designed our invitations and response cards. Matt (groom) designed the additional items; program, menu / donation cards, bar signs, etc.
Additional details from the bride, Elisa:
Desserts: “Our dessert table included desserts all baked by the mother of the groom, aunt of the groom and mother of the bride.”
‘Something Blue': “My dad was a mechanic. I had a swatch of fabric from his blue, mechanic shirt wrapped it around my bouquet so that he was with me when I walked down the aisle.”
Donation Cards: “In lieu of favors we made a donation to Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia, where we rescued our dog, Gracie, from. Because she couldn’t be with us at our wedding, we had her paw print included on the donation card at each place setting.”
First dance: “Instead of a traditional first dance, we had ours alone, outside of the venue while our friend (and groomsman) played our song, “Inevitable” Anberlin.
Toast: “We toasted with Kasteel Rouge, a Belgian, cherry beer, as a nod to our engagement in Belgium.”
Wine: “All of the wine served at the wedding was from the Prospero winery in New York.”
How we met: “Our friends and family believe that Matt and I met through a friend, which is partly true, but we really wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for eHarmony. Most people didn’t know this until they read our ceremony programs 
Elisa and Matt’s wedding was a special one to photograph! I was touched by some of the personal details they incorporated, like a portrait session (and beers!) at Memphis Taproom, a bar where they had their first date. I am delighted when couples choose locations that are meaningful to them. It makes the photos so much more unique to the couple and personal! Also, Elisa and Matt’s first dance was definitely the best one I’ve photographed to date. They decided to do it privately, right outside of their venue, Crane Arts, right before sunset. Their friend played “Inevitable” by Anberlin as the new bride and groom had a quiet intimate moment away from the party with all their guests. My second shooter Nellie and I and our cinematographer friends from Lovesick Inc. felt grateful we got to document this special moment. Another little detail that is memorable to me is finding a mural saying “You totally matter” while we were doing photos outside of their venue at 1400 N. American Street. It was a nice little surprise we incorporated in our photos!
A few words from the bride, Elisa, describing how the envisioned their wedding:
“Matt and I met in and lived in Philadelphia when we began planning our wedding. After looking at a few venues in the surrounding area, we knew that it was only right to have our wedding to be in the city. This became even more meaningful when we ended up relocating to Texas earlier this year for Matt’s job. Our ‘home’ city wedding became a destination wedding for the two of us, and we wouldn’t have wanted it anywhere else.
All of the details were very important to us.
My best friend (and bridesmaid) designed our invitations and Matt designed the rest of the printed pieces. We wrote our own vows. We served Kasteel Rouge, a Belgian cherry beer, for our toast as a nod to our engagement in Belgium. All of the wine served was from the Prospero Winery in New York, in honor of my now maiden name.
In lieu of favors we made a donation to Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia (ACCT), where we adopted our dog, Gracie, from and stamped her paw print on the donation card at each place setting.
Matt’s mom, aunt and my mother made all of our favorite ‘mini’ desserts.
In the end, the best part of our wedding was seeing a room full of all of the people we love smiling, dancing and celebrating with us.”
