an urban wedding...

Saturday was a beautiful (and chilly) day and apparently a very popular one for weddings. Eric and I went to the wedding of one of his college friends and while we were walking around the city in between the ceremony and reception, we saw two other weddings parties taking photos. But I bet the wedding we went to was better:) I'm not kidding - if I had a wedding in the city, I'd want it to be exactly the same (well almost). They were missing one key element: dancing. But besides that, it was pretty close to perfect. It was a smaller wedding - I think there were about 65 guests. I love that they were able to keep it so intimate, I'm sure it wasn't an easy task, but it felt really nice and special. The ceremony took place in a church in Rittenhouse Square with the reception at Hotel Palomar - a beautiful hotel in the same area. I've eaten at the bar in the hotel a couple of times and it was delicious, so I was excited to see how our dinner would be - I wasn't disapoointed. In general, the food at most of the weddings I've been to have just been okay - but I really enjoyed my meal this time! I had the halibut which came with sweet mashed potatoes that were incredible. Yum yum yum. And the hors d'ouevres served during the cocktail hour were also tasty - but can you really go wrong with bacon wrapped scallops and mini crab cakes? Oh and kir royales..I was in heaven. I should've known it was going to be a great wedding as soon as I saw the bride and groom's ride to the wedding:

Now THAT is a car. I'm not a car person, but even I can appreciate the beauty of a Rolls Royce!

If you've never been to the Palomar - you really should - if only to see how well designed it is. Philadelphia is definitely lacking in the boutique hotel department, but the Palomar is doing a good job helping to fill that void. And the bar on the ground level is a pretty good spot to grab a drink - hanging out in hotel bars is almost unheard of in Philly, but the Palomar is starting a trend! I'll have to go back and take some photos of the hotel lobby and bar sometime, but here are some photos of the wedding reception to give you an idea of how pretty it is:

This was one of the rooms that the cocktail hour was held in. You can't really see much of the space in this photo - I think I was mostly trying to get a photo of Misa (the bride) in her little fur capelet. It was gorgeous and vintage - it used to belong to her aunt who gave it to her for the wedding.

These chandeliers were in the room where dinner was held - aren't they so pretty!!

The tables:

Everything was very simple but elegant. And felt very romantic. Exactly how you'd want a wedding to feel like.

And to top it all off...they had macarons as their favors!!

a fall wedding

Saturday was a busy day for me. There was the fall festival, the sumo wrestling, then later on in the day Eric and I drove to Maryland for my friend Michelle's wedding. I wasn't really sure what to expect (decor-wise) - all I really knew was that it was going to be held in a state park in Maryland and the ceremony would be outdoors with the reception in a barn. Oh and that they were going for "eco chic". I should've known it was going to be beautiful (I mean this is Michelle we're talking about - she has fabulous taste!). It was one of the prettiest weddings I've ever been to. And one of the funnest. (Is that a real word?)

Isn't this photo stunning? Michelle and her mom both look gorgeous and so do the surroundings. Everything is just perfect - the trees, the stables, the grass, the light! I love this photo.

The reception wasn't your typical reception. There wasn't a sit down meal - it felt more like a cocktail party (with h'ordeouves and their favorite foods - pizza and sushi). For those who wanted to sit down, they set up long tables downstairs:

Aren't the table centerpieces so pretty? They're actually vintage bottles, vases, candleholders that they collected over the past year. They didn't use any fresh flowers - instead they used wheat grass, dried flowers, branches and made some paper flowers. Not only did it work well with their theme of eco chic, but it looked absolutely beautiful.

Upstairs was the dance floor as well as lounge areas with benches and ottomans - which they made from scrap wood that was leftover from the demo of their house! I wish I had a photo of them because they looked awesome. Here is a photo of the second floor of the barn - beautiful right? Love the ceiling.

The dessert buffet was beautifully arranged:

I'm so blown away with how it all turned out - especially since they did everything themselves. So many weddings look the same but this one was definitely different and had personality. Amazing job Michelle and Ryan! And congratulations!!