In the current coronavirus situation, many couples are postponing their weddings and rethinking what kind of a celebration they are going to have. It seems like a good time to share Grace and Michael’s 50-people wedding celebration at Osteria restaurant in Philly. In the beginning, Grace and Michael wanted to get married in the Boston, MA area where they fell in love and built a life together. However, life happens. Michael’s father was diagnosed with a terminal cancer, so they had to change their plans quickly. The couple decided to have an intimate, non-traditional celebration in Philly instead, which is the closest city for Michael’s family, and forego many formalities. They rented an AirBnb in South Philly to get ready together and invited their closest friends to join. Grace and Michael opted to not have a wedding party but took photos with their friends informally instead. They chose to have 5 hours of coverage with just one photographer (myself) to cover their smaller celebration.
Grace wore a BHLDN dress. Her colorful earrings bought from Shopbop and fuschia heels from Anthropologie worked perfectly with her bold bouquet by We Are Wildflowers. We took an Uber to Philly’s City Hall to do some family photos and portraits of Grace and Michael before heading to Osteria. Their guests enjoyed a cocktail hour in the outdoor area, followed by an informal short ceremony (with no processionals) and family-style dinner (the food at Osteria is amazing!!!) inside the enclosed patio. Grace and Michael love their cat Ron and were sad he couldn’t attend. They had custom portrait shortbread cookie of Ron as their wedding favors and a special Ron-tini drink, a vodka martini with an orange twist named after their fur baby Ron. Their decor was mostly DIY and minimal. Afterwards, they headed to Yakitori Boy for karaoke. I loved documenting Grace and Michael’s smaller celebration!
Venue and catering: Osteria Philly | Florals: We Are Wildflowers | Dress: BHLDN | Getting ready: AirBnb
