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When Elizabeth sent us her wedding pictures, I immediately fell in love with the beauty, the harmony, the deep style vision I could feel in each detail of the wedding. I was absolutely blown away by the very artistic floral composition and the attention that was put in the colours of the wedding.
I am so happy to share Elizabeth and Jake’s wedding story today with you.

In their wedding process, Elizabeth and Jake mostly wanted to honor their heritage, families, and the history of their venues as much as they could, and ultimately did this by focusing on the details!

Elizabeth :  “I grew up in Ohio yet my British husband spent his childhood in Mozambique, South Africa, Wales, and England, so it was important to us to find a place that we both called home, especially as we neared our third year of long distance. While Philadelphia is where we met, we were also drawn to its rich history—something we wanted to reflect in our choice of venues. Christ Church Philadelphia made this easy. It is known as the founder’s church and was frequented by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams, among others.

For our ceremony, the bells that rang were from the same foundry as the Liberty Bell and the candlelit chandelier the same that Franklin’s daughter had for her own wedding.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art had played a part in our early years at Penn so it felt like we were coming full circle in selecting it for our reception venue. Beyond this, it was lovely to be able to share such an iconic Philadelphia landmark with guests attending from every continent but Antarctica. During the reception, they were able to view the collections which remained open for the evening. As I discuss a bit more further on, the collections also informed nearly every design aspect of the day.

I had trouble finding a dress that felt right until I went to Tiffany at Mark Ingram Bridal. After hearing about the venue and historical references in the planning, she brought out an exquisite brocade hand-painted with roses—English roses just like those intended for our florals.

The Reem Acra gown was originally strapless but Tiffany had the brilliant idea of instead creating an off-the-shoulder neckline for a traditional silhouette to offset the more modern leg slit.

Our florist and designer, Sullivan Owen, was able to capture our vision before we had even told her during our first phone call. Her sprawling and breathtaking floral designs evoked a uniquely Old World splendor—from the ruins of an ancient cloister reclaimed by nature, twin to the one right off the Great Stair Hall, to the quintessential Dutch still-life which moved from the canvas to our head table and centerpieces. As nods to both Jake and my heritage, the florals included Persian buttercups (for the bride) and English roses (for the groom).

When it came to creating a style vision, we wanted to celebrate the beauty of the museum rather than distract from it. For this reason, the Rubens tapestries lining the Great Stair Hall became our touchstone for all design elements of the day, bringing a distinctly Old World tone to the evening. (In this way, our color palette was really chosen for us a few centuries ago!)

Alongside the darkly romantic colors and opulent textures of the Baroque period, we introduced pewter which was seen in our chargers and the large floral urns on each side of the stair and church aisles, as well as in the flower girl dresses and page boy’s attire.

Little Eglantine not only created the most beautiful dresses for our flower girls but also an equally adorable outfit for our page boy with a peter pan-collared shirt, cummerbund, and knickerbockers. Each featured a silk with warm, silver tones and a lovely white taffeta. Stephanie, the owner, was delightful to work with and her designs reflect such classical elegance and artistry.

Stephanie was incredibly gracious and attentive to detail when she received the measurements, and went above and beyond to make sure the flower girls would fit beautifully into their dresses. She was able to quickly determine which measurements taken by the parents of the flower girls were accurate—a life saver! Her experience and expertise were invaluable during the process.

The garments for the page boy and flower girls were flawless in their execution, fit, and quality. The children looked so lovely on the day of, and that is thanks to their beautiful Little Eglantine attire!”

Dear Elizabeth and Jake, all the team was really happy to bring a little part of beauty into your wedding, and we sincerely wish you all the happiness in the world!