Wedding Blog

As promised, here are some more pictures of Carolyn and Josh’s wedding in Philadelphia. The reception was held at the beautiful Glen Foerd Mansion on the Delaware River. Carolyn and Josh arranged a bus that made two trips from the Omni Hotel in Philly out to Glen Foerd- first to take them and the bridal party, then to bring the guests. During our extra time we took pictures on the grounds of the mansion.

This isn’t them, but we also got to take pictures in the boathouse:

Glen Foerd is a really neat venue because of all the different locations within the house and the grounds. As the guests arrived, food and cocktails were served in the main foyer and the drawing room. The bridal party and the newlyweds were announced towards the end of the cocktail hour, and we all came down the huge staircase as we were announced. Here’s me with one of the two best men:

And here’s the new Mr. and Mrs! It was quite a grand entrance…

Josh is beaming in this (sorry, blurry) photo for a number of reasons. First of all, he just married that beautiful lady to his left. But second, that lady just pulled off an awesome surprise. Carolyn had arranged for sports announcer Harry Kalas, “the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies” to record the wedding party introductions! Josh, being the hugest Philly sports fan I know, just about died when he heard the voice come on, and I heard one of the groomsman say that it was the best day of his life, because “Harry Kalas just said my name”. Needless to say, it was a huge hit.

After the introductions, Carolyn and Josh went right into their first dance, in the drawing room:

photo by Sarah Schulte Photography

The staff at Glen Foerd was really great at smoothly moving the crowd from one room to another as the night went on… after the speeches we were all moved into the dining room, and dinner was served at two stations. The food, done by Conroy Catering, was all fabulous. Here’s the dining room:

(not from their wedding, sorry)

and here’s me with the aforementioned yummy food:

After dinner the crowd was moved again into the conservatory. This was such a cool space!

I hope you can tell from this picture that there are three different levels in the conservatory- the ground floor had tables set, a dessert table, and a coffee station. The elevated level you see in the center was surrounded by candles and was a great dance floor, and the highest level served as a stage for the band. It was a really unique space that gave plenty of room for those who wanted to dance and also a spot for taking a break or just watching the action with a slice of cake.

We had a great time as the band played until midnight when the bus arrived to take us all home.

Here’s Jenny, the maid of honor, catching the bouquet!

This one’s for reader “June2008″, as requested, a close-up of Carolyn’s bouquet:

Carolyn and Josh had Philly soft pretzels and bottled water (adorably personalized of course) waiting for the guests to grab and take on the bus ride home.

It was really fun to go to this wedding and try to see everything from a guest point of view. It was refreshing actually to see everyone so excited about the little details that I know took Carolyn so long to plan. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. who are no doubt enjoying their honeymoon in South Africa right now!

Does the way you look at weddings as a guest change now that you’re planning your own?

Picture credits: 1,2,10- Bridesmaid Jess, 3,7- Glen Foerd website, 4,5,8,9,11 - Mr. Tiramisu, 6,12,14 - Sarah Schulte Photography