Once our bridal party had made their way in, Mr. Ly and I were ready to make our entrance and have our first dance as husband and wife. When I last blogged about our song choice for our first dance, we had picked “Colors” by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. As much as we love that song, we loved another one a lot more, and while we weren’t sure the rhythm was right for our first dance, we decided to go with the song we liked the best—rhythm be damned. Our first dance was to Brandi Carlile’s “The Story.” But before we could dance, we had to enter.
As you may recall from our introduction post nearly a year ago, Mr. Ly has a t-shirt with a well known lyric from a popular Kanye West & Jay-Z song. After our YouTube viral video bridal party entrance, we really shouldn’t have been so concerned about offending people even more with our own entrance song. But we chose a part of the song that had the least offensive lyrics that we could find. Yes, we entered to N****s in Paris. (Warning—the lyrics are NSFW!) We entered at about 1:40 seconds into the song—with Mr. Ly’s favorite lyrics…
What she order?
All our guests made their way from our incredible cocktail hour into the gorgeous reception space and were seated. The bridal party was lined up outside the reception space behind the white curtains and waited for their cue to enter the party!
When Mr. Ly and I were deciding what our bridal party would walk in to, we knew we wanted it to be fun and have a lot of our own personality to it. Before we started dating, I had maybe seen one or two viral videos on YouTube. For the first few months of our relationship, Mr. Ly would send me “must-see” viral videos that I had missed throughout the years, and to this day, he’s still finding them every once in a while. We decided our bridal party would walk in to a mix of our favorite viral video songs/auto-tune remixes.
My parents and Mr. Ly’s parents entered first. My dad LOVED the “Numa Numa” song, and while this was one video I actually saw before my relationship with Mr. Ly, we thought it was a perfect fit.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
Before our guests headed into the reception, the room was finalized and our photographers got some great shots of the room in all it’s glory.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
We had three different styles of tables—two long tables that sat 18-20 guests on either side of the dance floor, four oblong tables that sat 14-16 guests on each corner of the dance floor, and five round tables that held 10-12 guests on the outside corners of the room. Each table style had a different centerpiece (or centerpieces for the long tables). We ended up splurging a bit on the lighting as well, but the chandeliers were our main source of lighting and definitely the focal point of the room, and we had them lit in amber lighting.
Our caterer, Cescaphe, is known near and far for their exquisite cocktail hour. Although calling it a cocktail hour is a bit misleading. It’s actually an hour and a half, and during that time, as our ceremony space was being flipped into our reception space, Mr. Ly and I snuck off to take some pictures while our guests got to enjoy more food than they could imagine. We really didn’t want to miss our cocktail hour, and we tried desperately to get there, but we managed maybe 20 minutes of the hour and a half. We took some family photos, and of course that takes time to gather everyone. We spent some time in our bridal suite—which was also packed to the brim with hors d’oeuvres and samples from all the stations. Cocktail hour was held in the same foyer area where the guests entered before the ceremony. I don’t have many professional pictures, and without our own personal experience, I am relying on our guest photos and their commentary to tell this part of our wedding.
BEES! Mrs. Fox, Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, & Mrs. Coyote / Photo by Mike Landis Photographer
I hadn’t mentioned it yet, but I had some very special bee guests at the wedding. I was so lucky to have Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Mrs. Coyote, and Mrs. Fox at the wedding, and as fellow bloggers they know the importance of the detail shots—they made sure they were taking plenty during cocktail hour!
Right after our ceremony ended, Mr. Ly and I headed outside to take some photos of just the two of us. I was hoping to get some sunset photos, but I think the timing was just a little off. There was still great light outside and we took our gender reveal photos that we were going to use for our thank you note once we found out if Baby Lyre was a boy or girl.
I hunted long and hard for shoes I wanted to use for the shoot—they had to be distinguishable boy or girl shoes to make the photo work. In the end, I found some cute blue sneakers and some sparkly pink shoes. I think the blue shoes actually photographed better, so lucky us that Baby Lyre is a boy!
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
We took a few pictures of just us in the park, before adding the shoes into the mix:
For some reason, we took a lot more shots with the pink shoes than the blue ones. We have two shots with us holding the blue shoes, and at least six shots holding the pink ones. Maybe our photographer thought we were going to have a girl?
Our ceremony was quick and traditional. We met with our rabbi (if you’re looking for a rabbi in PA to do an interfaith wedding, or any wedding, really, I highly recommend Rabbi Bleefeld.) a few times before the wedding so he could get to know us and personalize the ceremony a bit. He gave us one crucial piece of advice for the ceremony that we both took to heart. He advised that as soon as the ceremony started, we look at each other, and no one else, the entire time. He told us some stories about brides who were more concerned about where the photographer/videographer were throughout the ceremony, and didn’t pay attention to the real reason why they were there. He advised us that there’s nothing like being able to recall the way your beloved looked the moment you were married, and we didn’t need to look at him, or our guests, or anyone besides each other. I am so very glad we took his advice, because there is nothing that I remember more vividly about our ceremony besides what Mr. Ly looked like in those moments where we were married. I did not see guests come in late, my photographer lying on the floor to get some of his shots, or my MOH run out in the middle of our ceremony (surprise: she’s pregnant too!), all I saw was the face of my love as we promised each other to love, honor and cherish each other for the rest of our lives.
So all of our photos are us, looking at each other. And I love that. If you can take this advice and look at no one other than your partner for your entire ceremony—do it. You’ll never regret not looking anywhere else.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
(Also, sorry to jam all these photos into one post. I didn’t want to do more than one ceremony post, but I love ALL these pictures. I couldn’t choose. So very pic heavy post ahead.)
The rabbi started the ceremony by welcoming our guests, mentioning those in remembrance who have passed, and offering up a bit of his rabbinical advice about marriage.
After my bridal party had made it down the long aisle, there was a brief pause in the music, the curtains closed, and I was prepped for the most meaningful walk I’ll ever take. I think I walked in to Canon in D. How terrible that I have no memory of that! But honestly, I couldn’t think about anything except how excited I was to finally be marrying Mr. Ly, and all that stood between that was this one last walk with my parents by side. And then it hit me.
The moment before you walk down the aisle, those few seconds you have to yourself with your parents, or whomever is walking you down, maybe just by yourself, are so surreal. I hadn’t been alone with my thoughts since I woke up that morning, and here I was, standing with my parents, in the calm, quiet space right before all eyes were about to be on me. Cue: Panic. I felt like a bride SO many times that day, but right before I entered that ceremony, it really hit me. This is what I had been looking forward to my entire life. Fifteen months of planning, all the years spent dreaming of my someday-wedding, and here it was. This.Is.It. At the end of this ceremony, I was still going to be me, but I was going to be someone’s wife. That didn’t scare me, but it did flood me with emotions. I don’t like people staring at me when I’m feeling vulnerable or emotional, but I didn’t really have a choice. Pair that with fears of tripping, slipping, stumbling, whatever and it makes for very tense body language—which I didn’t want to portray. I mentally prepped myself to look straight ahead, and just focus on the end of the very long aisle where my husband was waiting.
I tried to zone in on Mr. Ly, but as I walked, my anxiety just disappeared as soon as I saw so many familiar, loving, friendly faces. I just beamed as I walked down the aisle toward the love of my life.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
While the Ketubah was being signed, the guests at the Lyre wedding were being contained in the front entrance of the Curtis Center. Don’t worry, they were fully taken care of, being ushered in with a red carpet, and served chilled champagne with raspberries upon arrival.
Guest Photo
The work of art you see behind our guests is actually a famous mosaic called the “Dream Garden.” It’s made up of over a hundred thousand pieces of glass, based on a painting by Maxfield Parrish. It’s a stunning work of art, and a beautiful site to welcome our guests.
After we rehearsed, Mr. Ly and I, along with our parents, and two of our closest friends, gathered in the bridal suite with our rabbi for our Ketubah signing. Instead of asking the people in our bridal party to be our witnesses for the Ketubah signing, we decided to ask some friends that were not included in the bridal party, but were still friends that we wanted to include significantly in our day. I chose to ask one of my best friends from Brooklyn. We taught together for only a year, but formed a friendship that has sustained seven years—six of those years in different states. Mr. Ly chose to ask his best man’s wife, who has played an important part in his friendship with his best friend over their entire friendship.
For those who haven’t been to a Jewish wedding, or are unfamiliar with the customs, the Ketubah is the Jewish marriage contract. The signing takes place before the ceremony and is when, according to Jewish law, our marriage is officially recognized. The Ketubah is the first piece of artwork you should hang in your home as husband and wife, and Mr. Ly and I took a lot of time finding something we both really loved. We sought out a company that would provide us with an interfaith text, approved by our rabbi, and represented our union. We ended up going with the company MP Artworks. Our rabbi recommended them to us, and he has a long standing relationship with them. We liked a lot of their options and decided on the “Woven Tree of Life—Winter Edition” for our design. We chose the interfaith text number six, in both Hebrew and English.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
Before we signed the Ketubah, we had to go over the logistics for our Pennsylvania marriage license.
We arrived at the venue to find our DOC, Emily, and our maitre d/butler, Larry, waiting for us at the door. I’ll talk more about them later when I do my vendor reviews, but while I know it’s part of their job, from the moment we arrived Emily and Larry made me & Mr. Ly feel like we were royalty. Anything we wanted, they were going to make it happen. No matter what.
We entered through the Walnut St. side entrance and right into the bridal suite. The first thing I did? If you’ve been following along it should be no surprise—I took off my shoes and put my slippers from the morning back on. Thankfully, I had the sense to pack them before we left the hotel; they were my saving grace.
I cannot begin to even describe how beautiful the Atrium looked when we arrived, so I will let the photographs do the talking for me.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
The full ceremony space—with our rabbi under the chuppah getting prepared
When we got back on the trolley after our photos at the art museum, my feet were throbbing. I could feel myself heading towards miserable Miss Lyre. I was doing my best to keep smiling and keep my feet up. As we neared our venue, and passed it, I resigned myself that we would be taking just one more set of pictures and I COULD DO THIS.
So we pull around to the Philadelphia Merchant’s Exchange, which is the oldest stock exchange building in the country and has a gorgeous architectural structure and cobblestone paved paths leading up to it. I didn’t think much about how cobblestone would be my downfall, until it was way too late.
I cried one time on my wedding day. It wasn’t walking down the aisle, during my vows, or when I saw Mr. Ly for the first time, either. It wasn’t at the end of the night, when all the wedding stress was relieved and it was all over. It was outside in Olde City, in front of a gorgeous old historical building, standing by myself trying to smile.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
A great shot of the entire bridal party
We took some more pictures of just us:
After some of our bridal party had a near brush with death, we got off of the median of Broad Street and made it over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for some more quintessential Philadelphia photos.
It was a bit more crowded than Broad Street had been, but still nowhere near as bad as it could be on a nice day.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
Any trip to the art museum starts with the infamous climbing of the stairs (most people run it, but that was NOT happening).
A large group storming the steps
After our photos alone, we hopped on the trolley and headed out into Philly to take some photos around town. We didn’t get many photos on the trolley, but it served the purpose of transporting our large bridal party around town in comfort and style.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer unless noted:
Personal Photo—We had just gotten on the trolley, the only time we shared a seat
Right after our first look, we took some time to utilize the location in Olde City for our pictures. Our bridal party was already on the trolley waiting to get started with pictures but we decided to take some shots just the two of us.
Mr. Ly and I don’t do serious very well. We are laughing, together—or at each other—most of the time. I think our photographer realized that during our engagement shoot photos, and took that into consideration in our wedding photos. I think the laughter and joy really comes through in these shots, and they are just a lot of fun.
All photos by Mike Landis Photographer
Street view —the building across the street is the Omni Hotel, where we stayed for the weekend
I never had any doubt that we’d do a first look. Mr. Ly, on the other hand, needed a little convincing. He wanted to wait until the ceremony to see me for the first time, and while I think that would have been really sweet and very nice, it’s just not how it works in a Jewish wedding. We would have to see each other before the ceremony to sign the Ketubah anyway, so he quickly relented on that issue and agreed that a first look made the most sense. It was the best decision we could have made and gave us some time to spend just the two of us before the whirlwind of the day swept us up.
Despite what seemed like a huge delay in our schedule for the morning of, I was out the door of the hotel room and ready for our first look only 20 minutes or so past when I had hoped to be. A few of my bridesmaids were on their way out of the room to head to the trolley at the same time and I remember asking them to wait for the next elevator so my photographer and I could head to the first look alone. I don’t know how I got it in my mind that this was going to be a private event. It was on a fairly busy street in Philadelphia, on an unseasonably warm winter day. We were the furthest thing from alone. So I needed those few moments alone in the elevator, or alone with my photographer, to compose myself.
My bridesmaids caught the next elevator and proceeded to hoot and holler at us during the first look from across the street anyway.
We did our first look at the Second Bank of the United States, which is a historical building in Olde City, Philadelphia. And just happened to be directly across the street from the hotel.
Mr. Ly was ready and waiting, posing before I arrived.
Mrs. Lyre, Philadelphia Age and Occupation: 31, Librarian Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Government Employee Engagement Date: November 11, 2011 Wedding Date: January 2013 Venue: Atrium at the Curtis Center About Me: I’m a book loving, photography obsessed, artsy/crafty bride to be, who was dating all the wrong men, until I met the right one, and where one story ended - our new life together began. He’s a video game loving, quirky t-shirt wearing, movie quoting geek who stole my heart, and welcomed me into his. Together we are a happily co-habitating couple, who live in South Jersey, and are planning a wedding in Philadelphia in January 2013. We love to cook, share a bottle of wine, and watch way too much TV; we laugh all the time, don’t sleep nearly enough, and cannot wait to begin our lives as husband and wife!
