a phiLOVEdelphia story: Final Photo Spot Before We Wed

After the Art Museum, we had just one final stop before heading to St. Patrick’s to get hitched. As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Turkey really wanted to attend cocktail hour. This meant getting all the photos done before officially becoming Mr. and Mrs.

You’ve seen pictures of the two of us and our bridal party, but we still had to get some pictures with ones who loved us most – and for the longest – our families!

We decided to do these photos in Rittenhouse Square because of its proximity to both the church and the Rittenhouse Hotel, where everyone was staying (and we’d party a bit later).

You can see on our welcome map just how close everything is (under 2 minute walk)
Photo (and booklet) by Two Paperdolls

Thank goodness the photographers had already scoped out a location for these photos because the park was hopping! There was an arts fair going on, meaning lots of tents…and even more people. They had found a secluded area for our first look, but this spot must have been more difficult since there were more than just two people being photographed. I bet you’ll barely realize there was any commotion as you see these images!

All remaining photos are by Philip Gabriel Photography.

a phiLOVEdelphia story: Turkeys Take the Art Museum (Part II)

You’ve seen plenty of Mr. Turkey and me the last couple posts, so now it’s time to move onto the wedding party shots. I haven’t talked a ton about our bridesmaids and groomsmen in this blog (you know, privacy and all), but it must be said that we were incredibly lucky to have the people we did at our side on this big day.

From family to childhood and college friends, Mr. Turkey and I felt beyond honored that everyone made the sacrifices and trips necessary to be part of our wedding celebrations (you have read about all the ladies’ amazing contributions to my fashionista shower and bachelorette). We tried to say thank you to both the men and women at our rehearsal, but the bottom line is that nothing will every truly express our full gratitude.

However, beyond the “mushy” stuff, these people made our day FUN. You’ll see photos of them tearing up the dance floor later, but for now you’ll have to settle with some more traditional pics. I think it will be easy to see why nerves were limited, the day went so smoothly and our resounding memory from May 12^th was pure and simple joy.

All photos are by Philip Gabriel Photography.

Like I said...pure and simple joy

a phiLOVEdelphia story: Broad Street Beauties

After the first look, it was time for bridal party photos.

There are many beautiful locations around Philadelphia to take photos - from the parks (Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square, LOVE Park) to the historic sites* (Old Christ Church, Elfreth's Alley, Carpenter's Hall) to the landmarks (30th Street Station, Art Museum, Boathouse Row). Between our engagement session, rehearsal dinner and wedding day, many of these places were on our "list".

However, there was one place that was a "must do" from the very beginning of our engagement - Broad Street and City Hall. So iconic, so "Philly"...even Mr. Turkey agreed it was the perfect spot for pictures!

In fact, with our original venue, we were thrilled with the opportunity to be right on Broad Street. Mr. Turkey and I made plans with Gabe to do bridal party photos there before cocktails and then have just the two of us sneak out at the end of night with the lights of the city around us.

But as you recall, our story took a bit of a turn and we changed venues. No longer were we on Broad Street or anywhere close enough to pull off a nighttime shot. But we were able to find room in our schedule for the day to make a stop here for photos. And it was totally worth it!

All photos are by Philip Gabriel Photography.

Photos like this make me so happy we had a city wedding...U-Haul and all

a phiLOVEdelphia story: Getting Lovely (with Law & Order)

After the quiet hours that started the day, I decided to turn on the TV for a little "background noise" as the ladies (and breakfast) arrived.

I also set out some of my details, including my blue Kate Spade shoes and fun, floral purse

For months I had been joking that my dream wedding day would involve a "Law & Order: SVU" marathon (see my bio to the right). Well, things were continuing to go my way because right there on the screen was "Law & Order" in all its scripted, predictable plot line glory.

Yes, I chose L&O over the wedding DVDs I brought (even my favorite)

Judge me if you must, but it was nice to have something "usual" while getting ready. I can't count the number of hours I have spent with my friends / bridesmaids watching these shows - in fact, we kept calling out the ending of each episode as it came up (like I said, hours). At times, I almost forgot about the monumental event before us.

a phiLOVEdelphia story: The Day Before the Day

You saw it in my last post, but I've decided to capture all our wedding weekend recaps under the header "a phiLOVEdelphia story". Cheesy, yes. But fitting for Mr. & Mrs. Turkey.

I'll start our recaps "officially" with the day before our wedding - Friday, May 11. However, I'd be remiss if I left out Thursday night. That's because the real kickoff happened the night before the day before the day (follow that?) at about 6:30pm when I was finally guilted into shutting down my computer. The weekend had begun!

Turkey Mom, Dad & Brother were already in town and had reservations at Parc for 7:15pm. Although the temptation to skip and get some additional wedding stuff done was there, I took my own advice and stepped away.

Our table neighbor was nervous when he saw the sparkling macarons

Gifting the Girls

So we've gone through gifts for our special guests and groomsmen...now it's onto the lovely bridesmaids!!

Beautiful ladies (I'm not biased or anything) at the rehearsal

Although in some ways they were the easiest group to gift, their wedding gifts were a little tough because, um, I had already used up a LOT of my ideas.

Nails and a Nosh

It seems fairly common for brides to use the day before their wedding to relax and get pretty, specifically when it comes to mani / pedis with their bridal party. Well, I don't often buck tradition, so it seemed to be a good idea to look into salon / spa options for the group.

Since I have trouble doing things simply, I decided to make the Friday before the wedding an "event" for me, the bridesmaids and Turkey Mom.

Invitation by Sweet Wishes (specific design)

Befitting of a Bridesmaid

To say I was excited about our NYC shopping trip for dresses (of the wedding and bridesmaid variety) would be an understatement. The purpose of the day was to choose the bridesmaid dresses and narrow down my choices for a wedding dress.

Success would be walking away with a wedding dress choice (that could be purchased closer to home) and ordering the bridesmaid dresses.

We started on a super early trains - converging upon NYC from Albany, Baltimore, Boston, DC and Philadelphia. Our first stop was Kleinfeld for wedding dresses!

Me and Mom outside the store

Why am I sharing this photo when the post is about bridesmaid dresses?

Mismatched Inspiration

The bridemsaids had spoken. No preference on color, but they wanted to pick their own dress style. Fair enough. I was loving all the weddings with "mismatched" dresses.

Source

All the women look comfortable in their chosen dress - picking designs that best flatter their figures. Isn't that what everyone wants? My bridesmaids ranged in height from 5' to 5'7 and covered almost every shape and size in between. My maid of honor is on the taller end of this spectrum and, as a tall girl myself, I didn't want her to be worried about a wardrobe malfunction due to a super short dress!

SURPRISE - Part II

When we left off, I was off to bed with a full belly of yummy Mexican and fun drinks. The next morning we took our time getting up and then headed out for a Bloody Mary brunch. I promise you, the entire weekend did NOT revolve around drinks.

As brunch was winding down, the girls handed me a present...a picture frame. I opened it from behind, but when I turned it over...Surprise #3!!

AHHHHHHHH

SURPRISE - Part I

I'm not great with surprises. I usually manage to figure things out beforehand - the engagement being an exception. However, little did I realize that just a few months later, there would be another surprise.

One May day, I received an envelope with a typed address on the front (no return) and this inside:

Yes, these are letters that are cut out from magazines

Feedback Requested

So all the bridesmaids had accepted...now what?

I was starting to think about bridesmaid dresses, but with all the inspiration and options out there, it was impossible to narrow down. I decided who better to ask for feedback than my bridesmaids themselves!

Would you be...oh could you be...

...my bridesmaid?

There are a number of wonderful women in my life, both family and friends, who I wanted to be part of our wedding. However, with them spread up and down the East Coast, I didn't want to simply make a phone call or wait until our next visit. Being a bridesmaid isn't all sunshines and rainbows, so I wanted to illustrate how much I appreciated everything they would do as a member of our wedding party...and show them how special they were to me!

I started by practicing my calligraphy on the shiny envelopes.

It looks better when you can see the full name!