Some girls dream, plan and wait their entire lives for perfect Cescaphe Ballroom wedding photography. They plan out every little detail in their heads. You pin hundreds of pins on Pinterest. Stalk your friends Facebook pages that just got married, follow fashion dress designers on Instagram. But I have not heard anyone ever mention that they want to have a snowstorm on their wedding day…
About Cescaphe Ballroom: The flagship of the Cescaphe family, this Northern Liberties ballroom kicked off Joe Volpe’s collection back in 2003 and set the tone for the rest of the brand. The room is a study in contrast, white marble floors, dramatic black accents, and a domed ceiling that pulls the eye up the moment you step inside. Cocktail hour spills into a tiled rotunda, dinner happens in the main ballroom, and the whole space lights candle-soft once the sun drops. For a snowstorm wedding like this one, the team flexed an entire schedule by 24 hours without missing a beat, which says everything about how they run their floor.
I first met Jaclyn at her sister Shannon’s wedding. It also snowed! However this makes for some awesome Cescaphe Ballroom wedding photography. She had to move her day due to state of emergency on her wedding date. She called me the day prior to her wedding and asked if I was available to shoot her wedding Sunday instead of Saturday. I told her no problem, but made sure that she had boots for the entire bridal party. They are absolutely awesome people and loved working with them for their GTKY session at Princeton University which you can see here: Princeton Engagement.
Ceremony: St Anthony Church
Reception: Cescaphe Ballroom
Florist: Beautiful Blooms
DJ: John Rossi
Makeup: All Dolled Up (Jacqueline Cipullo)
Hair: Taffetta Designs (Alex)
Invitations: Cupcake Graphics LLC
Bride’s Dress: Castle Couture
Camera: Contax 645, pentax 645nII, Canon 5d Mark II
Film:Kodak Portra 400, Fujifilm Acros 100
What an emotional day…
This was an emotional day for Jaclyn not only because it was her wedding but all her prepping and planning had to be moved last minute to the following day. It was a beautiful reveal when her father came in and saw her after she put her dress on. That is one of the special moments in a father’s life to see his daughter for the first time on her wedding day in her dress.
The only issue that she had on her wedding day was that her videographer just didn’t show up and when she called they were a few hours away from the church/venue. She was clearly upset from this but we made it very clear not to worry and that I can help capture the ceremony for her. No worries. Her family and bridal party were also amazingly supportive and kept her cool as a cucumber.
Ceremony at St. Anthony Church in Hamilton
St. Anthony’s in Hamilton is a stunning church. I have photographed here quite a few times. Shannon, Jaclyn’s sister, also was married here. Because her videographer never showed up to the ceremony. I captured her ceremony with one of my backup cameras and their GoPro cameras. I always suggest to hire a professional videographer because they will get amazing audio and multiple camera angles for your ceremony.
Hardcore bridal party portraits
Shooting in the winter is often tricky because the sunsets very early in the day. They opted to shoot close to the church as it would have been dark by the time we got to Philly from the church. We shot at a spot in Trenton I found on Google maps that had an awesome bridge. The sun was bright and shining, there were beautiful clouds and two feet of snow on the ground. This is where the boots I suggested came in handy. We trekked about 75 yards in the deep snow to get to the bridge and it was perfect! Then went to an unfinished construction area that framed the bridal party. I can’t say enough how awesome the bridal party was! How manyweddings can you have 10 of your friends get all dressed up and hike from a warm bus through two feet of snow in 30-degree weather and not complain a bit!
Perfect reception Cescaphe Ballroom wedding photography
The Cescaphe wedding at the Ballroom was so awesome for Jaclyn and Michael’s wedding. Cescaphe literally pushed everything back to Sunday so that they can have their dream wedding. The staff took care of every need they had and went above and beyond. Beautiful Blooms provided stunning florals for the bridal party and reception décor. They had an incredible reception and Jaclyn’s family parties hard. Love when families let loose! We went out for a little night session across the street that was slippery but well worth it. I had the most amazing time working with Jaclyn and Michael. I wish them the best!
Someone put a fake dog stuffed animal ontop of a snowman which was fun to use as an outdoor prop.
That moment when you are pushing your stuck car and you wipe out!
This guy loved the sorbet..
Vendor recap
- Reception: Cescaphe Ballroom
- Ceremony: St. Anthony Church
- Florist: Beautiful Blooms
- Hair: Taffeta Designs
- Makeup: All Dolled Up