Julie & Ryan had an amazing summer day for their Cescaphe Ballroom wedding! Julie & Ryan, as well are their families, were some of the nicest people we have worked with. We started with Julie at her parent’s house, which is in a gated community and we had to sneak in because we didn’t have the gate code. They had their ceremony at the beautiful First Presbyterian Church in Moorestown. The inside of this church is stunning and it is so well lit with natural light from both sides of giant windows surrounding the church pews. We photographed with their awesome bridal party a bit on the church grounds before we went into Philly for their Cescaphe Ballroom wedding reception.
About Cescaphe Ballroom: Cescaphe Ballroom is family-owned, which is rarer than couples expect when they tour Philadelphia ballrooms. Joe Volpe and his family have run the operation since 2003 and still personally walk weddings on Saturday nights. Everything stays in-house, from the kitchen to the floral team to the bridal suite stylists, which means there are fewer outside vendors juggling schedules on the day of. The Ballroom itself seats 250 in the main room with a separate cocktail rotunda and a covered driveway for rainy or sunny arrivals. Summer weddings here lean elegant rather than tropical, which is exactly what Julie and Ryan went for.
Ceremony: First Presbyterian Church
Reception: Cescaphe Ballroom
Dress: Bridal Garden
Florist: Beautiful Blooms
DJ/Band: FM Band
Bridal problems! haha
Cescaphe Ballroom Wedding photos in Northern Liberties
Before heading to Philadelphia for Julie & Ryan’s Cescaphe Ballroom wedding for their reception, we shoot some bridal party portraits. Outside the First Presbyterian Church in Moorestown is beautiful. They have lush sweeping backdrops that look incredible for photographs. After we were on the church grounds we went into Northern Liberties to photograph the couple more. I love finding strangers to photobomb and there are always some unique individuals in that area to work with. This was the first time I have been back to the Cescaphe Ballroom since they remodeled the interior and it looks awesome! Love rocking another Cescaphe Ballroom wedding in Philadelphia.
The sky opened up for this infrared photograph of Julie & Ryan.
We love photographing with random strangers!
“Yes they have a band!”
I’m photo bombing one of the bridesmaid’s parents
“Yes! I look like Matt Damon!”
Night portraits in Philadelphia are amazing. Please contact me and I would love to tell you more about them.
Summer at the Ballroom
Julie and Ryan picked the Cescaphe Ballroom for its summer reputation. The covered driveway means you do not lose your hair and makeup walking in, the cocktail rotunda has the kind of cross-breeze that holds up even in July humidity, and the main room runs cold enough that no one ever sweats through their tux. We sneaked into Julie’s parents’ gated community without the gate code (worth it), shot a quick first look, and bused the bridal party into Northern Liberties for the reception.
The First Presbyterian ceremony
First Presbyterian in Moorestown is one of those churches that does most of the lighting work for you. Two walls of tall windows, plain white interior, dark wood pews. I shoot it wide open with a 35mm and the natural light handles the rest. Julie wanted the ceremony documented as quietly as possible, so we ran two photographers from the back and the side aisles instead of working up front.
What worked, what we would do again
Bridal party energy made this wedding. Not every group is up for piling on a bus and rolling into Philly for portraits, but theirs was. We built in a 30-minute window between ceremony and reception specifically for sunset, which is the move I recommend to every Cescaphe Ballroom couple. Nothing photographs the venue better than that gold hour light hitting the white facade.
Vendor recap
- Ceremony: First Presbyterian Church, Moorestown, NJ
- Reception: Cescaphe Ballroom, Philadelphia