Kandice & Tom: Cathedral Basilica SS. Peter & Paul Philadelphia PA Wedding & Crystal Tea Room Philadelphia Wedding Reception

Crystal Tea Room Philadelphia PA wedding photograph

Patrick Abel wedding photograph — Patrick A. Photographer

In the beginning…

Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities in the US and Tom & Kandice were one of my favorite couples of all time! They held their wedding at SS. Peter and Paul Philadelphia PA. Then had a Crystal Tea Room Philadelphia wedding reception! I flew in on Friday morning and had a look around the city and did some location scouting.

After a few hours I got hungry and was asking around for a good place to get a bite to eat and was told by a cab driver to check out Reading Terminal Market. What a great suggestion and then I took off again looking for some great spots to shoot on Saturday.

This is a gorgeous city with one great spot after another! Knowing the family from shooting Tom’s sister’s wedding in Detroit made this wedding very fun. I met up with the family and they invited me to come to the rehearsal dinner and meet the other side and have dinner with them. Thinking this would be fun and I might get some good shots, I went.

The Service…

Saturday was a shot gun start at Lowes Hotel downtown with all of Kandice’s bride’s maids getting ready. I bounded back and forth between Kandice & Tom’s room for a while. Some of the details were great to play around with and shoot. We jumped in the limo and headed over to SS Peter & Paul for the service. This is one of the largest churches I have been in outside of Europe. Maybe St. John the Divine in New York is larger but this is an enormous Cathedral.

This service was beautiful. Kandice was radiant walking down the aisle as everyone watched. The priest was friends of the family and shared a meaningful mass for the couple and their families. After the service we took our family shots and a few of the couple before we headed out into the city.

Around Philadelphia…

Our couple had some ideas about where they wanted to take some photos. We headed up on the hill to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with it’s enormous columns. It sits on a hill overlooking downtown. We took a few family shots on the hill then went back downtown. Kandice and Tom walked out into the street for shot in front of Independence Hall as horns sounded in congratulations for the couple. We had a great time with them exploring the city and some of their favorites spots.

The Crystal Tea Room Philadelphia Wedding Reception…

Cocktails and conversation ensued in the gardens. I made my way around taking some candid photos then moved into the main ballroom for some detail shots. What a room! The band was gearing up and guests began to find their seats. The excitement level was rising in the room. The bride and groom came into the room as the room erupted in cheers for the couple. The band played and the couple took to the dance floor. The crowd pressed in around them as the energy in the room continued to rise. What a feeling I had as I moved around and took photos of the events and the excitement.

Dinner was served and the party was on! It was such a great night in so many ways. I could not have imagined a better party!

We can’t wait for our next wedding in Philadelphia!