For over two hundred years, the Navy repaired and maintained gigantic warships within the Philadelphia Navy Yard gates and along the Delaware River.   In 1996, the Navy left, leaving behind a true bounty – cast-iron columns, 2,000-pound overhead cranes, and walls decorated with graffiti and paintings by sailors working on ships.  Then in 2004, Urban Outfitters walked in and a genius concurrence of old and new, hip and traditional, industrial and organic happened.    

Fast forward to May 2008, to Matt & Lindsay’s wedding where the marriage of two young, independent people from families steeped in tradition was celebrated in perfect compliment to new Urban Outfitters headquarters at the old Philadelphia Navy Yard, Building 543.  [Click on the link to see some great Flicker Photos of Urban's headquarters.]

This drop-dead-gorgeous couple and their incredibly beautiful day was flawlessly captured by Cliff Mautner — who, by the was, has been recently named as one of the TEN BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE WORLD by American PHOTO Magazine!!!

After the romantic ceremony at the historic Rodeph Shalom, the guests were brought to Building 543.  Once inside, they passed a hanging plant garden, a huge, rusted and coiled Navy anchor and a hot pink mural.   During the cocktail hour, they stood next to the indoor ponds where Koi now swim, but where metal used to be bonded.  Inside the dining room, guests took in the view of the sleeping giants – enormous, majestic Navy warships moored on the Delaware River.    Then they danced all night to the amazing sounds of New York City’s Vali Music in the towering 65-foot industrial atrium.  

The secret to the perfect wedding décor, as envisioned by the bride and her mom, was its harmony with its surroundings.   Along with creating GORGEOUS bouquets and other arrangements for the ceremony, the team at Rhoades Garden, led by the awesome Shannon Chase, hauled in and wrapped large trees dripping with dendrobium orchids around the ginormous cast iron pillars.   The trees were illuminated by hundreds of hanging candles and flood lights.   The minimalist tabletop decor mirrored the environment flawlessly.  Then there were lanterns.   White Chinese lanterns played over the dance floor adding just a hint of whimsy to this incredibly stylish affair. 

One of the most important, yet most invisible players at this wedding was DBS Audio Systems.  I have no idea how many conversations, how many meetings and how many hours we logged talking about the sound issues at Building 543.  You see, Building 543 was constructed for one purpose — to repair and maintain warships.  It certainly wasn’t built as a venue for a great night of dancing by an awesome band.   But DBS (in addition to stringing up all those lanterns and thousands of lights!) did the impossible.   From what could have been an acoustical nightmare, the DBS team provided a venue perfectly suited for a great night of dancing and entertaining friends and family from all over the world and Philly’s backyard.   

The other great cast members that helped create this amazing wedding included Carolyn and her team at the Papery in Philadelphia (who were there at the drop of a hat when we needed them!) and the Frog Commissary.

Hope you enjoy the story of this truly remarkable wedding!

Heather & Ben,  a very cool couple we’ve been working with to plan their wedding this fall sent out these adorable Save the Dates.   I fell completely in love with the artwork and everything else I saw on the artist’s website.  The artist is Kris Chau and her studio is located on South Rosewood in Old City.   Check out her website:  http://www.krischau.com.  Her amazing work will keep you mezmerized for hours!  

Every year one of the biggest special event professional associations (NACE) holds a massive conference somewhere in the country for professionals in the “industry.” It happens to be in Philadelphia this year. That’s where I’ll be today through Wednesday. Trust me when I tell you that three-day long conferences with endless seminars back-to-back is not my idea of a good time. Plus, it really is hard to be away from the office for that long… but…

Today was a REAL TREAT…at today’s luncheon, the one and only Mindy Weiss provided us with a great talk on what’s she’s seeing in weddings these days and then entertained us all with some anecdotal fun stuff. What a doll. I tell you, if she hadn’t become the most famous and most successful event designer and planner around, she would’ve made a killing as a stand-up comedienne.

I’ll gladly pass along some of the fun insights she provided today, but the first thing I wanted to share was her response to a great question from the audience: “Mindy — you’ve shared with us some of the things you like and some of the recent trends in weddings that you’re enjoying, but what do you dislike that you’ve been experiencing lately?”

The following was her list of dislikes:

Putting a bridesmaid in charge: It almost never turns out well. Bridesmaids should never be in charge of anything but making a fuss over the bride.

Mean vendors: We all have had to to endure vendors who act like they’re doing YOU a favor. Solution: Don’t use them ever again.

Client insisting on the caterer (or chef) using family recipes: It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Along with insulting the chef, the client is setting herself up to be disappointed because no two people make the same recipe the same way.

Hanging seating cards: It just doesn’t work. Looking for each guest’s name is a nightmare.

Tacky DJ’s: Mindy’s imitation of a slick DJ was hilarious. “Classy DJs” are great, but loud, obnoxious “Let’s partaaayyyyeeeee” DJ’s are just awful.

And my personal favorite: PEOPLE WHO DON’T SAY THANK YOU. Enough said.

I’ll gladly share some of the new things I learn over the next couple of days with you, but this was a GREAT WAY to start the conference!!

It came as no surprise that this wedding would get published in The Knot. Lauren & Josh had delightful dreams about their wedding day and we were thrilled to help make it happen for them. This wedding was all about the food — the decor, the wine, the seating cards — everything was based on the European way of entertaining friends and family. Max Hansen Caterer did an an amazing job of giving them all they wanted. Beautiful Blooms was, as usual, open to all the twists and turns. And Appleford was the perfect setting for this very unique and beautiful wedding.

I can’t tell you how many hours we spents searching for all the right ceramics and vessels for this extraordinary event. Lauren’s mantra was “crusty bread.” We all laugh about it now, but it truly was the inspiration for a great party that was all about hospitality and warmth and love. And Josh was the epitome of a hands-on groom — with great taste! We loved these guys — and truly miss them! Click onto the “Old World Villanova” wedding on Eclatante’s Extraordinary Events page to see for yourself how truly special they are. This romantic wedding was the perfect reflection of this great couple

Awesome photography by Michael Branscom!