It doesn’t take much to make an Omni William Penn Hotel wedding beautiful, and today’s feature is proof. Katie and Nick dreamed of a day that was classic and elegant with a party that did not detract from the built-in beauty of their chosen venue. With arrangements from Community Flower Shop and finishing touches from All Occasions Party Rental, this wedding reception was simply sophisticated. Elevated greenery arrangements running the length of a 38-person king’s table, gilded chiavari chairs, and brocade linens from Mosaic were a few of the highlights. To liven things up, the couple’s dog made an appearance in both the cake topper and the bridal portraits, because what wedding is complete without a furry friend? With a classic palette of ivory, taupe, blush, and gold, this wedding was elegantly captured by April Smith Photography.
About the Couple
During our second year at Duquesne, we both ended up at the school’s unofficial weekend hangout spot. Through mutual friends, we ended up meeting and talking the entire night. A few months of small talk later, Nick and I began dating. After graduate school for the both of us and a stint of long distance, here we are!
Nick and I, along with two of our friends, planned an impromptu 8-day trip to Italy. Soon thereafter, we booked a multi-city tour of the country, starting in Rome and then traveling to Florence, Venice, and wrapping up in Riomaggiore, a northern coast town in Cinque Terre overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Nick had planned to propose to me on the balcony of our house we had rented in Riomaggiore toward the tail end of the trip. On the several hour train ride through the Italian countryside to Cinque Terre, we made dinner reservations for what I believed to be at 8 that evening. After a day filled with sunbathing and drinking prosecco in the Mediterranean Sea, our group began to get ready for our dinner reservations. As I finished getting ready, we “got word” from the restaurant that our reservation had been changed to 9:30. I was hardly pleased with the delayed dinner, but figured we could at least get pictures on our balcony at sunset. As I turned to pose for the picture, Nick grabbed my arm and got down on one knee, creating the perfect engagement scene as the sun met the Mediterranean Sea in the background. The dinner reservations were never at 8 😉
About the Wedding
We can best describe our wedding as a “classic” theme. We were inspired by the trend of neutral/pale colors with the contrasting greenery incorporated in our flowers and centerpieces. The Omni William Penn is simply elegant with beautiful details that did a lot of the work for us – the space was beautiful and perfect for our vision without much additional styling.
Some things that are unique about the day was our massive wedding party (12 attendants each), our huge king’s table (which sat the wedding party and their significant others for a total of 38 people), and our elevated greenery runner centerpiece, which spanned the length of the king’s table and was absolutely amazing. Lastly, I was able to incorporate a piece of lace from my mom’s wedding dress as a modesty piece in my own dress.
Favorite Moment
It’s really hard to pick just one. The ceremony was probably our favorite part, with our first look coming in at a close second. The first look allowed us to calm our nerves and have a light-hearted interaction prior to the ceremony. In addition, one of our main goals with the reception was to have a packed dance floor all night long. DJ Crush was spot-on all night, and a significant number of guests commented on how great he was. He had a great mix of older and newer songs so that everyone was able to dance.
