Garden Wedding at Morris Arboretum

Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum has just made it to the short list of our favorite venues, especially when Pat Furey is behind the camera and Statement Piece Floral is in control of some seriously striking floral arrangements. Sarah and Chris’ wedding was fun and laid-back above all else, and their efforts to include meaningful elements truly shines through in their beautiful wedding images.

From the bride, Sarah: My husband and I planned every aspect of our romantic garden wedding so that it would feel like “us.” We knew that we wanted a laid back and natural aesthetic, and the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia was the perfect venue with its gorgeous greenhouse, lots of blooming Wisteria, and all kinds of greenery! Our goals were to have tons of fun (check!) and for the day not to feel too stuffy (check!). Because we wanted it to be an intimate and personal day (and because we are both financially limited graduate students), we incorporated tons of DIY and family elements. For example, my dad handmade our gorgeous ceremony arch (one of our favorite elements of the day), my uncle played “Here Comes the Sun” on the guitar during the processional and sang live during our garden cocktail hour, my husband’s great aunt and uncle (who were celebrating 50 years of marriage) officiated our ceremony, we wrote our own vows and incorporated traditions that were meaningful to us (like a native American branch unity ceremony), a childhood friend of mine baked our wedding cake, and we chose a family style vegetarian meal (we are both vegetarian) for the reception. I also took on some fun DIY projects like the moss and dried/flower frame we used as a cake backdrop and a vintage wine box/moss place card display.

We were fortunate to work with lots of wonderful vendors including my dress designer Tatyana Merenyuk (I found my dream dress on Etsy and traveled to her studio in Brooklyn for custom design consultations and fittings), and a local florist who helped us create what we wanted on our budget. We also added some fun details, like our sugar skull cake topper (also an Etsy find) that featured tiny sugar skull versions of our cats and sweetheart spoons engraved with my favorite E.E. Cummings poem (“i love you much [most beautiful darling] more than anyone on the earth. And I like you better than everything in the sky.”) Our ridiculously talented photographer documented so many of the day’s magical moments — like my husband taking a quick spin on his motorcycle after opening my wedding gift – an original 1979 magazine advertisement for his Honda CB650.

See Also

Intimate Wedding in Georgia in Bold Pink

Wedding Music:
Processional and Recessional: instrumental “Here Comes the Sun” (as performed by the bride’s uncle, Brian Filone)
First Dance: “Come to Me,” (Goo Goo Dolls; as performed by Brian Filone)
Mother/Son Dance: “What a Wonderful World,” Louis Armstrong
Father/Daughter Dance: “You’ve Got a Friend,” James Taylor