1. Real Weddings

Jenny & Kevin: A Traditional Wedding in Villanova, PA

Jenny and Kevin started dating in the most old-fashioned of ways: He asked her to the senior prom. So they hadn’t been together for long when they par

Jenny and Kevin started dating in the most old-fashioned of ways: He asked her to the senior prom. So they hadn’t been together for long when they parted to go to separate colleges that fall, but they vowed to stay together despite the distance. Kevin even expressed his devotion by carving “I Love Jenny” into a tree in Philadelphia’s Fairmont Park. The Bride Jenny Young, 25, retail manager The Groom Kevin Hammond, 26, graphic designer The Date June 23 Fast-forward to a few years after graduation, when Kevin led Jenny back to that same tree, where he had carved “Jenny Will You Marry Me?” directly underneath his original profession of love.

In keeping with the color scheme, the DIY escort cards were attached to chocolate-brown fabric-covered board with sky blue ribbon.
The three-tiered, round, vanilla cake was decorated with green dendrobium orchids.
For Jenny’s bouquet the florist combined large green cymbidium orchids with white calla and stargazer lilies in a loose arrangement.
The flower girls carried contemporary baskets lined with equisetum, filled with orchids, and secured with a vine handle.
Blue-glass lanterns hung from the trees during the cocktail hour.
The couple’s cocktail was as stylized as the rest of their day: a turquoise libation they called Lovers’ Brew Blue.
Jenny and Kevin's goal was a cool and contemporary party that would be flat-out fun for their friends and family. Using his professional expertise, Kevin took over the aesthetic aspect. He designed the invitations, which conveyed the modern friendly tone of the event, using chocolate-hued envelopes, bright sky blue and lime green paper, and a thin, retro, sans serif typeface. The language they used was informal and inviting: “Please join a round-up of friends and kin to celebrate the day our new life will begin.”
Jenny and Kevin chose to name their tables after places they had been together, such as Philly's own Fairmont Park.
The bridesmaids carried green cymbidiums with mini calla lilies
The couple’s love of modern color combos and clean, graphic lines was apparent in their wedding party fashion choices. Jenny chose a simple, strapless, ivory, silk gown (no beads, no lace, no glitz), and her maids wore strapless tea-length dresses in turquoise with ivory ribbon at the waist. Kevin and his groomsmen wore black, three-button, Tommy Hilfiger tuxedos that lacked pattern, pleats, or any extraneous decoration.
The groomsmen donned green orchids on their lapels.
In the spirit of informality the couple started the dancing at the beginning of the reception and kept it going late into the night. In Jenny’s words, “We didn’t want the typical dinner music because we wanted to enjoy every minute of the reception.”