We work on a lot of weddings at Love ‘n Fresh. A lot. And every wedding is decidedly special and unique. Some, however, are especially memorable. This is one of those.

Shira and Ryan are such a fun and energetic couple. They fit together in that way that you know is going to keep them together for the rest of their lives. When Shira came in for her initial consultation, she told me about how Ryan proposed and it made me laugh, it was so cute. He used to joke with her that when he proposed, there’d be a Cherrio in the box instead of a diamond ring. When he did actually pop the question, he made dozens of Cherrio hearts and hung them from the ceiling in their apartment to surprise her when she got home. What woman wouldn’t say yes to a man that’s willing to get crafty and has a great sense of humor?

Of course the Cherrio hearts needed to play a special part at their wedding! We hung them on branches at the ceremony and then incorporated them at the reception later. And to surprise Ryan, I tucked in a single Cherrio (one of the originals) into his boutonniere. I loved the big grin he got when he saw it!

The ceremony was held at the Lowes Hotel in center city. After they were hitched, Shira and Ryan led a parade of their many guests, complete with a glittery band of Mummers, to the reception a few blocks away at the landmark Reading Terminal Market. Love ‘n Fresh worked hard (and fast) to transform this rather raw space into a colorful and festive “street festival” atmosphere. We designed over 50 lush and vibrant spring centerpieces in vintage milkglass, cheese boxes, and colorful tins to sit on top of chevron fabric runners handmade by Shira’s mom. Unfortunately you’ll not get to see any of those centerpieces here in this post as we were so crunched for time to set-up that I didn’t get a single photo of the reception space. Fingers crossed Langdon Photography got some great shots for us! Especially one of the flower bow-tie I made for the pig statue on the dance floor. . . yep, this was a memorable one!

In the interest of full disclosure, due to the size of this wedding and the unseasonably cool spring we’ve had in Philadelphia, we had to buy in a good many of the flowers from other local growers and California. Still, we used every single stem of anemone, hellebore, muscari, hyacinth, bleeding heart, ranunculus, and succulents we had at the farm to make these designs extra special.
Congratulations again, Shira and Ryan!! Thanks for including us in your love story!! xoxo