Masquerade Wedding Ball at Le Meridien Philadelphia

We happen to think that a wedding at Le Meridien Philadelphia is one of the best kept secrets. These images will show you why.

Imagine putting two people together that just exude emotion, joy and love. That’s what you get with Courtney and Eric. We started and ended our day at the Le Meridien in Center City, Philly. Courtney and her girls had a blast getting all dolled up in her suite, while Eric and his guys put on their finest. Then it was over to first look at one of the couple’s fave places in the city - Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. Eric was overwhelmed with emotion when he saw his bride, netting one of the best first looks we’ve ever had the pleasure of photographing. We spent time wandering through the gardens before heading to City Hall for more portraits and some bridal party fun. The ceremony was short, beautiful and emotional as Courtney and Eric finally said I do. After that, it was time to don masquerade masks as the couple hit the dance floor and partied the night away.

Here are some of our faves from the day of this Le Meridien Philadelphia wedding.

The Proposal, as told by Courtney

“This was the best! Eric and I were going on a trip to London and Paris. It was my dream to go to Paris for years. Eric had a plan and was so anxious in his travels with the precious cargo: The Ring. Eric had set up a photographer through the hotel and surprised me on a bridge with the Eiffel tower in the background. It was a gorgeous beautiful day and we spent hours shooting around the city until the photographer (who became a friend by the end of the day) dropped off Eric and I at the restaurant he had taken his wife to after he proposed. It was a magical glass dome over top of the Seine River; truly the most beautiful day.”

Wedding Planning for Le Meridien Philadelphia

“It started out somewhat bumpy, I was actually so shocked getting engaged I didn’t know where to even begin. We had a huge blow out shindig, that we were so thankful to my parents threw us at Tip O’Learys in Delco. We thought we wanted a destination wedding, so much so that my parents and Eric and I flew to Mexico to plan the wedding, until realizing while it was an amazing vacation it was not what we wanted for our wedding. We realized we wanted to be surrounded by family, friends, and everyone who loves and supports us in the city where we first met. We flew back and saw about 15 venues in three weeks.

After seeing a good amount of options at the end of a tiring day of myself dragging Eric and my mom around we walked into the Le Meridien and immediately realized we had stayed there for our 5th Anniversary trip. From there we fell in love with the old architecture and history, it is actually one of the original YMCA’s of Philadelphia from 1911. The library was a knockout, it was romantic and gorgeous and looked out over city hall. The beautiful atrium and ball room where the cherries on top we needed. The hotel has sleek modern rooms that could accommodate us getting ready as well as our out of town guests.  It was meant to be. 

From there, we had a great time meeting with vendors and attending different planning events. I can actually say we had a lot of fun in the planning process.”

Wedding Inspiration

“Our inspiration was dark romance, it was the day after Halloween – one of our favorite holidays. Eric and I both really enjoy fashion and aesthetics we love a mix of classic Old Hollywood glamour with a modern twist. We had a lot of clean lines and classic colors ivory and black with subtle pops of deep fall colors (burgundy and eggplant), and lots of candles everywhere. We literally lined the ceremony room with 200+ candles it brought the ambiance and romance we were looking for. The hints of travel with the globe guest book and vintage suitcase we cut into our card box, as well as our hand drawn mirror seating chart with each table named after a city we traveled to were really nice personal touches. Since it was the day after Halloween we thought it would be fun to have masquerade favors which were a huge hit on the dance floor!!!”  

Vendor Team

Venue: Le Meridien Philadelphia
Photography: Deibert Photography
Videography: New Pace Wedding Films
Florist: Beautiful Blooms
Hair & Makeup: Philly Hair + Make-Up Co.
Dress Designer: Allure
Bakery: Bredenbecks