This Waterworks Gazebo wedding was the ideal location for an outside wedding ceremony in Philadelphia. The gazebo is majestic and situated on the banks of the Schuylkill River right next to Boathouse Row. There is something so elegant about the area behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art and along the river. The views are stunning from both the magnificent architecture of the buildings and the raw natural beauty. You are transported to another place.
Chelsea shares how they found their wedding ceremony location:
“Our wedding venue was the Waterworks Gazebo in Philadelphia, PA. This beautiful gazebo is right on the Schuylkill River and steps away from the iconic Philadelphia Museum of Art and has beautiful views of the city skyline. Our original June 2020 wedding in Mexico was postponed due to COVID-19, so we decided that we wanted to take back some control of our situation and make it legally official before our new postponed date in February 2021. We chose this location because it was a beautiful, outdoor, and scenic location in Philadelphia close to the first place we lived when we moved to Philly a few years ago, in Fairmount. We used to explore the park and that area, so when we found out that we could apply for a permit to use the gazebo, we were sold! It was the perfect place to gather our immediate family and make our marriage official!”
“We wanted our wedding to be low-key and as simple as possible, but the most meaningful element we incorporated into the ceremony was that we decided to get married on the five-year anniversary of the day we met. We also had my identical twin sister marry us since she was the one who first introduced us. All of the girls made all of our flower arrangements, including the bouquet and boutonniere, the day before the wedding, with lots of wine and laughs, which was really fun (none of us are florists, but we were so happy with how beautiful they turned out)! It was super special that our awesome neighbors were able to bring our sweet pup, Nala, to the ceremony for some photos- she stole the show as our “Dog of Honor.” It was really special to have most of our family come into town to celebrate safely with us for the weekend.”
“The most challenging part of planning our wedding was definitely dealing with all the stress from postponing our original wedding and getting the motivation to want to plan a second one, which was completely different than the tropical wedding we were envisioning. It was also difficult because some of our immediate family was not able to be there because of the difficulties of traveling during the pandemic. We wanted to keep things simple, but also safe for our families that were able to attend.
The best part of planning the wedding was the excitement of finally getting to marry my best friend. It may not have been what we had originally pictured, but it was perfect for us. All the stress and planning culminated into the best day and we can’t wait to do it again in February.”
“We both grew up in Chesapeake, Virginia and went to undergrad at Virginia Tech, but didn’t meet until years later in October 2015 through my twin sister, Amanda, our self-proclaimed matchmaker. Amanda had met Shaun a few months before when she moved to Richmond, VA and just had a good feeling that we would hit it off- and she was right! We did long distance for a while, but then two moves and a sweet puppy dog later (even though Shaun was allergic, thankfully he got past that), we ended up in Philadelphia and have been here for the last 2.5 years!”
This is such a special location with spectacular views! The Art Museum, the Philly Skyline, and the river make a dreamy backdrop for this sweet couple on their wedding day!
“We got engaged on a weekend getaway trip to the Poconos to celebrate our third dating anniversary, where Shaun wanted to have a romantic weekend, but I insisted we go snowboarding instead. Needless to say, I was really surprised when Shaun got down on one knee that snowy February night in our hotel after snowboarding all day, but of course, I happily said yes! It was the sweetest proposal and the perfect start to our forever.”
Wedding Venue: Fairmount Waterworks Gazebo
Wedding Reception: (Just had a dinner) Pescatore BYOB
Wedding Dress: Adrianna Papell
Wedding Dress shop: Saks Off Fifth
Wedding Shoes: Kelly and Katie
Hair: The bride did her own makeup
Make-up: The bride did her own makeup
Rings: Safian Rudolph Jewelers
Flowers: We did our own bouquet, boutonniere, and arrangements for the ceremony, but purchased the flowers at: Cut Flower Exchange of Penna
Groom’s attire: Calvin Klein
Wedding Cake and Macaroons: Nutmeg Cake Design
Cufflinks for Groom gift: OneMemoryLaneLLC
Dog of Honor Bandana: OurLittleGoldenEgg
Ultimate Guide for Small Philadelphia Wedding Venues