A Sunday Kind of Love: The final shots

As our wedding was winding down, and our wonderful photographers were getting ready to leave, they indulged me in one more set of pictures of me and Mr. Ly.  I knew I wanted shots taken at night, with our venue in the background and if we could swing it, Independence Hall too.  While Broad Street and the Art Museum are quintessential Philadelphia bridal pictures, it's not quite as often that you get photos with Independence Hall in the background.  If you recall, Mrs. Turkey mentioned this in her recaps, there are restrictions for taking pictures in front of Independence Hall.  But at 10pm on a Sunday night, in January, we didn't see a single soul outside who might reinforce these restrictions, so we went for it.

All photos by Mike Landis Photographer, unless otherwise noted.

Something I learned that night, too... it's much easier to take "serious" pictures when all you can think about is how cold you are! Remember that 57 degree sunny day we had? Well, by 10pm the temperatures had dropped, like into the 30's and a severe cold front was just hitting the east coast. With no sun for warmth, and a huge drop in temps - it was FREEZING! But we didn't let that stop us, at least not for a full 15 minutes or so.  And I'm so glad we didn't because we ended up with a few of my absolute favorite pictures of the night, and I'm so glad this is how our wedding came to a close - photographically speaking.

I absolutely love these pictures. And if it took a few minutes of being really cold, then it was totally worth it (and it was no where near as bad as the pain my shoes caused me that day!)

After this, we danced a little longer and before we knew it, our final song of the night was playing. The dance floor cleared and the pictures make it look like I was just hanging on Mr. Ly at that point - I was SO tired. It hit me all at once, all the adrenaline and excitement from the day was done, and I was so looking forward to getting back to our hotel, skipping the after party at the bar, taking a really long bath and going to bed (just another reason why it's probably best NOT to be pregnant at your own wedding! Oh well.).

The final picture of me of the day in the hotel lobby, just ready for a bath & bed / Personal Photo

Waiting for us in our room, was a plate of strawberries and a bottle of champagne from the hotel.  It was so sweet, and I ate some of the strawberries, had a few sips of champagne and called it a night.

Sweet treats from the Omni Hotel / Personal Photo 

And that wraps up our wedding day, from start to finish - and all the little moments and details in between.  Our brunch the following day was hosted at my aunt's restaurant in Philadelphia, SoWe. We don't really have many pictures from it, so I'm not going to include it in my recaps, but I highly recommend the restaurant if you're looking for great food in South Philly! 

And this, hive, is my final recap post! I am so glad that I got them done before Baby Lyre made his appearance!  I'll be 38 weeks tomorrow, so he could come at any time.  I hope to get some vendor reviews/budget breakdown/series posts in while I wait, but at the very least I finished my recaps! I hope you've enjoyed reading and seeing the details of our day, I'm so glad I got to share them with you.

I pre-capped our recaps with a big announcement!
Recaps began with our Same Day Edit video.
I needed to get some perspective the week of the wedding.
Personally brewed beers gave our rehearsal lunch a special touch!
I spent a fantastic last day as a Miss.
I shared some gifts for my bridesmaids. 
The girls spend an easy and relaxing morning getting made up.
The guys spent the morning building a chuppah and doing guy things.

I panicked when the morning went by too fast.

We exchanged lovely notes and gifts on the wedding morning.

I put on my dress and became a Blissful Bride.

Bridal details and my "somethings" rounded out the wedding morning.

We had our not-so-private first look.

We took some silly pictures, just the two of us.

Broad Street gave us gorgeous shots, but we nearly lost some of bridal party in traffic.

The Lyres and their huge bridal party storm the art museum, Rocky style.

I shed tears of pain at our final photo stop in Olde City

The ceremony space and details took our breath away when we arrived for a quick rehearsal.

We were officially married under Jewish law when we signed our Ketubah.

Guests were seated and the bridal party got our ceremony started.

I got a little emotional for my walk down the aisle.

We did not take our eyes off each other in our traditional Jewish ceremony.

Post-ceremony photos were taken with some special gender pictures for our surprise!

Our extra-long cocktail hour was full of delicious food and drinks, and a controversial ice-sculpture.

Our ceremony space was flipped into an elegant reception space with gorgeous details.

The bridal party made their entrance to some very viral video tunes. 

We danced our first dance as husband and wife.
I was lifted (briefly) in a chair during the Hora.
Our very special guests toasted us with well wishes, love, and happiness.
The food at our reception was hands down the best wedding food ever.
Parent dances and an awkward family crowning ceremony took place while our guests ate.
Not one, but TWO incredible cakes stole the show at our reception.
Our guests enjoyed an delicious dessert spread and danced the night away.
The photobooth gave our guests something to do, and we ended up with two guestbooks.