I’ve driven past the William Penn Inn countless times. There was a period of time when the only way that I could get my daughter to fall asleep was to put her in my car at night, and take her for a ride. This would happen almost every night, for a few months. We would take the same route every time, and so I’ve passed that front porch with all of the little lights, and the banners… and the sign as it’s lit up at night more than I ever imagined. Periodically, I would see the parking lot full, and all the lights on, and I had wondered what it would be like to shoot a wedding there. In my mind, I envisioned a warm comfortable place, not to small, but not enormous like some halls. From the driver’s seat of my car, it looked like it would be the perfect place for a mid-sized wedding. (So yeah… maybe I never fully take the wedding photographer hat off. I walk through a park and I see engagement session scenes. I drive around with a sleeping baby in my back seat at some ungodly hour of the night, and I see reception halls.) So now, I can happily tell you that I was not far off the mark!
Stephanie and Sean got married at St. Francis of Assisi, in Norristown, PA. Their day had a bit of a rough start; the limo carrying Stephanie to the church broke down along the way. Luckily, her Dad was following the limo, and managed to get her to the church in time to catch her breath before walking down the aisle.
After the ceremony and grand exit, off we went to the William Penn Inn. The plan was that we would do all of the family formals there, as well as some of the couple shots. Due to time constraints, we were not planning on doing a lot of couple photos, but there was no way I was going to let them get away without having any done at all. Behind the Inn, out in the back of the parking lot, there is an iron-work gazebo which was meant for this sort of stuff. It has a bit of a manicured garden around it, but the only unfortunate part is the white stucco wall in the background. But even with that… we had a good time there for a few minutes. Since the day started off so high-stress, one of my goals for those few minutes was to make them as relaxed as possible. By the time we were done, they were posing like pros and having fun, not that Stephanie needed much coaching.
When we got inside, the mental picture that I had created for my self late at night as I drove past the place came to life. Immediately when you walk in, you find yourself in a very warm room, with doors leading into two ballrooms. Each of the ballroom has plenty of space for a medium-sized wedding. It’s well-decorated and cozy with a couple of soft chairs, warm white lights, and a table on which place cards are set out. The ballroom itself had a very pleasant off-white / white decor to it, with a grand chandelier in the center of the room. As cocktail hour is cleared away, the guest tables surround an expansive dance floor. The head table was backed by mirrors and plants decorated in the same fashion as the outside of the William Penn Inn; those distinctive little lights of which there seem to be millions and billions.
Stephanie changed out of her ball gown into a much more manageable wedding dress, and the party was on! One of the things that they did a little bit differently from many of the other weddings that I’ve seen was that their dances with their parents were done at the same time. Stephanie danced with her Dad at the same time as Sean danced with his Mom. This had a few advantages that are worth noting. Firstly, from the practical aspect… it got that portion of the reception over quicker. If you’re coming up short on time at your reception, this may not be a bad thing to do. Secondly, since there were only two couples on the floor, it was no less special for either of them. Thirdly, it’s somehow easier to do something when you’re not the only one doing it. So ESPECIALLY if a parent is self-conscious about dancing (I’m not including the bride and groom here because they’ve already had to dance alone for their first dance…) it may be easier on them and thus a good way to go.
The food looked great! The room sounded wonderful both at low volume during dinner hour, and once the volume was raised for dancing. A good time was had by all! Once dinner was over, the crowd came out onto the dance floor, and hardly stopped until the end. We certainly had a great time catching all of the action on the dance floor.
Just as we were about to leave, I remembered a particular scene that Stephanie had described to me. She had wanted a shot in a window… and just as we walked out, I saw exactly what she meant. The foyer of the banquet portion of the Inn has a giant window that, at night, glows beautifully! Sean was already outside, and I sent Rob in to get Stephanie while I started setting up for what was going to be the last picture of the night. It was late… the party was winding down… and we were supposed to have been out of there a half hour ago… but it was such a distinctive feature of the place, and I knew that Stephanie wanted it… so I just had to take it! I’m glad I did.
