I finally did it y’all. 

I finally took the classic “Philadelphia City Hall wedding shot,” and am now fully initiated as a Philly wedding photographer. 

And what better couple with whom to capture this shot than April and Gin. I met April in college and was always amazed by her passion for travel and different cultures. And since the groom, Gin, is Burmese, this wedding was an absolute celebration of not only the melding of two lives, but of two cultures. 

The wedding took place at Broad Street Ministries in downtown Philly, surrounded by family, paper cranes, and mountains of Burmese food. The wedding was translated into both English and Burmese (another first for me!), and the place was packed out with family and friends who all had a hand in the day, from participating in the ceremony to meeting early in the day to create bouquets of flowers. No one was “just a guest,” but became part of this big, beautiful family that all lended a hand to support April and Gin. And despite it being an afternoon wedding, you can be sure that everyone was on that dance floor as soon as the tunes came on.  

Despite it being a big city, there is something about Philly that still feels small town-ish. The longer I live in this city, the more I am discovering a diverse community of people that still find some commonality, despite their differences. April and Gin’s wedding really brought that feeling home for me, seeing people from literally all over the world gather to celebrate these two beautiful humans.