β’ Posted by Matt β’
We met Emily and Paul through a previous wedding in Wilmington, Delaware, we did back in 2011 (Jen and Jay...remember that rusted train car photo?). Paul and his friends were dancing like maniacs at that wedding, so we were naturally taking pictures of them all night. A few weeks later they got in touch with us, and we had the pleasure of photographing their wedding this past summer.
They decided to keep things pretty simple logistically, with everything βΒ from where they both got ready, to their ceremony location, to the country club β being mere minutes from each other. For this one our good friend Melissa KellyΒ (whose work you've seen here before)Β joined the team.
Now, just as a precursor, we were warned about a big surprise happening during the reception, so we were kind of on guard for more surprises throughout the day.
Emily and the girls got ready at her parents house in Wilmington before heading over to the church. She picked a really vivid shade of purple as her wedding color, which was really awesome. Purple wedding shoes and a purple handbag really made things pop. While there, we met our first surprise of the day: their dogs dressed in doggy tuxedos!
After she made her grand entrance down the staircase, showing off her dress for the first time, her father then serenaded her with a song on the piano. Tears ensued. 
Paul and his groomsmen got ready not too far away at his and Emily's house. There we found a literal ball and chain that his coworkers made for him as a wedding present, plus surprise number 2: matching bride and groom Chuck Taylor sneakers embroidered with the wedding date on the side (hers were in purple, obviously.)
They held their ceremony at St. Mary Magdalene in Wilmington and then ventured outside on the grounds for some bridal party portraits. Paul had some pretty priceless facial expressions. 
While the girls were being very cooperative and posing how we asked them to, the guys were off to the side just kind of doing their own thing. This was definitely our first groomsmen portrait involving pullups. After this we went back to the Catalano household for some more portraits before heading to the reception. 
At one point we had to ask Paul for some help with a portrait of his beautiful new bride. As you can see from his face he was pretty scared. But the picture came out great (once he got out of the frame)!
Then we were off to the Wilmington Country Club for some partying! This was a really great venue with plenty of space for people to hang out and not be on top of each other. The temperature was a little bit hot but the cocktail hour was split between a nice, private outdoor space and an air conditioned indoor space, so people could cool off if needed.
Surprise Number 3 (for us, at least) was the Paul and Emily bobblehead cake topper they had made for the wedding.
After the majority of the formalities were taken care of, then it was time for that BIG SURPRISE we were told about. After the cake cutting everyone was told to head out to the patio for a large group picture. With help from the DJ and the coordinator from the country club, we were able to usher everyone outside, setup a photo and then...BAM: FIREWORKS!
The parents of the bride and groom organized the whole thing. Pretty awesome if you ask me.
From that point on it was just dancing and having a good time.
Emily and Paul, thanks so much for dancing like crazy people during Jen and Jay's wedding. We're so glad we had the chance to witness all the fun surprises you had in store for your own wedding.