Dana + Joel @ Barbuzzo & Center City

Let’s talk about these two love birds.

Dana and Joel are self-professed foodies, cat parents like none other (YES), and traveling the world together is one of their favorite things (even though in their day-to-day, they’re also self-professed homebodies).

Joel proposed in Barcelona during one of their many tips abroad and obviously things worked out perfectly. Super romantic, right? When they were talking about where they wanted to be married, they decided on Barbuzzo because they had an amazing time there for Dana’s 30th birthday and were just dying to go back and celebrate all over again. They put together a small list of just their closest family and friends and got to planning. When we met and talked about working together, I was head over heels about five minutes in. Dana told me all about their intimate wedding plans, their beautiful black cats at home, and that they wanted their engagement session to include their furbabies. So, yeah. If you know me, you know that my sappy little cat-loving artist heart was set on every little detail! After their sweet at-home engagement sesh (roll back a handful of blog posts, it was A W E S O M E) we settled into the plans for the big day. And then, ya know, Covid hit. So then we settled into a new plan, and that one was incredible!

I met up with Dana and Joel in Rittenhouse Square, and their entire family was there to get things started. We rocked through the family portraits, and then headed off to explore. We hit every single one of my favorite spots, and the only “must have” from Dana was that iconic shot up Broad Street with City Hall glistening behind them, and holy cow, they NAILED it! We made our way through the streets, with cars and people all over shouting their congratulations and cheering, and that city energy was alive with celebration. When we got to Barbuzzo, they turned on the string lights out front for us and we nabbed one last street shot (drooooool) before heading inside.

Barbuzzo is one of those places where you kind of feel at home, between the warm atmosphere and wonderful hospitality. It’s no surprise at all that Dana and Joel were so set on being married there. Upstairs from the restaurant is a beautiful little event space with lovely windows, gorgeously appointed decor, and an antique-ish full bar that was just perfect for their intimate crowd. After their sweet little ceremony was a seated farmhouse style dinner, and what. A. Spread! I guarantee everyone was well fed, drinks flowed all night long, and again, that beautiful energy of celebration was just exquisite. This, my friends, is what life is all about.