DaWeon & Toban – Philadelphia wedding at Boathouse Row

I loved DaWeon and Toban’s style. Unassuming and straight-forward. This came through on their wedding day as well where everything was done without in a way that matched their personalities – no ostentatious ceremony or massive bridal party. In fact, it was just the two of them that I picked up in my car, so that we could spend a few hours around Philadelphia before the ceremony to take their romantic portrait photos. The first spot we drove to had a slight vantage point with the city as the backdrop – the same place we did some of their engagement photos in Philadelphia.

From there we drove to Philadelphia Museum of Art, parked the car, and then slowly walked to their wedding venue – the boathouse where DaWeon and her rowing team practices. All the while taking our time for romantic portraits. We even stopped for ice cream. DaWeon & Toban, it was a delight working with you and your families and friends!

I sent a Q&A set to DaWeon & Toban, and here they are with a few words about their wedding day:

How did you first meet?
– We met online when I was still in my PhD  program at University of Pennsylvania. Toban was about to come to Philly from Canada to start his PhD program at Penn, so I got him off the Philly dating market even before he got to here 🙂

Why did you choose the Boathouse as your wedding location?
– I have been rowing at the Fairmount Rowing Association boathouse since my third year of grad school. It’s a cute, charming venue, and I loved that we could be married at a place that means a lot to me, an extremely familiar place where I have been training.

Tell us about your dress, shoes and other accessories.
– The best thing about the dress was that it was completely free! 🙂 My good friend Camilla had a new wedding dress lying around in her basement – – her friend who got married years ago had ordered it but didn’t like it, and she left it at Camilla’s place before she left the country. I tried it on, loved it, and Camilla gifted me with the alteration fee.

What was your wedding inspiration?
– Our wedding inspiration was ‘do what feels like us.’ We didn’t have a bridal party, we walked down the aisle together, we did the bride and groom trivia instead of dancing. We are very happy with the way it turned out.

What was your favorite moment during your wedding day?
– Reading our letters to each other in front of people we love and care about.

What advice would you give to future brides for their wedding day?
– Don’t stress and enjoy the day, it goes by so quickly.

What was the biggest surprise on your wedding day?
– Walking into the boathouse and seeing how beautiful it was. So many people helped out to transform the place.

Why did you choose me for your photography?
– I asked David Chin who is a photographer himself and a huge fan of your work, and he spoke very highly of you and recommended you and I knew I could trust his opinion 🙂 I am soooooo glad I asked him!

What’s next on your calendar as a couple?
– We were checking out your website and we would love to do couple’s boudoir photoshoot sometime in the future. Maybe for our 5 year anniversary!

Thank you again Neil!

DaWeon + Toban