Manayunk Brewing Company

Wedding Day

Doors Open

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

Reception

Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue

After Party

Fall

Our Wedding

In their teens, Lauren and Steven knew of one another and had even crossed paths a couple of times. But, it wasn't until a large group of their friends attended a Phillies tailgate that Steven uttered a statement that piqued Lauren's curiosity: "I wish I could clone you and have 100 Laurens!" A ridiculous night of high school partying followed. They both felt a type of gravitational pull toward one another. They soon learned that they were both shouldering griefs of a similar caliber, and both felt that no one really understood the pain they were experiencing. &nbsp;For the first time, they both truly felt a sense of refuge in another person. They would stay up together for hours talking and enjoying the company of someone who made them feel understood. Though they weren't dating, they had a cherished, unique, intimate, intellectual relationship. Over the years they stayed in touch, and that gravitational pull never faded. There were many times that they had lost connection for a bit, but with one call, they would reunite, and that comfort that felt like home was always there. &nbsp;In 2015 at Christmas time, Lauren ended up moving back home to Mount Laurel, and Steven was living with his dad in Moorestown. Lauren needed support, and without hesitation, Steven was there, accepting her for all she was, flaws and all. They started spending nearly all of their free time together. They both knew that if they were to take this leap and actually start dating, it was likely to be a forever kind of thing. By the summer of 2016, Lauren had been staying with Steven at his dad's house so often that Steven had emptied out one of his drawers for her belongings. &nbsp;They lived there together for about a year and spent a lot of their time simply enjoying each other's company. (Although they did frequent the local watering hole, Jay's Elbow Room) In the the summer of 2017, Steven's dad moved to a different home in Moorestown, and Steven and Lauren moved out and into their own apartment in Haddonfield.&nbsp; Lauren and Steven grew and overcame a lot together which only made their relationship stronger. In 2018, on Christmas morning, they brought home the best gift, and everyone's favorite dog, Luna. A puppy can definitely bring stress to a relationship, but Lauren and Steven successfully navigated the puppy chaos together.&nbsp; Lauren had been sending Steven photos of black diamond rings since 2017. On Lauren's 29th birthday (11/20/2019), after a few cocktails, she sarcastically commented to Steven that she wanted that ring before she turned 30. On Christmas Eve of 2019, Lauren and Steven were standing outside on Grandma &amp; Grandpa Gallagher's porch. Lauren and Steven had a candid conversation about their future engagement in regard to a realistic timeline. Steven lovingly reassured that it was something he really wanted and that it would be... coming soon. A few days after Christmas, Lauren and Steven grabbed some lunch at Yardhouse at the Moorestown mall and then Steven suggested they stop at a jeweler in the mall so that they could get Lauren's ring size.&nbsp; Like everyone else, they didn't know what was in store for 2020. Although Lauren didn't know what was happening behind the scenes, she certainly adjusted her expectations once the pandemic was in full swing. If you know either of them, it will be no surprise to you that by summer, both of them had forgotten what Lauren's ring size was. Luckily, Lauren's old co-worker made jewelry and was kind enough to make a house call to size her finger once and for all.&nbsp; Luna's birthday is October 27th, and in 2020, that fell on a Tuesday. That day, Steven suggested that they take Luna on a walk through the woods near their apartment on Saturday. Now, it wasn't raining or cold on that Tuesday... so why wouldn't they just take Luna to the woods then? Lauren’s intuition is hard to fool. She didn't ask any questions. On the evening of Friday, October 30th, Lauren and Steven were just hanging out at home. Suddenly, Steven started getting ready to go somewhere and told Lauren he was going to her parent's house real quick, and would be back shortly. Real smooth. The next morning after running some errands, Steven came home and changed into a pair of his new, nice, lightgrey-almost white Nike joggers. This was his attempt to throw Lauren off; he would never get on one knee in the middle of the woods in these almost-white pants. His diversion didn't work.&nbsp; So Steven, Lauren, and Luna were off to Crow's Woods. Once they had made it halfway through the trail, Lauren turned around to see Luna next to Steven on one knee. On a full moon Halloween, he presented Lauren with a beautiful black diamond ring and asked her for forever. Though she wasn't completely surprised, she was over the moon and head over heels.&nbsp; In terms of a proposal, Lauren didn't want much, just something intimate, and her only request was having someone there to take photos afterward. Their good friend, Matt Perrone was waiting patiently in the parking lot to take photos of the newly engaged couple. Matt is not a professional photographer, but he knocked it out of the park. Photos were taken, champagne was popped on the trail, and then they went to celebrate with Lauren's family at her parent's house.&nbsp; They both wanted a long engagement to enjoy life as fiancés without the stress of wedding planning. And they did! Their engagement party in July 2021 was the perfect celebration and they felt so much love and joy surrounded by family and friends.&nbsp; The long engagement has been exactly what they wanted. But now, they’re ready to be husband and wife and throw one hell of a party.&nbsp; We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Our Story

Photos

Alyssa Pflug

Johnny McEvoy

Jillian Sinnamon

Zachary McEvoy

Emily Greatrex

Tommy Burns

Kimberly Ross

Brett Hauser

Grace Gonnelli

Alex Kramer

Chris Cipollone

Michael "Bosc" Bosco

Wedding Party

Q + A

We suggest you book your room ASAP if you have not already done so. This is a popular weekend, and the rooms will book quickly! Our room block is listed for Thursday, October 12 through Saturday, October 14. If you are in the wedding party, you must book for both nights. If you are a guest, you only need to book Friday night, unless of course you'd like to stay Thursday as well!

Travel

Things to Do

Registry

Lauren + Steven

Lauren + Steven

Travel

Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue