Old Courthouse Wedding

Julie and Pat’s Old Courthouse wedding was easily one of my favorites this year!

Please enjoy, Scott Shaw Photo | Cleveland Wedding Photographer

We started at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown and the couple had their first look at the outdoor patio of Bar 32. Then we took Lolly the
Trolley to the Art Museum for some portraits of the bridal party. This large bridal party were wonderful! They were so friendly and
well behaved and supported the couple during our time out photographing everyone. Then it was time for the ceremony and reception at
the Old Courthouse aka the Cuyahoga County Courthouse.

I always ask my couples to share some thoughts from their wedding day and Julie came through with so many interesting bits of information
that I’m going to mostly just let her do the talking!

Julie on finding their venue: “It took us about a year and a half to plan our wedding and location was important to both of us as we
knew we’d be having a large wedding (300 guests in attendance!). Since Pat is from Chicago and we live in Washington DC, my hometown
of Cleveland made the most logical choice since it was the halfway point of where most of our friends and family would be coming in from.
While looking at locations, Medeana Hobar from Taste of Excellence (who was our caterer and executed THE most flawless room flip I’ve
ever seen) asked us if we’d considered the Courthouse and I told her we had, but that they were booked solid for all 2019 dates. We all
fell in love with it and knew that no other venue would compare. About 3 weeks later I got an email confirming that we were booked for our date!

“We were so excited and the thing that was most important to us next to getting married was ensuring our guests had a great experience. 
The new Hilton Downtown Cleveland was directly across the street from the venue and we were excited to be able to have both the ceremony,
cocktail hour and reception all in the same venue.”

About the day Julie said: “We worked really hard to try and make every element as personal and fun for the guests as it could be. We
had Saxy Rob (saxophonist) during cocktail hour who played while the guests eat, drank, and played oversize Scrabble, Jenga and Connect
Four. We had a mixture of Tulani, our harpist and DJ Lokey from Cleveland who really got the party going during the reception! And I’d be
remiss if I didn’t mention my husband’s carefully cultivated open bar. He reviewed all bar options carefully, replaced some liquors with
others, and had us sleeping in 65 degree rooms in the days leading to the wedding to ensure the champagne he bought would remain at the
proper temperature until it was time to serve! We created our own table centerpieces which was a true family project and labor of love. 
My sister and maid of honor really kept things moving when it came time for family pictures and generally kept us both calm in the lead up
to the wedding day. One of my favorite moments was just watching her enjoy herself of the dance floor–she earned it!”

Groomsman Daniel groomed Pat on his wedding day.

Pat’s godsons, Dean, Ethan and Kingston psyched themselves up for their Ring Security duty with some games on their phones
while he got ready.

Shoe fans know the red bottoms mean they are Christian Louboutin footwear.

The First Look!

Loved this moment as the couple touched while we rode back for the Old Courthouse wedding.

Flowergirl Rylie with the Ring Security following behind. “Her grandmother Beverly (who designed my wedding shower), made her headpiece
and matching flower basket by hand the day before the wedding.  She looked beautiful!”

“I was nervous about tripping so I asked my brother Jason (also a groomsmen) to escort me down and he handed me off to my dad, James.”

“He was really emotional and I think you caught me asking him “Are you ready dad?” before we started down.  It was a great moment.”

“We knew we wanted to jump the broom. This was important to us as at one point in time in this country, jumping the broom was the only
symbol of slave couples’ unions in America at a time where joining in marriage was both illegal and dangerous. Pat asked his sister and
bridesmaid Kim to make the broom which was beautiful. And we asked his cousin, Michael, who works at the National Museum of African
American History and Culture in Washington, DC to write remarks on the significance of jumping the broom so we could honor and
acknowledge our ancestors.”

Cocktail hour.

“Our harpist Tulani is an internationally known R&B artist who’s toured with Lady Gaga and opened for a TON of other well known Grammy
Award winning artists.  One of my best friends and bridesmaid Quinn and her partner Bob are good friends with Tulani and arranged
for her to play a full set at our wedding as their wedding gift to us. Pat and I first saw Tulani together at her concert date she
had in DC with Quinn and Bob and fell in love with her voice and artistry.  Since we didn’t exchange our personal vows during the
wedding ceremony, we decided to do it right before our first dance while everyone was seated. It was perfect – then to have Tulani
serenade us on her harp to “At Last” was an absolute dream. Our guests really enjoyed her set during dinner – especially of her harp
rendition of “Purple Rain” – one of our favorite songs by our favorite artist of all time Prince!

The parents dances with dad James and mother Ethel.

“Our guests were amazed at Jacqueline’s painting work!”

“Pat is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc and I’m a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.  It’s tradition at weddings that
the Kappas in attendance surround the bride and they sing the “Sweetheart Song” to her.  Same for my sorority, all the AKA’s will
surround the bride and sing the hymn while holding hands.”

“The number one piece of advice we got from our married friends going into the wedding was to take 10 minutes during the reception and
take a step back from everything and take in the day, what we’d just done, and the good time being had all in. We’re so happy
we did this! You caught the perfect shot of me being excited and pointing at how all the women on the dance floor had changed
into the Rescue Flats shoes I provided for all the ladies during the reception.  The floors of the Courthouse can be treacherous
when you’ve been wearing heels for hours so it was important to me to provide a way to make sure the party wouldn’t stop! I was
excited to see the plan worked out so well!”

Groomsman Cameron put his back into it.

Vendors–

Officiant: Rev. Derrick B. Wells, Christ Universal Temple, Chicago, IL
Ceremony: Cuyahoga County Courthouse
Reception: Cuyahoga County Courthouse
Caterer: Taste of Excellence
Wedding coordinator: Covesa Kelly Events
Cake: Wild Flour Bakery
Florist: Plantscaping Blooms
Linens: L’Nique Specialty Linen
Tables, chairs: All Occasions Rentals
Lighting, sound, photo booth: Selective Sound
Dress: Justin Alexander Signature
Custom tux: Bryan Keith
Bride’s shoes: Christian Louboutin
Groom’s shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo
Hair: Sonya
Makeup: Cleveland Bridal Makeup-Bonnie
Harpist: Tulani
DJ: LoKey Entertainment
Sax: Saxy Rob
Live Wedding Painter: Cleveland Event Painter, Jacqueline
Limo: Trolley Tours of Cleveland
Assistant: Parker Shaw

Here’s their Cleveland engagement session:

https://scottshawphoto.com/cleveland-library-engagement-julie-pat/

Thank you for viewing this Old Courthouse wedding.

– Scott Shaw Photo | Cleveland Wedding Photographer