Downtown Cleveland Wedding

Tricia and Eli’sdowntown Cleveland wedding ceremony and reception was at the Old Courthouse. What a day they had!

Please enjoy, Scott Shaw Photo | Cleveland Wedding Photographer

Downtown Cleveland Wedding

We started with Eli at the couple’s downtown Cleveland apartment and Tricia was getting ready at a penthouse suite in the building. Everything was so close for their downtown Cleveland wedding.

From there we were at the Old Courthouse for the rest of the day with portrait time outside before going inside for the ceremony, cocktail and reception for their downtown Cleveland wedding.

Tricia on their downtown Cleveland wedding: “We booked The Old Courthouse fairly quickly after our walkthrough. The building is grand and beautiful and we knew it was exactly what we were looking for.

Since we knew our wedding date almost two years before our wedding, we decided to elope on the same day as our planned wedding date, just one year early. We told no one until our rehearsal dinner when we gave a speech that ended with, “We have been keeping a secret for 364 days, we’re married!”

“We were so grateful to have Karen officiate and you photograph both weddings. We wanted everybody to feel included in the elopement a year earlier, so on the wedding day Karen announced the elopement during the ceremony and afterwards during cocktail hour, we hung large photos for all of our guests to see.”

I was surprised when I saw the elopement photos displayed during the cocktail hour. I’ve included some of them in the blog post too.

“Our goal was for our wedding to feel deeply personal, that is why we had so much handmade decor with the wall of previous weddings, the movie-themed table numbers, etc. We gathered memorabilia from our relationship to create a “museum” which we positioned on our dessert table. We included items from every part of our 12 years together from sunglasses from high school band camp to vacation ticket stubs to our engagement photos.

“We also created a book of photos, one from each day of our first year of marriage, so even though people didn’t know we were married they could still be a part of it. Many of our friends and family connected with items in our museum and told us about it throughout the night which was exactly what we had hoped for.

“We performed a Chinese Tea Ceremony to honor Eli’s heritage. This traditional ceremony symbolizes the acceptance of Tricia into Eli’s family with the offering of tea and acceptance of blessings for a happy marriage and good fortune.

“The most emotional moment was definitely reading our personal vows during the ceremony. Using a guide from Karen we had many dates where we sat quietly in a coffee shop or a park and wrote our vows. It was incredible to finally tell each other what we wrote and very difficult to get through ourselves.

“The most surprising moment of the day was our first look. We both didn’t know what each other was wearing. This is usually typical of the groom but Eli customized a burgundy suit without Tricia knowing the details and it was very fun for both of us to finally see the vision come to life.

“The part of our wedding that felt the most “us” was our first dance. We had practiced with our dance teacher, Tabitha, for months on a beautifully choreographed first dance. We had so much fun practicing and were excited for people to see the finshed product. When we finally performed, it felt exactly like all those nights we practiced in our apartment, like it was just us and the music.”

Carolee helped Tricia with her bracelet.

First look with her father Jay.

Tricia watched as Eli danced with his mother Bi-min.

Downtown Cleveland wedding:

Officiant: Perfectly Celebrated
Ceremony: The Old Courthouse
Reception: The Old Courthouse
Catering: A Taste of Excellence
DJ: Troy Entertainment
Cake: Hearth Patisserie
Florist: Blossom Flower Bar
Dress: The Winner, Christina Wu
Suit: Tailor Sage Bespoke
Engagement Rings: Miska Jewelers
Wedding Bands: Chas. S. Rivchun & Sons, Jewelers
Hair and Makeup: Elite Beauty Productions
Wedding Coordinator: Oh Hello Event Planning
Invitations: Print Digital
Dance Instructor: Tabitha in Motion
Assistant: Harrison Shaw

Such a sweet time at their downtown Cleveland wedding at the Old Courthouse!

Bonus links:

The Old Courthouse:

https://cuyahogacounty.gov/publicworks/services/rentals>https://cuyahogacounty.gov/publicworks/services/rentals

Thank you for viewing their downtown Cleveland wedding,

– Scott Shaw Photo | Cleveland Wedding Photographer