The Ritz Calrton

Jordan & Ben

“A pro-surfer's dream themed wedding in Philadelphia.”

— BRIDES magazine

Jordan Verni and Ben Graeff (the latter a professional surfer and YouTube vlogger known as Ben Gravy) first met on Instagram. Jordan had been following Ben for some time—“he was kind of a local celebrity,” she says.

While by some standards their Philadelphia wedding a year later was traditional, for them it was anything but. “A lot of people assumed we would get married on the beach because of our work and Ben's surfing, but we both loved the idea of switching it up,” Jordan says. “We wanted our guests to see a different side of both of us, getting us out of our board shorts and bikini and into a ballgown and black tie.”

The theme, though, was where worlds collided. “Our theme was a saying that Ben has built his YouTube career on: ‘For the Dream,’” Jordan shares. She turned to event planner Brian Kappra of Evantine Design to translate that into a wedding. “I told him I wanted all white and baby’s breath—no other flower. I think he might have had a moment of, ‘What did I get myself into?’ But as soon as I mentioned Ben’s line, it clicked in Brian’s head and he said, ‘That’s it—the dream.’ From there we built on the idea that we wanted to transform everyone into a dream. I wanted everyone to feel like they were floating on a cloud.”

Keep scrolling to see exactly how their dream became reality. 

PLANNER, DESIGN & FLORAL | Evantine  ACCOMODATIONS & VENUE | The Ritz Carlton, Philadelphia PAPER SUITE | Papery of Philadelphia OFFICIANT | Kalani Robb  BRIDE’S GOWN | Galia Lahav  HAIR | Leena  MAKEUP | C.E. Facial Artistry GROOM'S SUIT | Huge Boss via Saks Fifth Avenue MUSIC | Angelo The Kid CAKE | Whipped Baked Shop FAVORS | Blazing Visuals VIDEOGRAPHER | JT Serrao Studio