For STRANGERS, every wedding reception is a special event but on Saturday, December 19, 2009 Mother Nature took things to a whole new level.
Stephanie Sudzina, originally from the Philadelphia area but now living in Sidney, Australia and her fiance Anthony Campanale also from Sidney, Australia had been planning a Christmas Wedding in Philadelphia for almost two years.
They had planned on a 1:00 pm ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul with a 3:00 pm reception to follow at the historic Glen Foerd Mansion on the Delaware in Northeast Philadelphia with STRANGERS as their entertainment for the evening. What they didn’t plan on was the second worst snow storm ever to hit Philadelphia on the same day.
Around 10:00 that morning it had become apparent to Anthony that, despite their carefully preparations, things were NOT going to go as planned. That was about that time that he found out that the transportation that was supposed to take their family and guests, who were staying at the Ritz-Carlton of Philadelphia on the Avenue of the Arts, to the ceramony and then to the reception had cancelled. Anthony, determined to make this wedding happen, got together with the folks at the Ritz-Carlton to see if they could accommodate his guests in the hotel dinning room. The Ritz-Carlton instead offered to set them up in the Grand Ballroom!
Anthony called me around 10:35 that morning to tell me he was planning to change the venue. I then worked out the details with the folks at the Ritz and we were on our way. I had already been in contact with every band member the night before and again early that morning with updates and to check on their travel plans. When I called everyone back to tell them of the change of venue, some were already on the road.
To make a long story just a little shorter (you can read all the details in the accompanying stories), the staff at the Ritz-Carlton pulled off what would normally have been considered impossible. In only a couple of hours they put together an incredible reception. Fortunately the amazing Marie Labbancz of Marie Labbancz Photography managed to brave the elements to document the entire day. The multi-talented Marie also offered to help out if we a needed singer but we managed OK without her and she spent the time instead taking beautiful photographs of the newlyweds. Donna O’Brien from Beautiful Blooms also battled the storm to get the beautiful flower arrangements there, as did makeup and hair stylist Claudia Seyler, and of course STRANGERS were there too.
What an absolutely amazingly beautiful evening!!! And it’s clear I’m not the only one who thought so.
Anthony and Stephanie were also guests on the local Fox Channel Good Morning Philadelphia on the 23rd and on the national Fox News Network on December 24th.
Stephanie told me she had assured Anthony that the weather would not be an issue for their wedding because “it never snows in Philadelphia in December”. Maybe Anthony should have been a little more suspicious of the Philly weather. He told me he had been to Philadelphia only once before, that was in January 1996, during the worst snow storm ever to hit Philadelphia!
