Royal Boucherie is an Old City wedding venue that combines an elegant Philadelphia aesthetic with incredible food. It’s an intimate space perfect for micro weddings. Caitlin and Eric’s modern celebration featured candid portraits in Old City, a cozy ceremony, and a beautiful dining experience for their guests.
Royal Boucherie
Royal Boucherie’s aesthetic is quintessentially Old City. For weddings, you can rent out a private space called the Parlour Room. Deep blue curtains hang beside tall windows. Natural light brightens the white walls and dark woodwork. Gold mirrors and sconces add warmth to the aesthetic. Some original features date all the way back to the 1830s. This venue feels every bit the elegant Philadelphia experience that it is.
You might expect understated elegance from an Old City restaurant, but you might be surprised by the charming patio on the second floor. The little room features lush ferns and vining plants strung with market lights. It’s the perfect spot for a small wedding ceremony. You can bring in florals and rentals if you like or skip them altogether in this space. Thanks to the glass roof, you can enjoy the room regardless of the weather.
With a Royal Boucherie wedding, you could go as big or minimal as you prefer with your decor. The venue sets a clear tone that Caitlin and Eric embraced with their decor. They included a floral installation on the patio and lush arrangements of white flowers in the dining room. Paired with antique-style candelabras, it put a modern spin on classic wedding aesthetics.
A Philadelphia Wedding Venue in Old City
Royal Boucherie is a great Philadelphia wedding venue for foodies. The restaurant sources its meats locally and makes fresh pasta by hand. Even the cocktail menu features housemade ingredients, including shrubs and cordials. If you want your wedding to feel like the best dinner party you ever attended, take a look at what Royal Boucherie offers.
You might not find Royal Boucherie on many wedding venue roundups because it only has capacity for a small guest list. Its website lists the patio’s capacity as 25 seated. Keep that in mind if you want a patio ceremony followed by dinner in the Parlour Room. Packages start at $3000 but can vary depending on season and day of the week.
Royal Boucherie is located on South 2nd Street in Old City. This is such a great area of Philadelphia for a micro wedding. As the oldest part of the city, the neighborhood is full of architectural gems and little parks that make good backdrops for portraits. If you get ready at a nearby hotel, it’s easy to document a first look and portraits just on the walk to Royal Boucherie.
Hosting wedding guests in Old City is easy because there’s so much for them to do over a wedding weekend. The area features boutique hotels amid countless historic sites and delicious restaurants. It’s especially fun for guests who are new to the city and are experiencing its historic charm for the first time.
Caitlin and Eric’s Modern Micro Wedding
Even though Caitlin and Eric picked a venue with so many historic features, their wedding photography is very modern. I centered candid photos over posed portraits for their Royal Boucherie celebration. You can see so much of their personalities in their interactions with each other as well as their guests. It’s always a pleasure to photograph a wedding where people are having so much fun. Their photos really feel like a reflection of their relationship rather than a series of predetermined poses.
I photographed Caitlin and Eric’s wedding on a combination of digital and film. Both allowed me to creatively document the emotions at the center of their wedding day in different ways. I especially love the spontaneity and tones that come across in the film photos. Since they’re unedited,
Film instantly adds a sense of nostalgia to wedding photography too. In a historic wedding venue, you get the sense of being connected to all the people who were there before and the people who will see the photos after. That extra element makes wedding photos especially moving.
Would you like to see more small wedding venues like Royal Boucherie? Check out this list of 8 Small Wedding Venues in Philadelphia!
