What better reason is there to leave the boat than a wedding! In this case, we left Golden Glow in Annapolis for the long weekend and went to Philadelphia  to celebrate the wedding of my firstborn, Zachary Stiefler, and his beautiful and brillant bride Jessica Wirth Stiefler. The Professional Photos are here!

Zack and Jess met six years ago as they began their senior year at Duke University. Their love affair has grown and deepened every year after that, despite sometimes living in separate cities due to their jobs.  Now they are both living in Philadelphia where Zack is finishing up his MBA at Wharton.  Jess was graduated from Columbia Law School in May and began a federal court clerkship in Philly. They both have jobs lined up in New York down the line, but they have fallen in love with the City of Brotherly Love  and it was a fine location for their wedding at the Kimmel Center.

The wedding weekend was one loving, happy experience linked to another, and another…Zack and Jess wrote their own vows, which brought me to tears.  They took six dancing lessons and surprised us all with a thrilling first dance (video below)…which brought me to tears. Their Best Man and Maid of Honor, who know them so well as individuals and as a couple, spoke from their heart and made us laugh…and brought me to more tears.  What can I say, it was a multiple-kleenex box weekend, but every tear was shed joyfully from the happiness just overflowing.

Their professional videographer did a superb job capturing the wedding:

Zack + Jessica from James Knightly on Vimeo.

Here is my amateur video of their full First Dance, and the moment that brought the house down!
And here is the video which I made for their Rehearsal Dinner.

The Stiefler Boys: Rob, Zack, Tim & Todd

Zack’s brothers toast & roast him at the Rehearsal Dinner:

Leslie toasts Jess & Zack in her eloquent speech: