Weddings

Unique Please Touch Museum Wedding with Film Photos

Two women in wedding clothes stand in front of a Philadelphia museum before their Please Touch Museum wedding.

The Please Touch Museum is a whimsical Philadelphia wedding venue. It’s the kind of place guests never forget. From rides on the antique carousel to dancing the night away in a grand hall, it’s downright magical. Emily and Jenn’s Please Touch Museum wedding balanced their modern minimalist style with the venue’s playfulness. I documented their unique wedding on film photography.

Two brides cast a shadow as they kiss on the sidewalk outside the Please Touch Museum.

A Please Touch Museum Wedding

A mix of quirky interactive installations and historic charm characterizes a Please Touch Museum wedding. In that sense, it’s very Philadelphia. You get the best parts of the city’s creativity and history in one endlessly surprising venue.

A bride helps another bride put on a veil in a wedding photo on film. Two brides put on wedding attire in a Philadelphia hotel.

For your Please Touch Museum wedding, you have your choice of three different spaces for your ceremony and reception.

  • Hamilton Hall is a spacious hall. The Beaux Arts architectural details stand out in yellow and white. The 60-foot domed ceiling and colorful uplighting bring the drama to your wedding. This space can accommodate up to 360 guests seated with a dance floor. Spacious might be an understatement.
  • The South Foyer is adjacent to Hamilton Hall and has a lot of the same architectural features with the addition of more windows and a beautiful patterned marble floor. The Please Touch Museum lists this as their more intimate ceremony space, but it still seats up to 250.
  • The Carousel House is equally large with towering ceilings. It’s a more modern structure with the main focus being the antique carousel. (Yes, you can take a ride!) This space seats up to 150.
Statues sit atop the Please Touch Museum on a sunny day.
Rental fees for weddings at the Please Touch Museum range between $2,500 and $12,500. Brûlée Catering exclusively provides food and drinks for events at the museum.
Two brides walk towards their Please Touch Museum wedding with their wedding party dressed in blue.
Decades before the Please Touch Museum became one of Philadelphia’s coolest wedding venues, a group of parents and educators founded it as the city’s first children’s museum dedicated to hands-on learning. It had a few homes before moving to Memorial Hall following extensive renovations in 2008. Now the museum is a beloved part of Fairmount Park.
Two brides hold hands and smile at a film wedding photographer outside the Please Touch Museum. Two brides pose for a portrait in front of the Please Touch Museum on a sunny day.

Artistic Film Wedding Photography 

I photographed Emily and Jenn’s Please Touch Museum wedding on a mix of digital and film photography. Most of the photos you see in this blog post were taken 35mm film. Film photography is my favorite way to document a wedding day for so many reasons.

Two brides hold hands as they walk down museum steps towards a Philadelphia wedding photographer.

Take the colors in these photos, for example. They’re bright but retain a certain softness. These colors are also true-to-tone. The photos look like the day actually looked. I think there’s a lot of value in having photos that preserve your wedding day as it really was rather than only having  highly edited images.

Two brides pose inside a miniature room at a Please Touch Museum wedding.
This Please Touch Museum wedding translated so beautifully on film. The textures come through beautifully. You can practically feel the silky hem of Emily’s dress against the concrete stone steps outside the museum.
Wedding guests arrive outside the Please Touch Museum.
The direct flash photos feel extra nostalgic in the context of the children’s museum, too.  Something about film fits with a children’s museum in a historic building. It connects Jenn and Emily to the decades of marriers who came before.
Two bridesmaids escort a bride up the aisle at a wedding in a historic Philadelphia wedding venue.
A bride doubles over laughing during a Please Touch Museum wedding inside a historic hall.

Film wedding photography requires a level of technical skill and artistry that I really enjoy. If you can believe it, I actually learned photography on a film camera. I spent more hours than I can count in a dark room in high school. As an artist, film feels like home.

Two brides share their first kiss at their Please Touch Museum wedding in a film photo.

Emily and Jenn’s Heartfelt Wedding

Emily and Jenn’s story leading up to their Please Touch Museum wedding is really sweet. They met on Tumblr back in 2012. At the time they lived in different states and only met a few times in person. They lost touch for a bit but reconnected when Jenn sent Emily a birthday message in 2019. Shortly after, Emily bought a plane ticket to visit Jenn. By the end of the week together, they were girlfriends.

Wedding guests climb onto a carousel in the Please Touch Museum.

Their proposal story is just as heartfelt. Emily planned a beautiful date for Jenn. They dressed up, went to brunch, and then headed to the park where they used to go when they first started dating. Emily had Jenn sit by the water and read a letter while she played their song. Then Emily got down on one knee. Jenn wasn’t surprised by the proposal. What did surprise her was that her best friends from New York were waiting at the house to congratulate her!

Wedding guests laugh around a table during cocktail hour at a museum wedding.

On the morning of their Please Touch Museum wedding, Jenn and Emily got ready together. This can be a great way for marriers to cut down on wedding morning stress. Sometimes it just feels good to go into the day together.

Two brides kiss in front of a turning carousel at a Please Touch Museum wedding at. night.
Afterward they headed to the Please Touch Museum with their wedding party. Everyone wore shades of light blue that complemented the grays and whites of the museum’s exterior. These wedding party photos have such a fun summer in the city energy.  
Guests clap as two brides enter their museum wedding reception.
Jenn and Emily’s ceremony in the South Foyer was beautiful. An elegant floral installation framed the ceremony spot. Other than that, the venue’s vibrant colors brought enough to the decor.
A vintage tiered cake sits on a silver cake stand surrounded by blue and white flowers.

A Whimsical Wedding Reception

This wedding reception was one for the books. Remember how I mentioned that a Please Touch Museum wedding includes a carousel ride? You and your guests actually get a full hour to ride during cocktail hour. Jenn and Emily climbed aboard with their wedding part for a few turns. They looked so carefree bobbing up and down on the wooden horses.

If I had to sum up this Please Touch Museum wedding in one word, it would be “whimsical.” Everything had a touch of playfulness and a dash of elegance. It made for a truly memorable  wedding.

Wedding guests dance around two brides at a colorfully-lit wedding receptions.
Are you interested in having me photograph your wedding? I’m a Philadelphia wedding photographer specializing in film photography. Let’s add your love to the archive! Inquire with me today.
Vendor Team
Photographer: Theo Nash Photography
Coordinator: Terri Harris
Venue: Please Touch Museum
Catering: Brûlée Catering – Terri Harris
DJ/Band: BVT Live
Cake: The Master’s Baker
Hair/Makeup: Glam Beauty by Denise
Emily’s Wedding Attire: Dress from Azazie
Jenn’s Wedding Attire: Suit from Elagia

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