Love | Joy Elizabeth Powell & Kevin Michael Hershey

Married

April 21 in the gated garden of the Colonial Dames Building on Latimer Street. Officiant Maria Odilia Romeu, of Journeys of the Heart, led the simple, intimate ceremony for 75 guests, who then gathered indoors for the reception.

They met

In fall 1997, as freshmen at University of the Arts. They lived on the same floor of a coed dorm and Kevin often hung out in Joy's room. "She and her roommate threw dinner parties," he says. He would return the favor and take the girls out for a bite. In early 1998, Kevin tipped Joy's roommate that he wantd to ask Joy out for sushi - alone. Joy assumed she and her pal were both invited, and Kevin had to call back and explain. On Feb. 1, 1998, they dined in the tatami room at Shogun.

He asked

Feb. 1, 2005, on a bench in Rittenhouse Square (a popular place to pop the question). Over dinner beforehand at Lolita, Joy suspected a proposal was imminent and began to cry. So they walked to the square. "I had a lump in my throat," Kevin says. He asked her to marry him, and presented the ring at home that evening.

9 to 5

Joy, 28, of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Kevin, 27, of Glassboro, co-own their own company, Spark Photography. Their forte? Weddings!

Making a home

The bride and groom live and work in Manayunk.

First steps

To Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," from the Boogie Nights soundtrack. They knew the DJ, Kim Alexander Walsh of No Macarena DJs, from prior weddings they had photographed.

Doing it their way

So how do two wedding photographers choose someone to capture their special day, their way? They found California transplant Matthew Tennison, of Lancaster, online. The trio share a similar style and approach to nuptial images: Document the day unobtrusively, with a mix of traditional portraiture, candids, and editorial detail shots.

Joy wore an ivory Jim Hjelm trumpet-style sleeveless silk charmeuse gown with a lace overlay from Bridals by Danielle; she carried a bouquet of cream and peach tulips. Her two younger sisters, Faith, 25, and Jennifer, 21, wore different styles of peacock-blue tea-length dresses and clutched peach and orange flowers.

The bride fashioned the kids' table centerpiece herself - a candy bouquet of treats on bamboo skewers. The couple picked up a special cake, and sang a round of "Happy Birthday," for Kevin's nephew, Noah Dorfman, who turned 8 that day. Guests took home wrapped boxes of Godiva chocolates (Kevin is no relation to those Hersheys).

Not a dry eye

"The nerves and anxiety were running high all day," the groom says. "I just had butterflies."

Bloopers

"Ordering way too much alcohol," Kevin jokes. "Boxes and boxes came home with us."

Kevin says

"Weddings are for the family. You really need to work closely with your families to make it come together."

The honeymoon

The Riviera Maya reigns supreme this spring. Joy and Kevin spent ten days at the Occidental Royal Hideaway Resort and Spa in Playa del Carmen.